Nice setup. Those "KL"s are nice little amps for little money. Just keep the wattage low and they'll last. Shot a lot of skip with one behind my DX2547 and a Big Stick on a 5' umbrella pole
Glad you are aware of the power input limitations of the KL200p. I had one a while ago and found that my audio was distorted somewhat on SSB and, I was only able to use it effectively on FM! I hope you have a better time with it on SSB. I now run the RM KL 703 which seems to work well on SSB and FM. Thanks for the video John.. Always appreciated.
Hey Charles I too have a kL503HD behind a Lincoln2+ and I don’t get those results!! Lol I know they will do it I’ve seen lots of videos showing such… I think I know why tho and let me know if you’ve any other ideas k I’m running a whole 12v system in the house with a 2A trickle charger (it’s an auto charge type) the problem is even tho I have very clean power from that battery I’m only using 12.8-12.3 V then i turn the amp off and the charger back on while I just listen for a while lol I think if I have one more volt in I’d get another 100 out !! Sounds like a lot but it’s the sweet spot ya know… I get about 175 out of mine and it doesn’t change when I drive that Lincoln up all the way but when I key up I see lights dim… In my experience that’s not good to under drive anymore than it is to over drive… I haven’t put that combo in the van yet perhaps then the alternators output will give me that extra 1-1.5V hmm 🤔
@Dave Nelson mine set at 13.6 I believe. Your right tho if I turn down to 12v watts go down..how may watts your radio pushing in amp? My galaxy saturn doing 35.dead key set to 2 watts.swing to 35.
@@charlessalard4636 if I’m not mistaken that Lincoln does 28w all the way up and 2.5 all the way down so I run it at about 9:30-10 ish gives me about 22-25 on the dosy with antenna so as they say it’s fake news?? I guess the proof is in the pudding when you measure bird watts with a dummy load… either way it doesn’t get hot and it’s not blown up yet lol.. one day I was in a conversation with two locals one about 13 miles away and the other 25 using the McKinley and 200p that little amp got pretty warm but I was keyed for like 2-3 minute and had been doing that for a half hour or so…. Still not bad but yea keep em cool and powered up and don’t drive them hard and they work great
I have that same amplifier in my Jeep hooked up to my President Bill radio. If I have conditions, I can talk coast to coast with a little 4 foot Browning antenna. For the money, they're useful little amplifiers and they get you over the DX hurdle on AM (I only talk on AM.) More is better, but only having to worry about 10 amps worth of power into the back of it makes it easy for almost anyone to install.
Mower Junkie, you look like you have a lot of fun, I can't believe you fit that big monster in the dash! I'll be waiting on a range test of that set up.... I love your range test video's.... shows us what a good CB set up right can do.... but I don't know how far you're going to have to go to reach back to your base station with that big amp... but I'm waiting for the video... thanks for doing these videos.
Nice little amps for the mobile, I run a KL203p in my pickup with a Anytone 5555n wit a 102" stainless steel whip...best mobile setup I've ever owned...73' from Yellowknife..WR115
Hey yellow knife isn't the 5555n too hot for the 203 or do you set dial a watt ,down?? My galaxy 99v2 does peak am at 42 but I can turn down to .5 my thoughts now are why tune down just to go up 35-40 more than radio peaked at ???
@@georgegetterdone896 , I turn the RF power control on the front of the radio to around 3 watt dead key on AM/FM, and on ssb I run it at full and I'm seeing 75-80+ watts on AM/FM and on ssb around 160+ into a 102" whip...been using it for over a year and half with no issues.
@@howardsansome3560 as I have a 99v2 doing flat out 40 both am and ssb ( am hi dk is 12 pep to 42hellof a swing,right? ) Ssb pep doing just over 40 but can turn output down to less than 1 am and with d104 hand mike and mic gain maxed still shoots for 35 afraid to put any thing but HD equipt after it ( it's not even maxed this is optimal but over 85% duty st up by screw driver at Bells cb Florida ) my two pills I have are operating classics one is from late 1960s a digital sports systems amp built in Iowa saw that one hit 180 with standard " cb " set up of 4 watt pep amto 7 put the galaxyyon it left it 50% output at over 20 pep am and almost 30 ssb held its own but being about 65 years old it mote likely needs recapping and bias updating it only has delay and in ssb has raspy ending just as unkey and is slightly compressed on transmit but worth keeping just for antiquity sevond one is pride 100a two pill his transmit swr issue but if not in active passes fine a So close to 60 years old from early 1970s built in America by proud handicapable employees!!!
Can’t go wrong with a 203. Actually has 4 mosfets. Also it’s a 100w amp. Those extra 40w are harmonics. Put a low pass filter and those 40w disappear. Still a cool little amp though.
I have that same amp actually a couple of them. But mine is just the 203. I have it as a part of my in house mobile/base unit. Does good from what I here and also on the meter.
