Here's what I'm planning to send to the list
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Hi Folks - Here is the straight story on our KPA 800/1500 amplifier
release status.
First of all I'd like to apologize for the lack of official status
updates on the KPA amplifier projects. To be honest we've been extremely
busy working on all of our product development, including the KPA's, and
we have not been able to take a breather often enough to update everyone
on our progress. I've had working models of both the KPA800 and 1500 in
my lab for some time (all of the units we've shown people were
operational :-) . I did get a little ahead of myself though by showing
them last year as 'coming attractions'.
We have decided to delay official introduction (including order taking)
of the amps until at least May. We've been very careful not to take
orders or deposits until we were confident we could ship within a
reasonable time frame. This delay is due to the following factors:
1. FCC Approval
FCC Amplifier Certification Rule changes made late last year (removal of
12/10 M block etc.) required hardware and major firmware changes and
retesting in our lab. While these changes are seemingly minor, the
amount of hardware and especially firmware changes were significant when
you add in the time to both make the changes and to retest the amps for
reliability and meeting FCC specs in the lab. (See below for details on
FCC requirements.) We wanted to make absolutely sure that the amps are
rock solid and that their controlling firmware is well tested.
2. RoHS lead free initiative.
This European requirement (soon to be required in parts of Asia,
California etc.) has had a -huge- impact on U.S. electronics
manufacturers. Basically we have had to re-source all of our parts to
remove lead as a component on tinned leads, PCB board pads etc.
(Fortunately standard lead based solder works well with parts tinned
with lead free solder and regular leaded solder is -not- being
restricted in Europe or anywhere else for personal use.) Imagine the
amount of man-hours required to change over almost 2000 different part
numbers in our inventory to new versions, retest them in -every- product
we make, and to manage our inventory as we phased everything over. We
started this over 18 months ago and are now in good shape. But the
impact on resources and engineering development schedules was major.
Many U.S. ham radio manufacturers are just now waking up to the impact
this will have on their operations. (RoHS also restricts other
substances used in hardware, plastics and many other components - Lots
of fun!) We also have to deal with making sure no problems show up
manufacturing lead free PCB board assemblies and we have been very
careful testing all of our manufactured boards.
Note: The European RoHS rules appear to -exempt- individuals in Europe
who are purchasing (importing) parts, or kits of parts, for their own
use. But since the customs officials in -each- country can interpret
these rules as they see fit, we did not feel it was safe for us to
ignore them - even for kits. Those of you in Eu know first hand how
fickle customs officials can be ;-) Also, built products like our T1-A
and the KPA's are not covered by that exemption. (Even the kit versions
of the KPA's will include some pre-stuffed PC boards.)
3. Growth Pains
This is good news. :-) Elecraft has grown quite a bit over the last
couple of years and we have just doubled our manufacturing and
administrative space here in Aptos. We've also added to our engineering
staff and manufacturing resources. Coordinating this - moving parts,
people and resources into the new space, has taken a lot of time and
effort. The good news is that we are healthy, profitable and in good
shape to continue to grow and supply you with great new products!
These areas, combined with the competition for engineering and operating
resources on all of our products (current and future) have delayed the
release of the amps. We basically had to make the hard business decision
on what was to be delayed the most. We also want to maintain our
emphasis on quality and reliability in our products, which requires
careful engineering development, extensive testing and attention to
detail on every product we release.
We want to do this right - As they say, "We will release no wine, until
its time..." :-)
I'll try to keep you up to date here as we get closer to release.
73, Eric WA6HHQ
--------
Notes on FCC Amplifier Rules and Testing:
The FCC changed its certification requirements for external amateur
amplifiers late last year to remove the requirement for us to block
transmission between 25 and 30 MHz. (12/10M in particular). They
recognized the fact that newer technology amplifiers, like our KPA's,
can directly measure transmit frequency and use that information to
block transmission outside the amateur bands in the region of the 27 MHz
Citizens Band in the U.S. The new rule only requires us to block the
range from about 26.001 MHz to 27.999 MHz, which allows us to include 12
and 10 M out of the box.
The FCC also removed the requirement that any external amplifier must
take 50W or more of drive to reach its rated output. They kept the
maximum gain limit of 15 dB though. This means that for a 1500W amp the
min drive is still just below 50W, but it does allow us to take lower
drive, in the 25-30W range, for the 800W amp.
These rules changes required a rewrite of our amplifier control firmware
to remove the prior frequency restriction and to remove the code that
allowed licensed amateurs to modify their amplifiers to bypass this
restriction by entering a unique code. It also required us to retest the
amps in the lab to certify that they meet the new rules. (They do.) On
top of that -nothing- could be submitted to the FCC until after the new
rules went into effect in mid December. Any company who has a certified
amplifier currently on the market (under the old rules) will have to
resubmit to the FCC if they modify their design to meet the new rules.
As a side note - FCC certification does not require any hardware to be
sent to the FCC. All testing can be done by the submitter, and for
amateur amps we are required to test and document the following:
1. Max gain of 15 dB on all bands. No easily removed input pads etc.
that would increase gain. (F/W in the KPA checks overall gain.)
2. Harmonic suppression that meets FCC standards on all bands.
3. No amplification takes place if the signal is between 26 and 28 MHz.
(CB blocking.) Technical description of how this is done.
4. Full theory of operation submitted with schematics.
5. Operating manual submitted.
6. Internal and Internal Pictures submitted.
7. Description and block diagram of lab test set up.
We've tested the KPA's and they easily meet all the FCC requirements. If
the FCC bumps anything back to us on the application, it usually is a
request for clarification on submitted data and docs and is easily resolved.
http://www.elecraft.com
--
_..._
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