Good points. I retired a Drake L-4B that gave me terrific service for years, but was big, heavy, noisy, didn't cover 160 or 6 meters in favor of the KPA500.

I did have a dedicated 240V service that was totally safe, but technically not to code because the conduit wasn't buried deep enough. So I yanked it out, saving my survivors the trouble. I gained desk space and lowered the heat load in my shack, which is in a big closet that is without A/C.

Wes  N7WS
www.qrz.com/db/n7ws

 On 7/31/2016 10:42 AM, Dauer, Edward wrote:
If one were to construct a demand curve (or surface) with three axes – 
predicting units sold as a function of price and RF power – I would bet there 
would be a significant discontinuity at about 600 – 700 watts.  Below that, an 
amp can run from ordinary home 117 VAC without a dedicated line, as I now run 
my KPA500.  Above that it begins to become dicey to do so; and at some point 
below 1.5 KW it requires 220 VAC to the desktop.  That means that even if the 
selling price of the amp were smoothly continuous with the power output, the 
total cost to many buyers would not be.  It would require some buyers’ 
investing in additional wiring to the shack, as mine would.  So I would expect 
the demand curve to have a so-called downward knee somewhere above 500 watts 
but lower than 1.5 KW, which could change the production investment analysis 
significantly.  Among other factors, that might have helped make the KPA500 a 
financially optimal choice.

Just my guess.

Ted, KN1CBR


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