Antenna Specialists Monitor Preamplifiers

[trp2525]

I was wondering if anyone here at RR has had any experience using the Antenna Specialists Monitor Preamplifiers that were manufactured/sold in the early 1970s. They operated on a standard 9-volt battery for mobile use or a 9-volt battery eliminator for base station use. The specs say they provided 20 dB of amplification and used Motorola connectors in/out (see attached JPEG ad from the May 1972 issue of S9 Magazine). There were 3 models that were made as follows:

MON-25 VHF-High 148-174 MHZ
MON-26 VHF-Low and VHF-High 30-50 MHz and 148-174 MHz
MON-28 UHF 450-470 MHz

Does anyone have one of these preamps still in use today? How is their performance compared to more modern/recent designs? Any feedback would be appreciated.

 

[lmrtek]

I'm sure it would work well and it also would likely attenuate instead of amplify out of band signals

despite all the claims and nit picking that goes on today, the older equipment was actually built better

hams get hung up on splitting hairs and using the wrong type preamp for the wrong purpose

gas fet preamps for example can improve reception slightly on
a SSB weak signal application on vhf or UHF, but you will likely not notice any improvement on a FM signal over a good bipolar amp

 

[teufler]

had one of those back in the 70's. They did bring signal strength up, though I had to put up with all rf signals amplified. had to adjust the squelch at times and the volume on already strong signals. These were the days of simplex operation or split frequency on state police frequencies. . Went to the Uniden preamp, still using it, it was powered off the normal 12 vlt radio power. BC-004 was the model number. Both preamps worked good for mobile use, though the Uniden offered no battery design..

 

[magician1073]

A/S signal amps

I was wondering if anyone here at RR has had any experience using the Antenna Specialists Monitor Preamplifiers that were manufactured/sold in the early 1970s. They operated on a standard 9-volt battery for mobile use or a 9-volt battery eliminator for base station use. The specs say they provided 20 dB of amplification and used Motorola connectors in/out (see attached JPEG ad from the May 1972 issue of S9 Magazine). There were 3 models that were made as follows:

MON-25 VHF-High 148-174 MHZ
MON-26 VHF-Low and VHF-High 30-50 MHz and 148-174 MHz
MON-28 UHF 450-470 MHz

Does anyone have one of these preamps still in use today? How is their performance compared to more modern/recent designs? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I sold and used these amps in the 70 & 80s. They did make a good performance difference in the 148 MHz -174 Mhz frequency range in what I was able to monitor. I did not notice any problem with increase in noise. We always had good performance with. A/S products.