Those little RM Italy kl200p uses a single SD1446 bipolar rf transistor. Don't over drive it. About 2 watts carrier key + modulation to about 13 watts is about all it can accept and last. The SD 1446 device is going away soon as manufacturer has discontinued them. So if you want a reasonable priced cb amp, better get one now. You can expect 50 + watts RMS from the unit and if you use good quality coax and a good performance antenna it will do a pretty good job. It will help you get over the noise a good bit farther down the road and in reality, that's all that is actually needed. The kl - 203 amps use mosfet finals, that won't have the potential life span capabilities and it's super trashy with harmonics and distorted audio that causes bleed over. Overall the SD1446 is by far a much better device to achieve a modest goal and do it in a clean manner. 73 Earnest K5EWM. I have been a licensed amateur radio operator since 1976. 73 and GOD bless K5EWM.
I could have swore I heard you in there the other day but couldn’t reach you… funny thing is I have the same amp in the Escalade with a McKinley and Stryker antenna… I have two of these amps and there both fantastic both kicking about 150 peak I’m running low input power not more that 3.2am and 9 ish ssb the other is in mamas Prius with the same radio and the base is a Lincoln 2+ with. 503hd this on is running Low input wattage and getting low numbers because my system voltage is only 12.3V All of them have very low swr and work fantastically especially the receive kicker (funny thing is the red one can be on by itself the black one needs amp on to run the receive hmm 🤔 they all work great don’t over power them I hear… I’ll keep reaching out to ya Mower Junkie love your videos… Norther California Motor Mouth WWS4177 73’s
I have a radio that was tuned to be used with an amp but I got rid of my amp in the 90's. Old guy at my local CB shop scared me and said the FCC would get me if i used the amp. I used to be able to talk skip really good when I had my amp. I can't get through anymore with stock radio. I still have my tuned radio but don't really use it much. I would love to get set up to talk skip again.
I recently got the Red Version of this unit. I think it's about 200W. Problem is, I cant find a place to mount it! I have a 2017 F150 with the center console. I mounted my CB Radio just on the left side facing straight up! I did hook it up and tested it. If you key your mic for too long, it gets really HOT!? Maybe I should get one like yours??
A couple of things to look out for on these amps. Remove the cover and check the soldering on the so239 sockets, had a few cold soldered over the years. Learned that one when it took out the transistor. The switches are poor quality and either fail completely or make poor contact giving a bit of resistance.
I don't know about it being an anti theft device.......But it is a good Anti-Wife setup, She can't drive a standard shift. Yup, the McKinley is back on the shelf. Have a good weekend Joe, 73's
@@JoeR203 I can't speak for everyone but the one that I have is worthless. All that I can hear is noise. It's mounted in my shack with the power cord unhooked. Just been to lazy to sell it.
I run my GrantXL at 3/4 mic gain...4 pill Palomar Elite line and a 102 ss whip. Working great for 15 years with low swr. I'm wondering if your mic gain is too high... shouldn't hear the amp. Great video. I lost 3 grantxl to a flood. Just happy my 4th was high and dry in my truck.
During the CB craze of the 1970s, most cars had alternators capable of a whopping 25 amps. Cars with A/C might have a 40 amp alternator. When you keyed up the big tube amps the headlights would go dim! Serious operators scrounged the junkyards for wrecked police cars and the legendary Leece-Neville alternator. That was then. With the advent of electronic everything on modern cars you'd be hard-pressed to find a car with an alternator of less than 100 amps output.
the KL 200p is actually rated at 100 watts AM, and 200 watts SSB. I have seen 200 out of it when I had it on my base antenna. Thanks for watching, Take care.
@@MowerJunkie I got the kl200p I've had it since 2014. I've hooked up the terminals backwards 🤦🤦 lucky it had internal fuse that protected it. I've hit it with 50 watts swing driving it now for a few years since 2019. My 200p makes a 100 watts only if I have absolutely no swr it might go a little bit over 100 but not much, it does have a Motorola mrf 455 transistor in it so it's a good one. I hear the mosfet amps like to pop the mosfets if you go over the wattage and if you have much over 1.2 swr. But none the less these amps are decent reliable units😃 oh the only reason it hits 50 watts swing is my Lincoln 2+ since I took out audio limiter it swings or is wide open power I can adjust the dead key down which is the most critical issue with these amps is the dead key. I can also adjust the pep swing by adjusting the mic gain
Hi Mr mower junkie I'm assuming you tuned in the arial to a good swr. Did you check the swr once you installed amplifier. I'm always concerned about my swr. What do you think is a good swr to operate a cb radio. I'm using a boat whip on my car
If. You really want to get this thing rocking? Put 8 gauge wire and then. Toshiba red dot 2879. They're on eBay Then have it done professionally. Installed, then hook it back up and do a video of this
