Hey guys, I have a perhaps silly question.? I am working to fill out my TR7 station and? found an L7 that is super clean, supposed to have had the PS rebuilt with Harbach board and good tubes.? Asking price is 1600.? Is that reasonable these days?? In person transaction, so no shipping.? I have a really nice L4B that I would likely sell, what would a fair price be for that one???

Thanks guys!
Eric
K8CCA

Eric,

About 3 or 4 years ago, I bought an L-4B for $700.? I got a really "smokin" deal? I would expect a nice L-4B to be worth around $1000.? Possibly more.

About 6mo ago, a friend of mine bought an L-7 for $700.?? And although it was completely stock (original caps etc) He got a REALLY "Smokin" deal.

They should also be worth North of $1000.? Maybe closer to $1500

But here's the bottom line.?? They're only worth what someone will pay.? If you see them SELL on eBay for $1600 (plus shipping) and there's a LOT of bidders near that final price then? there's a good chance one or more of them will give near to that kind of money for one.

If you make a comparison to used Ameritron AL-82's or other (2) 3-500 amps $1600 might not be far off.

Right now, on QTH I found 2 Kenwood TL-922's for around $1200-1300,? an AL-82 for $1600 and an L-4B for $1200 (shipped)

Another bottom line, if you walk up to the front door of the owners of the above amps with cash in your hand, they will likely take less.? You don't know until you try.

I wouldn't sell my L-4B for less than about 1300......but I probably wouldn't sell it at all.? It matches my C-line (that I bought new)


--

73/Rick

W4XA
*Every post is created using Linux

It is all relative. An Alpha 374A sold here recently at an estate sale for $400. I probably should have bought it because it was a working amp that I had actually used multiple years at a multi-op SS shack. But I am full up on amps now anyway. I paid $450 for my L-4B from another local almost 20 years ago, gently used with original tubes. OTOH I see $1K+ prices for Drake amps in online forums. An old salesman once said "don't charge a fair price, charge what the market will bear".

Eric: Pull the top cover off and inspect the condition of the tuning caps, band switch, and tubes. Offer the guy $1200 cash if it meets the description and go from there. Ham radio is all about dickering over over price.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 10:10:05 -0800
"Rick W4XA" <myr748@...> wrote:

Eric,

About 3 or 4 years ago, I bought an L-4B for $700.? I got a really "smokin" deal? I would expect a nice L-4B to be worth around $1000.? Possibly more.

About 6mo ago, a friend of mine bought an L-7 for $700.?? And although it was completely stock (original caps etc) He got a REALLY "Smokin" deal.

They should also be worth North of $1000.? Maybe closer to $1500

But here's the bottom line.?? They're only worth what someone will pay.? If you see them SELL on eBay for $1600 (plus shipping) and there's a LOT of bidders near that final price then? there's a good chance one or more of them will give near to that kind of money for one.

If you make a comparison to used Ameritron AL-82's or other (2) 3-500 amps $1600 might not be far off.

Right now, on QTH I found 2 Kenwood TL-922's for around $1200-1300,? an AL-82 for $1600 and an L-4B for $1200 (shipped)

Another bottom line, if you walk up to the front door of the owners of the above amps with cash in your hand, they will likely take less.? You don't know until you try.

I wouldn't sell my L-4B for less than about 1300......but I probably wouldn't sell it at all.? It matches my C-line (that I bought new)

--
*73/Rick* *W4XA
* * Every post is created using Linux *
*

--

73

-Jim
NU0C

On 2024-03-08 11:20, Jim Shorney wrote:

It is all relative. An Alpha 374A sold here recently at an estate sale
for $400.

*** And I saw - but didn't buy - a 30L-1 at the local ham swap for $180.
It was missing one tube, and the meter glass was cracked,
but otherwise in very nice cosmetic condition. Still regret that, although
I already have one of those :).

- Jerry, KF6VB

You will, to a point. The PS is identical or nearly so, as are the tune and load caps, band and power switches, and many smaller parts. The layout is markedly different inside the RF deck but electrically they are very similar.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 12:11:57 -0800
"K8CCA" <echapm4@...> wrote:

It's supposed to have brand new RFparts tubes and new caps. I am unsure
what else, but I rebuilt my L4B, so I assume I will recognize the insides.

If you keep your eyes and ears open you can get lucky. Sometimes extremely so. Back in the mid 80s I traded a $150 Diawa 2m HT for my NCL-2000. Cosmetically ugly but working to spec. Yes, the guy is still a friend of mine and I still have that amp. He was also instrumental in one of my recent Alpha acquisitions.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Fri, 08 Mar 2024 12:36:48 -0800
"Steve Toth via groups.io" <stoth47@...> wrote:

I looked for a linear for a couple of years - I was looking for an ICOM 2KL (hard to find) with power supply.
In the course of the search I saw Drake amps with power supplies at an average price of $1200.? I came to the conclusion $1200 was reasonable for both an amp and power supply in good cosmetic and operating condition, anything under $1200 was a good deal and anything over $1200 would have to be justified by excellent condition and how bad I wanted it.
I ended up paying $1400 for a pristine amp and power supply that worked right out of the box with no problems out of CA.
Your mileage (and desires) may vary.....?
- Steve? W7SJT

"Always look for a positive solution then Improvise, Adapt, and Overcome"
- Adaptation of the U.S. Marine Corps motto

"There are no rules here!...We're trying to accomplish something!!"

