Alinco ELH-230D review

o

n

n

The

2

T en years ago, reviewing a 2meter

amplifier

preliminary discussion of FM concepts .

repealers,

would

and

have required including a

OSCAR satellit es. Today,

Meter

Alinco

RF

RF

BY DAVE

ELH230D

Amplifier

INGRAM

". K4TWJ

however,

erations are amat

l

ar

andthr

those facts in mind, we will assume you
are generally familiar with our present

span

this discussion of an impressive new lin-

ear a

rigs.

ite

tronics Cor

meter

amplifier with an internal FET receiving

of2meter

mplif

The E

msrec

2 meter FM

iving

ier for talkies a

lH

230D is one 01several new

ently int r

p.

of Reno, Nevada.

15 to 30

eu

r r

areas

activity

od

uc

watt

all-mode (linear) RF

an

d SSB or

ad

io's

of

interest. Bearing

and

ed

by

mostpopu

proceed

nd

AhncoElec-

CW

low-power

II's

op-

with

a 2

-

preamp in a small and quite attractive

cab

from a hand-held talkieor

dri
O
watts

driving/keying
200

wall

ly
most of tooav's talkies. An overview reo

veers

ELH23
l
neath a
flair
sole. The
c
top. and its fr
min
switch

inet. Two

ve the Ali

ne

watt

output from the

rnitrlwatts.

s. In other

de

signed as

oo

king front panel. It

from

abinet

iat

of drive will

tw

o

0D

: its small size

car

any

includes a full-length

ure

es

switch

co

and

nco

amp

ntrol rece ive

to a solid

power

and

word

"s

attract

seal,

auto

lifier'

ont

a half

produce

amp
for the

maximum

s, the unit is especial-

even league

ive

can

but

's dash

it

s

or

portab

30

lifier.

po

and

begs

or

gray

three

le rig will

wall

ints

be

wraparound

soutput.

at

least 15

Minimum

ELH2300

drive

boots

of

its smart-

ntooen be-

to show its

center

neatsmk

pan

es

el is b

and

lack

four LEDs. The

preamp

with

orvott

wall

is 5

" l

the

con

two

s

is

or

on

T

he

Alinco ELH230D 2 meter amplifier, a

Pr

equencv

Mode:

Amp

RF

RF Power out. 1 W in 15 W aul

MaX
FETRXpre-a

Transmit

manual

Matching Network' 50 ohms

Ante

Pow

-

Curr

receive

Reg
Fuse

Size:

FM·SSB

lification: 10 dB minimum

Power

imum input. 5 walt

nna

er

Required:

ent

ulated Power: for HT's

10

7·

r

ange:

out:

mp: 10 dB gaIn

switching: earner operated or

control

connectors:

Requir

amp

x

3Vl·

1

4310

·CW
3 W in 30 W

11

to 15

ed:6.5

x

1Vl·

149 MHz

50

·239

amp

out

VDC

transmit,

DC

volts

80

rna

ne

teoomie unit with

a 12 volt/6 .5

rette-tiqhter plug,
minal

switched
spike
An antenna
and

ne

cted

or 4 foot

mated
power

dash

stallation. It's that simple .
straight through operation is

with the

the 10 volt output is

(connect

side to avoid possible inductive

damage

capab

to the
between

transceiver. An included under -

mounting

amplif

some

amp

with

le of hand ling 35

amplif

interconne

ier off. When S

DC supply,

or

it

on

during

an

$WA

the amplifier and

bracket

exciting leatures.

fuse-block oush- ter -

lhe

engine cranking).

of

ier 'S output. then a 3

ctingcoax

completes

act

ivated a

auto

ignition key-

15

to 1orless

watts

"Barefoot

ac

Wi

tch

nd

ctqa -

is c

cab

the in-

hiev

ed

the re-

le is

low

"

on

or

ed

on

-

-

,

wecnt. 1 lb.

ceive

preamp

is se

lectab

le.

transmit amplifier

volt regulated output. LEOs

er, transmit/on-air, receive
abled ,
rear
conn ectors. a sma ll
power
the 10 volt output line (more about that
feature later).

