One of the best SSB alternatives is actually the preamps from HF-Berg in Germany!
http://hf-berg.de/HFC/preisliste_amateurfunk.htm
You can contact them directly and they will ship it to you. The price for their 2m preamp with VOX and protective housing is currently Euro 154. That's what you more or less will pay once they deduct the local sales tax because you buy from the US and add shipping cost.
Don't worry about the website being in German they are very good in getting back to you in English and their shipping is quick and reliable and they take PayPal.
Hope this helps,
Stefan
On Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Burns Fisher burns@fisher.cc wrote:
First, my sincere apologies...I think I managed to resend the entire digest to the list. I HATE it when people do that but now I know how easy it is to do accidentally. Sorry.
Now to what I was going to say: I have the SSB SP-2000 and I'm also very happy with it. It seems to do auto RF switching well down to under 2 watts. (Some auto-switching are only spec'ed to switch down to 8 or 10W). It also bypasses itself if you just cut the power (to be expected, I guess). I'm using it with a second power feedline (which you can connect with a PL259) since I don't happen to have 13.8V phantom power available. On the other hand, it is about the most expensive 2m preamp you can find :-(
Where to get it in the US? ssbusa.com appears to be a distributer. No one answered the phone, and they never returned my call. Another vendor (take it from whence it came) said they were phasing out. But in any case, Array Solutions was very helpful and fast and sent me my SP-2000 in a very short time. As I recall I had to talk to them on the phone since they did not have the SSB stuff fully integrated into their web site yet, but it was worthwhile. Array Solutions also advertises in QST :-)
Burns, W2BFJ
Message: 14 Date: Thu, 13 Oct 2011 10:19:24 -0400 From: "Stephen E. Belter" seb@wintek.com To: Tim Goodrich tim@timgoodrich.net, "amsat-bb@amsat.org" amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Which preamp to buy for 2m? Message-ID: 51668A33220E754EABE6583357ECEE2D79CD61B2@Exchange.wintek.local Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Tim,
I own SSB preamps, the SP-2000 (2 meter) and SP-7000 (70 cm). They have worked very well for me, both on my Icom IC-821 (powered by the radio) and with my FUNcube Dongle (powered with an external bias-T from ARR). The SSB preamps have helical filters on the front end which should help in your Los Angeles RF environment.
You have at least four sources for the SSB preamp:
Direct from SSB in Germany, www.ssb.de
From SSB-Electronics USA, www.ssbusa.com
From Array Solutions, www.arraysolutions.com
From Universal Radio, www.universal-radio.com
73, Steve N9IP
-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Tim Goodrich Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2011 2:04 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Which preamp to buy for 2m?
Hi all,
I just got a M2 2M4 and 420-50-11 to mount on my az/el rotor and go with my 736R. As I'm hoping to potentially work some EME with the big guns when conditions are just right, I'm wondering if anyone can provide advice on which preamp to get for 2m. I live in the Los Angeles metro area, so lots of noise/QRM, and also would like something to take advantage of the 736's preamp switch/voltage over coax option. In other words, something that doesn't require any complicated power/switching controls, if possible.
Any suggestions?
Thanks,
Tim
K6TW
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb