This is a 146Mc 10W in 80W out "brick" amplifier. Linear or Class C (FM/CW) operation. Unfortunately, I have yet to find a good pinout so that I can effectively hook it into the TR-9130. (SSB switching lead time and hang time takes... too long. Instant switching and ALC limiting would be very nice... kinda like a "real" linear. Definitely not "contest ready", but then, neither is the rest of my station (operator included!))

I may be replacing this with a B-1018 or other "big gun" amplifier. There are definitely times when I can think I might want to flip on 250 watts (Hey, it's only 10dB up from barefoot... that's not too bad, right?).

Hooray! I just (10-1-2002) learned that the fellow who sold me this amplifier wasn't completely forthcoming. I guess I can't blame him... well, not too much, anyway. I tested it when I bought it, and it's my own fault for not testing it thoroughly enough (Note to self: bring coax and adapter kits to next hamfest). What's wrong: the relay that switches the RX preamplifier in and out of the antenna path has a bad contact - this means that instead of picking up an extra 15 or 20 dB of signal when the preamp is kicked in, I lose about 8 dB (just over 2 S units). I thought something was a little funny about that... I figured it out while I was trying to trace around that relay so I could maybe add in a second (and possibly third) preamp because 1 just didn't seem to help enough.... Don't cry too hard, because a quick touch or two with a precision pen-knife along with a few squirts of QD electronic cleaner got it going quite nicely (geepers! I was probing the points around the relay, and I could hear the DMM's noise in the receiver! I'll say that the preamp was working ok...) Anyway, the morals of this story are:

1. Get the sellers Callsign (and name and phone number, if handy) - this is just plain good practice. If (s)he's selling it for a recently departed SK, and crying how you're trying to cheat the poor widow lady out of a few dollars from her dear OM's shack, be sure to get the SK's call, too. Look them up when you get home, and you may find that (s)he's just forking stuff off onto you that was too much trouble for anyone they knew to fix (the SK may actually not be quite so silent, if you get my drift, or there could be a whole string of "problems" around certain people). While the research won't help you -this- time, it will be a name to keep in your little eyeball logbook and flag variously as a "scoundrel", "rotten scoundrel", or "dirty rotten scoundrel". And of course, this doesn't mean that you shouldn't buy things from them next go-around: it just means that you should be triple careful next time you see them at a hamfest, and REALLY thoroughly check things out.
2. Always thoroughly check out used equipment - this bit me this time around. The guy seemed OK, if a little sleazy... but I've come to expect that from ALL used equipment shows ... In a previous life, I worked in a camera store. There was a nice, fun guy to talk to who would come in periodically, and trade lots of stuff he had scored for lots of other stuff, which he could sell at camera shows... and while he was great fun to talk to, he was absolutely just a hair on the "shady deal" side of the street, and we had to be triple certain to ensure that the stuff we got either completely worked, or we knew exactly what was wrong with it. We still dealt with him, he never took us too badly, nor did we take advantage of him too badly. So... make sure that the lights light, the meters wiggle, the speakers speak, the microphones talk (this is the same guy that I got the KDK-2030 from), the power supplies supply power, etc.
3. If you want clean, reliable used equipment, buy it from a dealer that you can take it back to. Sure you pay more, but you rarely get hit with surprises, and when you DO, you just lose a few dollars restocking fee, rather than the whole price. OTOH, if you want fantastic bargains, buy it from the "technician special" pile at the hamfest.

Pictures will follow.

I popped the cover and poked around. This is what I figured out.

Since this stuff is not official, use it at your own risk - I certainly intend to (that's why I poked around and figured it out!).

I haven't built a remote head for my B-108 (YET!) so I can't tell you if this works or not. I expect that it -SHOULD- work, but I'm not liable for damage that you cause to your equipment. Any of these things which you attempt will undoubtedly void your warranty, and if you do these things you are agreeing that is at your own peril. No substitutions, exchanges, or refunds.

Remember, folks, free advice is worth what you pay for it - so get out your meter and verify that your B108 is similar enough to mine so that you trust my bad judgement.