: Re: News from Visalia! (:-))

[Lu Romero - W4LT]

I wrote that statement, Jim:

I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the price point for
the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for what you get.  Now seeing
photos, its certainly better looking than my ALS600.  And the build quality
is probably better than my Ameritron product, but for that power level, and
taking into account the value of my time if I had to build it, the cost is a
bit high in my opinion.

I'm not in this to have a pretty shack to impress my friends with lots of
lights, gingerbread and ham status symbols.  If I were into that, I would
take out a 2nd mortgage and buy a 7800/PW1.  :)

Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.  After all, I do own a rather well equipped
K3.  But with two kids in college and a mortgage payment in today's economy,
what I have does an admirable job.  I did have to do "final QC" on my
ALS600, and I did have to integrate a band decoder to it to switch bands
from the radio, and I did have to install Phil AD5X's marvelous little QSK
board, but the K3/ALS600/MFJ998 combination I currently operate does exactly
what it needs to do with little fuss and surprisingly high reliability at a
very reasonable price point.  

While its true that you get what you pay for, as I used to say when I was in
TV and purchased EFP cameras instead of the 5 times more expensive studio
versions of the same thing for my station. "Nobody at home can see the
difference".

It would be nice to have a matching amp and panadapter to go with my K3.
The Panadapter is well priced for what you get, what it is, and for its
computer-less feature set, and I will probably end up with one of those next
year.  

The KPA500, in my personal environment, is not.

Again, my opinion, and your mileage will indeed vary.  Matching boxes are
not high on my priority list because, well, "You cant hear the difference at
home".

-lu-w4lt-


Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:59:58 -0700
From: "Jim Brown" <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] News from Visalia! (:-))
To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:16:58 -0400, Terry Posey wrote:

>ALS600 with the Linear Power supply, AD5X Full Break In mod and an
>external bandswitching accessory plus an MFJ998 would come in considerably
>under the $2,000 price.

Do I understand that you are equating MFJ with Elecraft?  That's quite a
stretch! While I have great respect for W8JI's engineering, that does not
extend to MFJ's manufacturing, and Ameritron has common ownership with MFJ.
:)

I can also buy at least twenty different models of 100 watt HF transceiver
for much less than the cost of a K3. Yet I OWN two K3s.

I just returned from Visalia. The exhibit hall included large booths
showing Icom and Yaesu rigs. The Elecraft booth was JAMMED from the minute
the doors opened until they closed. The Yaesu and Icom booths had only
modest traffic, and were oftn next to deserted.

73,

Jim K9YC

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[Jim Brown-10]

On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:51:08 -0400, Luis V. Romero wrote:

>Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.

Almost all of us have had to get by with what we could afford for
most, if not all, of our lives, and most of us still do. I've been
a ham since 1955. The first rig I bought new was a Heath Apache in
1958 -- two summer's worth of jobs. The secons was a Ten Tec Omni A
in 1980. The third was a K3 in 2008. I've also owned a few new VHF
rigs. Every other piece of ham gear I own was used by at least one
other ham before me. But it's all "good stuff" -- products of top
quality, well engineered.

73,

Jim K9YC


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[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

   On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:51:08 -0400, Luis V. Romero wrote:

   >Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.

Certainly, for some of us, the small size is worth some premium.

Those who are comparing the KPA500 to a ALS-600 should take note that
it's less than 1/3 the volume, and about the same weight as the
ALS-600S.

73, doug
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[Johnny Siu]

Hello Doug,

Can I suppose there is no ATU inside the KPA500?  In other words, should I allow extra $ budget for an ATU to work with KPA500?

cheers,

Johnny VR2XMC



----- 郵件原件 ----
寄件人﹕ Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone] <[hidden email]>
收件人﹕ [hidden email]
傳送日期﹕ 2010/4/20 (二) 12:40:10 PM
主題： Re: [Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))


  On Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:51:08 -0400, Luis V. Romero wrote:

  >Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.

Certainly, for some of us, the small size is worth some premium.

Those who are comparing the KPA500 to a ALS-600 should take note that
it's less than 1/3 the volume, and about the same weight as the
ALS-600S.

73, doug
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[Joe Subich, W4TV-4]

> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
> price point for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for
> what you get.  Now seeing photos, its certainly better
> looking than my ALS600.  And the build quality is probably
> better than my Ameritron product, but for that power level,
> and taking into account the value of my time if I had to
> build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.

Taking this one step further, the KPA-500 may have an updated
design - after all the ALS-600 is a close copy of Granberg's
20 year old design (Motorola Engineering Bulletin # 104) - but
other than the microprocessor control in the KPA-500, the bill
of materials should be fairly similar for the KPA-500 and
the ALS-600.  

The FETs in the KPA-500 will be slightly more expensive (2 x $87
in the KPA-500 vs. 4 x $36 in the ALS-600 for Q=1000) but the
differences should be offset at least in part by easier assembly
and calibration.  I would expect the KPA-500 to sell for no more
than 20% above the street price of the ALS-600 with linear supply.
Any more than that is difficult to justify ... after all, a watt
is a watt.  

