When it was first released it had 12 watt output and a list of problems such as mismatched microphone, misaligned sidebands and faulty de-modulator circuit etc. All of these problems are correctable, and in the later radios have been corrected at factory level prior to release. The later radios have 25 watt output as standard and some internal modifications. Hence early models are known as 12 watt and later models are known as 25 watt. However, the 12 watt version can be modified to produce 25 watt output. If you are unsure which version you have, you can do a simple test using a DC volt meter (see Microphone Wiring below). Later (25watt) radio's are now known as 497w where as early (12watt and some 25watt) radio's are 497s.
The Albrecht AE497 is a nice enough radio and it has good frequency coverage. After modification it will cover 25.160-29.699Mhz (minor VCO adjustment may be necessary, although I didn't need to re-tune the VCO in my own radio). Anybody who already uses a radio such as President Lincoln or other radio of that standard will probably frown upon this radio, but for anyone just getting into the world of multi-band communication or anyone that just wants a base-station radio could do a lot worse than to look at the Albrecht AE497.
My 497 radio (original 12watt version) gets quite hot in operation, which is apparently "normal" and the radio is supposed to get hot. Although since creating this web-page, I have discovered that not all 497's suffer this problem
Roy from USA (Dragon SS-497) writes: I'm
very happy with my new rig. It blows smoke in such a big way that
everyone is asking what did I do to my station?? This
radio has got to be the loudest radio I've ever owned! I like
it better than my Cobra 2000 by far!! I love this
radio. I've had radios, but none like this. I like it better than
the old Superstar 4900B and even yes, my old Galaxy 2527 believe
it or not. It has a lot cleaner receive.