Ea

stwood Village No.

Box 499. Birmingham ,

and

pane

co

10

vo

l has

nnection

onrotr

lt output energized. The

50239

, plu s a coaxial

.

and

input

rnoiex socket for

1201

At

aspecial 10

indicate

preamp

and

jack

So

..

RI. t t.

35210

pow-

en

output

for

Table

­The

sensing
ing,
the
time

slow
words

Installation

amplifier is a snap

more
supp lied

1- Technical specifications

Alinco ELH230D.

amp

and

cabinet's

constants

minimize

on SSB.

than a

lifier

circuitand

a flush-mounted slide

few

power

inc

lude s

relay f

bottom

. Fast is used for FM,while
s relay

and

mi

co

selectslast

hookup

and
nute

rd is lirst

aninternal

or

dropout

of

shouldn't require
s. The

co

01

the

AF

TlA SWItch-

sw

itch

or sl

between

the Alinco

amplif

nnected

on

ow

ier's

to

Points

A

matic

ideas. Two

us

ed for acnvatmq relay

swit
stripline

nice
lates the bias

feature. TA3 regulates the voltage to reo

ceive

FET that

noise figure slightly

che

of

Interest

brief

(fig.

feature for rugged use, TR4 regu-

preamp

study

t)

revea ls some clever

transistor

s in

circuits

transmitampl

prov

of

the

on its input

on

TR5, another

TA6, a popular 2SK125

ides 10

below2dB

amplifier's

s,

TA1

dB

and

ifer TR5 (

and

of

TA2, are

RL1

,

outp

"deluxe

ga

in with a

. I

t's

sche-

de

sign

wh

no

ut),a

not in

ich

te

"

50 • co • December1985

Say YouSew

It

InCO

the GaAsFET category (that transistor

alone would cost almost as much as this
complete amplifier), but it's a definite

help when tuning weak
tially

setting

up

a mode B OSCARstation.

In fact, I use the ELH230D

able OSCAR10 setuponly for its

I'

s also a good "bac ku

I

ssesignals or ini-

p"

with

when on

my

pr

eamp.

port,

e's

GaAsFET preamp unexpectedly dies.

Considering today's expansions in VHF/

UHF technology, all-mode

RF

amplifiers
with receiving preamps seem the only
way to go. Incidentally,Atloco's

70cm

RF

amplifie r is an OSCAR operator's de­Iight

-30

watts output for mode B trans,

mit and a low-noise GaAsFETpreampfor

mode l receive.

Theunit'spreviouslymentioned 10volt

•

r""

--,

- -

--

------

- _..- -

--

- -

--

--

_ .

--_

..

-

....

--

~

•

,

•

,

,

,

lX u

....

•

-

DC output

is obtained from its 7810regu-

lator circuit.This voltage can be used for

externally powering a hand-held talkie
while

mobile without draining its re­chargeable battery. Using this feature
calls for chec king your talkie's input volt­age range, purchasing suitable connec­tors at a nearby Radio Shack , andwiri ng
that cable. Myown Yaesu FT208R,which

uses a 10.8 volt battery pack, works fine
from the 10 volt source, but some talkies

require slight modifications for battery-

pack bypassing and/or external power­ing. As another idea to consider, I rigged

'"

IT

[D!!

", ..

..L

"

I'li""

q,

&' "

,I

, I i . 1 • • _

''U

""""'

,

.....

--... _

...

Ii

_

Fig.

'

'J

..

..,

.,........,...

......

,.

1- Schematic diagram of A

l

_.,

T"

, '..,

I •

II

, • •

heavy use,but that temperature seemsto

I :

• j

li

nco's

•

EL

H230D.

, , I

•

definitely warrants checking out. Its all-

a clip for charging

my

TH21AT's extra
battery pack from the 10 vortune rather
than adding a series-wired dropping re­sistor and redrilling a batteryclip for pow­ering the (9 volt maximum input) rig. Use
your own ingenuity in this area.

