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Lots of great feedback from all on the Elecraft brain trust.
There is a market shift occurring in the full or near qro market. The 2 standouts are the Expert amp line, and the yet to be released Flex/4o3a power genius. One has to ask where the primary market for a full legal limit amp with automation would be. My opinion would be contesters, dxers and remote station users. Others would want such a device but may be less fickle on feature set Things like full qsk, quiet operation, modularity, and over engineering for reliable operation at spec are already something that I think Elecraft would provide as part of their well respected methodology. In order to really be marketable it will need to provide additional value above and beyond expert and flex/4o3a. So again ability to use the 1 amp with 2 radios seamlessly in a rapid SO2R environment would be huge. The flex amp is professing to offer this sans tuner. The expert doesn't quite offer this but has a tuner. Taking the best of both and exceeding that would create a unique market differentiator. If Elecraft could build an amp that could do the SO2R as well as handle high swr tolerance and maintain their usual high standard of construction, performance, reliability and support this would be THE go to amp in the performance ham community IMO. Keeping it as compact, lightweight and quiet as possible is something Elecraft does with all their devices so it's the features that will set it apart. Thanks ~C. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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On Sat,3/18/2017 9:22 AM, Chris Tate - N6WM wrote:
> The 2 standouts are the Expert amp line, and the yet to be released Flex/4o3a power genius. Before calling an amplifier a standout, it must be CLEAN. Based on my measurements, my SPE-1KFA is significantly broader on CW than my KPA500 and Ten Tec 425s. That makes it a poor choice for contesting, where it's broader signal increases QRM to other stations. And how can the 4O3A amp be called a standout when it hasn't yet been tested? Or are there tests somewhere I don't know about? 73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Jim,
I would suggest testing the more mainstream 1.3 or 2kfa. I agree that their "clean ness" is important ( thus the observe and improve suggestion) but what I was trying to emphasize is feature set. They are on to something with the solution in a box. Cable reduction, shack simplification are way up on the value scale. Putting 2 inputs, and including the antenna ports and isolation to provide listening on a band while transmitting on another along with swr tolerance eliminates outboard bpf, tuner, wattmeter and a second set of QRO equipment may just add the value to charge more for it because you save in the end. Clean tx is something all manufacturers should strive for. Thanks ~C. > On Mar 18, 2017, at 10:07 AM, Jim Brown <[hidden email]> wrote: > >> On Sat,3/18/2017 9:22 AM, Chris Tate - N6WM wrote: >> The 2 standouts are the Expert amp line, and the yet to be released Flex/4o3a power genius. > > Before calling an amplifier a standout, it must be CLEAN. Based on my measurements, my SPE-1KFA is significantly broader on CW than my KPA500 and Ten Tec 425s. That makes it a poor choice for contesting, where it's broader signal increases QRM to other stations. > > And how can the 4O3A amp be called a standout when it hasn't yet been tested? Or are there tests somewhere I don't know about? > > 73, Jim K9YC > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Chris Tate - N6WM
Well said Chris. I would add:
Modularity should include combinations of power amplifier modules. Once there is more than one amplifier module, one may ask: Does it ever make sense to use them in a way where the output power is not combined? When output is to be fed alternately to different antennas, some switching can be avoided by dedicating amplifier modules to specific antenna lines, but I think fast enough switching capability available that this is not necessary. However, if someone has invested in dual radio capability for running SO2R, might he not someday want to run a contest in 2O2R, dedicating one radio and amplifier module to each operator? Even if only one multiband antenna is available, with a multiplexer it can transmit simultaneously with two transmitters on different bands. Along this line of thinking, the user interface is also to be considered. A control console would be awkward to use by 2 operators, so you would need two consoles. This would be expensive, and using existing K3's as user interfaces would look good. Making small incremental improvements leads to quick success until it backs you into a corner. Flex is showing an ability to take a broader view with their SO2R support. What is missing there is looking beyone SO2R and providing a path forward that doesn't necessitate replacing expensive boxes. 73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Chris Tate - N6WM Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 9:22 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] Linear Lots of great feedback from all on the Elecraft brain trust. There is a market shift occurring in the full or near qro market. The 2 standouts are the Expert amp line, and the yet to be released Flex/4o3a power genius. One has to ask where the primary market for a full legal limit amp with automation would be. My opinion would be contesters, dxers and remote station users. Others would want such a device but may be less fickle on feature set Things like full qsk, quiet operation, modularity, and over engineering for reliable operation at spec are already something that I think Elecraft would provide as part of their well respected methodology. In order to really be marketable it will need to provide additional value above and beyond expert and flex/4o3a. So again ability to use the 1 amp with 2 radios seamlessly in a rapid SO2R environment would be huge. The flex amp is professing to offer this sans tuner. The expert doesn't quite offer this but has a tuner. Taking the best of both and exceeding that would create a unique market differentiator. If Elecraft could build an amp that could do the SO2R as well as handle high swr tolerance and maintain their usual high standard of construction, performance, reliability and support this would be THE go to amp in the performance ham community IMO. Keeping it as compact, lightweight and quiet as possible is something Elecraft does with all their devices so it's the features that will set it apart. Thanks ~C. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Jim Brown-10
Chris,
Shack simplification and cable reduction are indeed big values. But it can lead to big boxes that are identified with a pre-conceived use case vision. Other companies have made a good living from selling new generations of such boxes. There will always be a market for that, with customers that can afford it and enjoy the process. Elecraft has given us lower costs, especiall as seen over time, by allowing some separation of boxes. This results in more cables, but the proliferation of cables can be limited by a network design that does more up front than allow for the next incremental feature, in combination with some early planning for needed RF interconnectons. Erik -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Chris Tate - N6WM Sent: Saturday, March 18, 2017 10:50 AM To: [hidden email] Cc: [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Linear Jim, I would suggest testing the more mainstream 1.3 or 2kfa. I agree that their "clean ness" is important ( thus the observe and improve suggestion) but what I was trying to emphasize is feature set. They are on to something with the solution in a box. Cable reduction, shack simplification are way up on the value scale. Putting 2 inputs, and including the antenna ports and isolation to provide listening on a band while transmitting on another along with swr tolerance eliminates outboard bpf, tuner, wattmeter and a second set of QRO equipment may just add the value to charge more for it because you save in the end. Clean tx is something all manufacturers should strive for. Thanks ~C. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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