- Thomas Edison


"Success is not final, failure is not fatal.? It is the courage to continue that counts."

-?Winston Churchill










?


On Friday, March 8, 2024 at 01:11:59 PM MST, K8CCA <echapm4@...> wrote:

Thanks guys, great input.? I know it's been for sale for 2 years, so I knda figured it was a bit high.? He mentioned the Schulmann Auction, but the reality is that you need to pay to ship it there, and then give them 38% commission.? I will make an offer tomorrow as I was also thinking around 1200 was a fair price, and see what?happens.?
It's supposed to have brand?new RFparts tubes and new caps.? I am unsure what else, but I rebuilt my L4B, so I assume I will recognize the insides.? Only issue is that I won't be able to plug it into 240V, so won't be able to verify the operation.??

On the 30L-1 I bought one sans tubes at Dayton a few years ago for $100 as the guy told me it didn't have any HV after he put the Young Kim capacitor board in it and was sick of messing with?it.? It was in perfect condition,?so I figured I could fix it and risked it for that cheap.? I figured that the XFMR was toast, but was surprised?to find the HV Glitch resistor?tucked in around behind the XFMR and not connected to the board.? A quick solder job and it was fine.? Had another one given to me that had a grid to plate short from chinese crap 811s and after replacing a few parts, including the XFMR that I got from the CCA list a few months ago, it's working fine as well.? Don't really need the L7, but it would be nice to have the complete 7 line, so I will try to buy it.? Let you all know Saturday night when I get back.??
Thanks again for the insight!??
On Fri, Mar 8, 2024 at 2:49?PM jerry-KF6VB <jerry@...> wrote:

On 2024-03-08 11:20, Jim Shorney wrote:

It is all relative. An Alpha 374A sold here recently at an estate sale
for $400.

*** And I saw - but didn't buy - a 30L-1 at the local ham swap for $180.
? ?It was missing one tube, and the meter glass was cracked,
but otherwise in very nice cosmetic condition.? Still regret that,
although
I already have one of those :).

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?- Jerry, KF6VB

--

73

-Jim
NU0C

Congrats. The Alphas, generally speaking, are more robust amps. Although you do have to take better care of the grids in those metal triodes.

73

-Jim
NU0C

On Sun, 10 Mar 2024 06:34:23 -0700
"K8CCA" <echapm4@...> wrote:

Hey guys, didn't buy the L7, but came home with a Alpha 87A. Was a great
price and I could not pass it up.

You will gag when u see how much it costs to re-tube the 87A.?

On 2024-03-11 05:53, Jim VE7RF wrote:

You will gag when u see how much it costs to re-tube the 87A.

Indeed. When I got an Alpha 78, I gagged at the cost of 3CX400A7
tubes. Actually their total unavailability.
So on Ebay, I scored some "spares". These were 3CX400U7 tubes,
electrically identical but with a coaxial base. I figured that if
the 'A7s ever died, I'd fabricate a replacement tube deck with homemade
sockets for the 'U7s. Really just round clamps to connect to the coaxial
connection areas. The "tube deck" for the 78 is very simple - it's just a tray
with the tube sockets.

- Jerry, KF6VB

开云体育

On 2024-03-11 10:22, Mark via groups.io wrote:

I think one of the luckiest things about buying tubes right now,
except for the price, is a lot of people are trying solid state
amplifiers.

*** You can count me into that group. My homebrew LDMOS amp is smaller,
lighter, more efficient and quieter. It makes 1100 - 1200W output running off
the 125VAC 15A circuit, which I don't think any tube amp could do.

I did cheat by building the power supply into a box that slides under the bed.
Almost the whole back of the amp is heatsink, with two big Noctua fans fastened to it.
They're PWM controlled by the CPU, which watches a thermistor bolted to the heat
spreader. For eye candy, when the amp is cold, I have them turn so slowly that you
can see the individual fan blades moving.

I should probably get the Alpha 78 out of the shed and run it a bit before the
electrolytics dry out.

- Jerry, KF6VB

It is unusual for an LDMOS amp to be quieter than your Alpha, so you have done an exceptional design job with cooling. On the other hand, the Alpha will be 15 dB cleaner on intermodulation.

Rob, NC0B

On 2024-03-11 17:36, Rob Sherwood wrote:

It is unusual for an LDMOS amp to be quieter than your Alpha, so you
have done an exceptional design job with cooling.

*** Thank you. I used the largest heatsink available at heatsinkusa.com.
The fins are vertical for good convection, and stick out the back of the unit.
Most people seem to use heatsinks inside the box, totally dependent on a fan
at the end of the heatsink.

The Noctua fans are about the quietest available. And I used big ones - 140mm.
The power supply is a Huawei rack-mount unit. It has a tiny screaming fan. I mounted
the power supply in a large box, and replaced its tiny screaming fan with a big quiet
Noctua. Which flows more air, and you can only hear it if you stick your head right
next to the box - which is under the bed.

On the other hand,

the Alpha will be 15 dB cleaner on intermodulation.

*** Can't argue with that.

- Jerry, KF6VB