Hi Greg, I am still looking for the magical amp. Some get close, but not quite there yet. Presently I am using an Acom 2000A. It works very well. Puts out plenty of smoke on 10-160M. I have a few sets of spare tubes so that should not be an issue for quite some time. It has good QSK. It is remoted - the amp is hanging for the basement ceiling about 3' below my feet. It is nice just having the remote control unit in the shack. The service from Acom has been wonderful.
The only drawbacks I have with it: - 3 minute warm up time. So, most of the time the amp stays on during low band season (winter). Don't really use the amp much for the high bands. But want the capability if I feel I need it. Most of my non-contest QSO's are barefoot. - No 6M. That is the biggie. I would like to have one amp with everything in one package so my next amp will include 6M. By the way I think the 9500 and 87A are wonderful amps. So is THP 2.5. But they don't run on 6M. The new SPE 2K sure looks interesting. Don't know anything about them, yet. I would like to see Elecraft come out with an amp that meets my needs: - 160 - 6M - Instant ON - Can be remoted and controlled from a PC and/or a remote control head. - Put out 1500W on at least 160-10M and reduced power on 6M. - Can handle "continuous" duty for RTTY. - None of my antennas need an antenna tuner so not really interested in that feature. And being solid-state I would assume the amp would handle some excursions of SWR without cutting back power. If it comes in "kit" form I would assume it would be like a K3. I would assume the amplifier boards and the switching power supply boards would come finished and tested as building these could open a can of worms for some. But many could handle the assembly and troubleshooting of high power amps. Maybe it is not cost effective for Elecraft to do this? Maybe there is potential liability with high power unless it is not offered as a kit? Hey, I just may "need" a new toy? This is just my opinion. It won't even buy me a cup of coffee. 73, N2TK, Tony -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Greg Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 4:34 PM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What became of the Elecraft's KPA1500 and KPA 800 As far as I know, no one makes a full 1500 watt output, continuous-duty, no time limit, "brick on the key" amplifier that covers 160-6 meters with full QSK and "instant on". It would be nice to have a built in precision wattmeter, too. I'm sure some would also like an auto-tuner, antenna switch w/ memories, dummy load, monitor scope...etc. It could be "optioned" just like the K3 so cost could be adjusted to the budget of the buyer... 73 de Greg-N4CC -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 2:13 PM To: [email protected] Cc: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What became of the Elecraft's KPA1500 and KPA 800 Frankly, It seems to me that good QRO amps are a glut on the market. (see THP, etc.) To be competitive in that market, any Elecraft offering would have to be highly innovative and I just don't see much more that can be done. IMHO Doug, W6JD K2 #1626 K3 #23 ----- Original Message ----- From: [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Sunday, February 7, 2010 8:08:37 AM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What became of the Elecraft's KPA1500 and KPA 800 YES! That is exactly the question I would like to ask. I very much looked forward to the release a couple of years ago, and now you can't even get a comment from Elecraft about the situation. IMO, QRO is much more important than all these trivial little toys they are building now. I have a much more pressing need for a KPA-XXXX than I do a panadapter (with limited features) and a wattmeter. I have a very nice panadapter that has rig control from the computer, and it didn't cost 700 bucks, and I can control it with the MOUSE. Wayne/Eric, how about some comments on this subject. At least tell us what the future holds for the KPAs. I'm holding off buying a new amp till the KPAs are released. Stan Rife W5EWA -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of DaveVK Sent: Sunday, February 07, 2010 12:21 AM To: [email protected] Subject: [Elecraft] What became of the Elecraft's KPA1500 and KPA 800 What happened to the Elecraft Amps? Did they get beyond 'proto: gee I want one' stage? -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/What-became-of-the-Elecraft-s-KPA1500-and-KPA-800-tp452 8292p4528292.html Sent from the [OT] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG - www.avg.com Version: 9.0.733 / Virus Database: 271.1.1/2673 - Release Date: 02/07/10 01:22:00 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