Using

the

Alinco

Amplifier

The ELH230D proved to be a great lit-

tle amplifier, and
in my particular case. The

used mobile with a smail talkie for

it serves a dualpurpose

amplifier is

"big

rig" capabilities without flashy under-

to

dash enticement s

possible vandals,

hit a leveling point rather than continuing
to rise.Actually,it feelsonly aswarm as a
25 or 40 watt

FM tra n

sc

eiver. Perfor­mance of the receive preamp is more no­ticeable on

sse than on FM, mainly be-

cause of FM's capture effect and possi­ble intermod increases in metropolitan

er

areas. The (transmit) amplifi

's signa!
quality on any mode is except ionally
clean,and its second harmonic output

is
practically nonexistent. That's probably
because

the amplifier's design is also
aimed toward marine and commercial
marke ts.

mode capabilities and receiver preamp

are two assets which can only become

ci

more appre
said before, our VHF and UHF ban
tomo rro

w's

ated in the future. As we've

ds

prime spectrum of

ac

tivity.

ar

e

If you're intereste d in a higher output

power 2 meter amplifier, take a look at

50

Armco's 1 to 3 watt input,

26

ELH

0D. If 70

cm

is your desire, their

watt output

ELH730D turns 3 watts input into 30

all

w

s output and includes a GaAsFET

ceive preamp to boo

t.

Current mating

re-

power supplies with dual metering are

also available. For more information on
and it's also swapped around for using
only its rece ive preamp as needed with
one of my OSCAR 10 setups. I'm al

so

planning a large rechargeable battery

or

pack f
plifierand a

2 meter operations with the am-

po

rtable 2 wattsse rig.Visu-

alize that arrangement: rig in one coat
pocket,

amplifier in the other, and a pow-

er pack slung over the shoulder , , , a real

confederate amateur, eh?

Our first operations with the amplifier

were through a repeater roughly 60 miles
away while mobilingwilhanAvantianten-

na on the auto's re

ar

window. My

Conclusion

If yo

plifier at a fair price, the Ahnco ELH230D

u'

re looking f

or

a quality talkie am-

any of these items, contact Alinco Elec-

tronics Corp.. P.O. Box 70007, Reno, Ne-

95

vada 8

amateur produ

• Fabulous glaphics lor the great OX aid

, Long pathIGlay LinelSunriselSunset on a

line

' Aut

earth's rotation
Keyed to

•

map

omatiC

DXCC

70, or one of their nationwide

ct

s dealers.

Gray Line updat ing

list and 40 Zones

sim

ulat

es

rot

TH21AT's barefoot signal was too noisy
to

co

py; the

ElH

230D boosted it

to

al­most lull quieting. Subsequent opera­tions continue proving likewise, espec ial­ly when communicating over difficult " di­rect"

paths-a

rather normal part of our

daily routine (and, according to reports,

routines of many others). Once you be-

come accustomed to the talkie and am-

plifier concept, you feel undressed leav-

ing home without them . The amplifi

gets slightly

s.

yYou

saw

war

It

InCa

m during periods

er

of

An In

torm

The DX EDGE, P.O.

a!;or, tly

It's fanlaSt

real lime on

PTil;a:

Add 12.45 tax in N.V.S. Add $4.00 elsewhel'e. air

ma

EDGE. In lerve

$16.95
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$5.00 w

Please make check or M.a . payable to the

eo

.. 834, Madison SqUllN Stn., New

...

is

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Comrno<lcYe

64i'• rrll<lemarl<of

Comrnooore

534.95.

il. U.S.

iC

! DaytiOhl

'fOUl"

on a disk,

lunas

(piUS

it

$4.00outside U.S. and Canada).

hout Specify your Latitude.

OX

Ap

Electronic, Ltd.

compule

on

slide

EDGE and mall to:

rod

ucl

and

ly. The origlnlll pfll$tlc DX

rule

are $3.00 with

YOftl,

01)(a

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ppd

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,Inc, " )(an!

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in

simple as can be.

Canada

t, is sUlI

OX

0I'l

1y

EDGE,

Mo,lnc

,1985