Phil,
The Hardrock 50 has an atu - I don't know if the toroids are pre-wound
or not - if not, that's an
issue for me.
Actually, I'm kind of in the reverse situation - I want to keep my
KX2/3, but get rid of my FT-450D
- which is a nice radio, but it's bigger than I can use mobile.
All suggestions are welcome and you certainly gave me something to think
about.
Thanks.
Tom, W1TEF
Lexington, SC
On 5/28/2017 2:04 PM, Phil Hystad wrote:
I looked into that very question a few months ago (February)…
My comments:
1. I don’t think Hardrock-50 has an auto-tuner so in pricing comparison,
compare with
a separate vendors auto-tuner (as good as Elecraft’s) if you are assuming
buying the KXPA100 with
auto tuner.
2. Hardrock-50 is half (or, less than half?) the output power of KXPA100 (of
course, you know this).
3. Include your own labor time in $ for building the kit? I do this for
everything I do to determine
if I want to do myself or pay to have it done. For many of my projects, my
time is a lot more valuable than
the cost of somebody else’s time. For example, as a plumber my own labor costs
are thousands of dollars
per hour.
Well, these are the three key items that I looked into in comparing leaving out
the very likely quality
difference between a full soldering kit built by me versus a kit from Elecraft.
I chose the KXPA100+autotuner as a result of my evaluation.
But, the rest of the story.
I didn’t buy the KXPA100. My reason for 100 watts was to see about getting a
100-watt capable
backup rig and could also be used in portable operations (with adaquate DC
power of course).
I made a wild decision. Instead of getting an amp for my KX3. I sold my KX3!
In its place I
bought a new Icom IC-7300 and it is light-weight and could be portable (not
mobile) as well.
But, I still loved QRP portable ops too so I bought a KX2 to replace my KX3. I
also sold other
equipment that was merely collecting dust to also put together the funds to buy
the KX2 as
well as a second KAT500 to work with the IC-7300 (since the 7300s internal
tuner is not good
enough for all of my antennas in use on all of my bands of interest).
Net cost was minus $130. That is, I had a net gain after buying the IC-7300,
the KX2,
and the KAT500 by selling the KX3, and a mobile HF rig, a mobile VHF/UHF rig,
and a R-75
receiver.
73, phil, K7PEH
On May 28, 2017, at 10:50 AM, Tom Francis, W1TEF <kx2_...@swsports.org> wrote:
Greetings,
I'm looking for a little practical advice about linear amplification for the
KX2/3 (I have both).
Hardrock-50 or KXPA100.
Essentially, it would be used mobile, although taking it out the car and using
it portable is
possible.
So any information from users of these two amps will be greatly appreciated.
Also, as the
Hardrock 50 is a kit, how hard is it to build for something with finger
nephropathy?
Thanks for any info.
Very best regards,
Tom, W1TEF
Lexington, SC
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