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How to Key a Dentron Amplifier

Dentron was an American manufacturer of amateur radio high-frequency vacuum tube linear amplifiers. Although Dentron is no longer in business, its amplifiers are common on the used market. The Dentron MLA-2500 operates on the 160-meter, 80-meter, 40-meter, 20-meter, 15-meter and 10-meter amateur radio bands. It uses a pair of 8875 vacuum tubes to amplify the typical 100-watt output of a high-frequency transceiver to 2,000 watts input or approximately 1,500 watts output in the single-sideband mode.

Things You'll Need

Transceiver owner's manual
Amplifier owner's manual
Two audio patch cables with RCA plugs on each end

Instructions

- 1
  Connect a patch cable to the relay jack on the rear panel of the amplifier. Connect the other end of the cable to the relay jack on the rear panel of the transceiver, or as directed by the transceiver owner's manual. This is the line that will key the amplifier.
- 2
  Connect a patch cable to the ALC jack on the rear panel of the amplifier. Connect the other end of the cable to the ALC jack on the rear panel of the transceiver, or as directed by the transceiver owner's manual. This is the automatic level control, and will reduce the transceiver output power as needed to prevent overdriving the amplifier input.
- 3
  Set the "Operate/Standby" switch on the amplifier to the "Operate" position.
- 4
  Press the "PTT" switch on the transceiver's microphone to key the amplifier.

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