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write your own review of the Atlas 180.
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KC9GUZ
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Rating: 1/5
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Mar 3, 2008 17:27
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Not worth a hill of beans!! 
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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One of the worst radios for drift ever made. The 210/215 are much better.
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W4CP
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Rating: 0/5
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Jul 11, 2006 15:09
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A solid state piece of junk 
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I owned one of these radios from approximately 1975-1978, and I have been a ham since 1968, and it still holds the record for worst radio I've ever owned.
It was one of the first "mini" solid-state HF rigs-- bleeding edge technology, and it bled all over me.
I bought the Atlas special mount for my car and the Atlas special power supply mount for fixed station use. You could simply pull the radio out of the mobile mount (nothing to unscrew) and slide it into the power supply mount, much in the manner of a laptop docking station. That was a good system, making it very easy to move and use the radio for both mobile and fixed station applications. Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood should consider a similar system for their mobile rigs.
But the radio itself was a piece of junk. For the first year or so, it performed adequately, but then the finals started giving trouble, the receiver started giving trouble and ultimately the radio was just trouble.
I wouldn't touch one of these used with a ten foot pole, unless someone gave me one. Then I would use it for target practice.
It's not heavy enough to be a boat-anchor, but it would make a good target to shoot at.
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K7UA
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Rating: 3/5
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Feb 2, 2006 15:08
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OK, especially for 1970s 
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I bought an Atlas 180 around 1975 to get on 160M. My other rig didn't cover that band. It was ok, but back then any transistorized final amp was very SWR sensitive. The Atlas was pretty touchy about SWR. I had a full sized 160M dipole up, but the Atlas didn't really like to feed into it. I went back to my Viking II. It was a very cool mobile rig at that time.
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WA7H
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Rating: 2/5
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May 31, 2005 17:37
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Needs Work 
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I just picked up a 180 at a hamfest and it isn't puting out full power, I think the finals are shot. I can't find any information on the Internet about this little radio, if someone has an owners/repair manual or knows where I can get info on this radio please email me at w7jsc@msn.com. Thanks,
Steve w7jsc
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VK6MC
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Rating: 5/5
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Oct 10, 2004 04:59
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Miss The "Old Girl" 
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I first used an Atlas 180 in the USA in about 1978 and it seemed a cute little rig.
I purchased a used Atlas 180 about 20 years ago and had it " Bolted " in the car operating Top Band in the UK as G4AXP. In those days I was a sales rep. and spent about 5 hrs a day in the car working the regulars on 1.930mhz. The 180 never let me down even though the heat sink would glow cherry red at times!
It looked like it was "knocked up" in someones garage but the layout was good and boards were easily servicable.
It's stored in a box with some of my "Clobber" in the UK. Gee, I wish I had it here, if only to look at, no-one operates Top Band in VK.
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G3YXM
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Rating: 4/5
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Jun 21, 2001 09:05
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This vintage transceiver still satisfies! 
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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This American-made set is a product of the 70s and was revolutionary at its launch with 100W output 160 - 20m and all solid-state construction. Small too, only 9.5 x 9.5 x 3.5 inches, it was the ideal mobile rig with its 12V supply.
The PA could be a bit disaster-prone but the whole thing is simple and easy to modify. I put a pair of SD1405s in mine and got 170W out after beefing up the driver stage...
The transmit audio is superb with a high quality crystal filter in the single IF. That same filter is a little wide on receive but has good skirt selectivity.
The receiver had no preamp, the RF went straight to the diode ring mixer, this made it bomb-proof but a bit deaf.
There are a few mods to do to make the Atlas perform well but these are simple and have probably been done on any still around. If you like old rigs you can work on, check out the Atlas 180.
Also look out for the later Atlas 215 (160-15) and 210 (80-10) variants, the "X" versions even had a noise blanker!
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