Ok to use VHF Hi-band amp on 2M?

[salty]

I have a Motorola power amplifier model N1274A and want to use it on the 2M ham band. According to the frequency stamp on the back of the amp it was designed to operate on 150.8-174 mHz.

Would I damage the radio or amp if I use it on the 2 meter ham band?

Thanks for the help!

 

[Grog]

It will likely work fine, might not put out full rated power but I know some of those motorola amps put out above what they were rated for anyway. As long as you are within your limits on emissions (not throwing spurs left and right) you should be ok.

 

[rcvmo]

No it won't damage the radio. As long as the radio antenna terminal sees 50 ohms and the input to the amplifier is 50 ohms, you're ok.
However.........
The amplifier is tuned for 150.?? and above. Using the amp outside the MFR spec'd freq. range may induce some dirty harmonics into the airwaves. You could possibly be transmitting a harmonic on some freq. where it's not supposed to be and be picked up by someone else on another frequency and contexted as intereference, have them come a-looking. Lucy.....you got some 'splaining to do.
It is really close to the upper end of the ham bands, and probably won't do much harm, but if you know someone with an RF specturm analyzer, like maybe one of the more seasoned ham radio professionals in your area may be able to "sweep it" for you to make sure everything's on the up and up.
Otherwise, a great power booster for an HT as long as your batteries can hold out. keep the transmissions short!!
Good Luck.
rcvmo

 

[salty]

Thanks Grog and rcvmo for taking the time to respond to my question!

I appreciate both your informative answers.

 

[mm]

That amp works great on 2 meters, I had a couple of them several years back running on a repeater.

I never had a spurious problem with them either.

I swept both of mine on a HP70000 series analyzer and then ran it with a Mini-circuts driver amp from a HP8640 generator and saw no problems from 138 to 174 MHz even at 3 dB overdrive.

I even modified the PA and Low pass filter on one for 220 MHz and it worked great.

The stock models low pass filter cutoff was around 183 MHz and all harmonics from 138MHz to 174Mhz were better than 70 dBc.

MM