Palomar 250 Elite Manual

[Charger1]

Anyone have an operation manual for a Palomar 250 Elite? Maybe a .pdf?
Thanks

[shaggy7705]

What do you need to know about the amp? Operating procedures? Specifications?

[Charger1]

Actually I could use both.

[shaggy7705]

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I think this is the amp you have. It has 2 sd1446's in it. no more than 2 watt dk. amp will dk at 50-60 on high and swing 200+ with modulation. It has automatic SSB delay so switching between AM and SSB is seamless. The pre-amp switch draws in distant stations on quiet nights. Doesn't help much when DX is rolling since it all sounds like crap anyways. Three power mode switches. High is 200+, medium iss around 150 and low is around 100. Run this amp with at least an 8 gauge wire to your power supply or car battery.

I was only able to find a schematic for this amp. it's for a Red Devil 250R, but the layout is the same.
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[dirtyjob]

i bought this same amp new years ago and dont recall ever getting a manual when i did, i dont believe they ever made a manual.

[KG4KGW]

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If that schematic is correct this one isn't as far off as some of the other amps. It can actually do about 200w@ 30Mhz (probably the same at 28Mhz) with 7 watts of drive.

I've always wondered why the guys making these would put the heat sinks on the bottom instead of on the top. No one would every own up to manufacturing them as they were made by a bunch of companies over seas under different labels. This is a black market amplifier just like the boomers and a host of others. Some were better made, but all of them I've ever seen are way over rated. Over-driven it will probably meter 250, but only 200w of that would be clean RF at best. This puppy would probably get hot pretty fast at that too. I used to have a Palomar 600 mobile amplifier. When I bought it new it didn't come with a manual either. It was in a Chinese cardboard box in a plastic bag.

BTW, if conditions are good ("The skip is rolling") you don't even need an amplifier, much less a pre-amp for RX. Odds are it won't help anyway. There is an old saying about amplifiers, " Only the first 600 watts count". This rings true for the most part. 600W to start with and then move to 1-1.5KW from there. If you didn't make it with the first 600, you probably couldn't get there with the KW either.

[shaggy7705]

There is an old saying about amplifiers, " Only the first 600 watts count". This rings true for the most part. 600W to start with and then move to 1-1.5KW from there. If you didn't make it with the first 600, you probably couldn't get there with the KW either.

KG4, I heard the same thing. I wonder...Does it ring true? i would think 600 -5k would be a big difference.

[Slyguy]

There is an old saying about amplifiers, " Only the first 600 watts count". This rings true for the most part. 600W to start with and then move to 1-1.5KW from there. If you didn't make it with the first 600, you probably couldn't get there with the KW either.

KG4, I heard the same thing. I wonder...Does it ring true? i would think 600 -5k would be a big difference.

About 1.5 S units if I'm not mistaken.

[Charger1]

Any idea how many amps it should need to operate to full potential?

[KG4KGW]

According to the specs for the transistor each one should draw about 12A at full PEP. This would be about 24 total for the two and throw in a little extra for safety and you'd be looking at about 30A power supply to keep this one happy. Use it in a car and you won't have to worry about how much it draws.

One of these guys who actually owns this amp could probably give a real world estimate for amperage requirements.

[MDYoungblood]

Hi Charger1,
The easiest way is to pop open the fuse holder and see what the amp is on the fuse. If it hasn't been changed it should be a 25 amp fuse. If you are getting a power supply to run it as a base than KG4 got it right and you should get at least a 30 amp continuous duty supply, more if you plan to use a mobile radio with it.

3's

Greg

[shaggy7705]

Hi Charger1,
The easiest way is to pop open the fuse holder and see what the amp is on the fuse. If it hasn't been changed it should be a 25 amp fuse. If you are getting a power supply to run it as a base than KG4 got it right and you should get at least a 30 amp continuous duty supply, more if you plan to use a mobile radio with it.

3's

Greg

I have a palomar 225 with 2 1446's. It's pretty much the same amp. Low-drive amplifier. 4 watts is perfect with it. Been running 4 watts into it for years with no problems i.e. audio distortion, bleedover, etc. I run it on my pyramid 52 amp supply. I modified the PS with 3/8 2" long bolts for the terminals and wired 8 gauge wire between them instead of the factory aluminum sheet they had in there for stock. right now the amp draws roughly 20-22 amps on high, (slightly higher on SSB, around 28) before i did the mod it would pull somehwere around 25 continuous. I had it on my 25 amp supply and trip the protection circuit every once in a while. Just food for thought.

[Charger1]

Well, I have my P 250 E up and running. It draws about 12 amps.

[IndianaShaker]

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I think this is the amp you have. It has 2 sd1446's in it. no more than 2 watt dk. amp will dk at 50-60 on high and swing 200+ with modulation.

I have a Palomar 250 Elite and am trying to figure out why when it is on medium it DKs about 35 and swings roughly 175 but when on high it DKs 60 but still only swings about 175. Any Ideas what might be the problem? It has 2290s in it...