73,

  ... Joe Subich, W4TV

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Luis V. Romero
> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 11:51 PM
> To: 'Jim Brown'
> Cc: 'Elecraft'
> Subject: [Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))
>
>
> I wrote that statement, Jim:
>
> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
> price point for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for
> what you get.  Now seeing photos, its certainly better
> looking than my ALS600.  And the build quality is probably
> better than my Ameritron product, but for that power level,
> and taking into account the value of my time if I had to
> build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.
>
> I'm not in this to have a pretty shack to impress my friends
> with lots of lights, gingerbread and ham status symbols.  If
> I were into that, I would take out a 2nd mortgage and buy a
> 7800/PW1.  :)
>
> Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.  After all, I do own a rather
> well equipped K3.  But with two kids in college and a
> mortgage payment in today's economy, what I have does an
> admirable job.  I did have to do "final QC" on my ALS600, and
> I did have to integrate a band decoder to it to switch bands
> from the radio, and I did have to install Phil AD5X's
> marvelous little QSK board, but the K3/ALS600/MFJ998
> combination I currently operate does exactly what it needs to
> do with little fuss and surprisingly high reliability at a
> very reasonable price point.  
>
> While its true that you get what you pay for, as I used to
> say when I was in TV and purchased EFP cameras instead of the
> 5 times more expensive studio versions of the same thing for
> my station. "Nobody at home can see the difference".
>
> It would be nice to have a matching amp and panadapter to go
> with my K3. The Panadapter is well priced for what you get,
> what it is, and for its computer-less feature set, and I will
> probably end up with one of those next year.  
>
> The KPA500, in my personal environment, is not.
>
> Again, my opinion, and your mileage will indeed vary.  
> Matching boxes are not high on my priority list because,
> well, "You cant hear the difference at home".
>
> -lu-w4lt-
>
>
> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:59:58 -0700
> From: "Jim Brown" <[hidden email]>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] News from Visalia! (:-))
> To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>
> On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:16:58 -0400, Terry Posey wrote:
>
> >ALS600 with the Linear Power supply, AD5X Full Break In mod and an
> >external bandswitching accessory plus an MFJ998 would come in
> >considerably under the $2,000 price.
>
> Do I understand that you are equating MFJ with Elecraft?  
> That's quite a
> stretch! While I have great respect for W8JI's engineering,
> that does not
> extend to MFJ's manufacturing, and Ameritron has common
> ownership with MFJ.
> :)
>
> I can also buy at least twenty different models of 100 watt
> HF transceiver
> for much less than the cost of a K3. Yet I OWN two K3s.
>
> I just returned from Visalia. The exhibit hall included large booths
> showing Icom and Yaesu rigs. The Elecraft booth was JAMMED
> from the minute
> the doors opened until they closed. The Yaesu and Icom booths
> had only
> modest traffic, and were oftn next to deserted.
>
> 73,
>
> Jim K9YC
>

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[Guy, K2AV]

Did I read that the two finals in the KPA500 were push-pull?

73, Guy

On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 2:21 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
>
>> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
>> price point for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for
>> what you get.  Now seeing photos, its certainly better
>> looking than my ALS600.  And the build quality is probably
>> better than my Ameritron product, but for that power level,
>> and taking into account the value of my time if I had to
>> build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.
>
> Taking this one step further, the KPA-500 may have an updated
> design - after all the ALS-600 is a close copy of Granberg's
> 20 year old design (Motorola Engineering Bulletin # 104) - but
> other than the microprocessor control in the KPA-500, the bill
> of materials should be fairly similar for the KPA-500 and
> the ALS-600.
>
> The FETs in the KPA-500 will be slightly more expensive (2 x $87
> in the KPA-500 vs. 4 x $36 in the ALS-600 for Q=1000) but the
> differences should be offset at least in part by easier assembly
> and calibration.  I would expect the KPA-500 to sell for no more
> than 20% above the street price of the ALS-600 with linear supply.
> Any more than that is difficult to justify ... after all, a watt
> is a watt.
>
> 73,
>
>  ... Joe Subich, W4TV
>
>
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: [hidden email]
>> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Luis V. Romero
>> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 11:51 PM
>> To: 'Jim Brown'
>> Cc: 'Elecraft'
>> Subject: [Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))
>>
>>
>> I wrote that statement, Jim:
>>
>> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
>> price point for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for
>> what you get.  Now seeing photos, its certainly better
>> looking than my ALS600.  And the build quality is probably
>> better than my Ameritron product, but for that power level,
>> and taking into account the value of my time if I had to
>> build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.
>>
>> I'm not in this to have a pretty shack to impress my friends
>> with lots of lights, gingerbread and ham status symbols.  If
>> I were into that, I would take out a 2nd mortgage and buy a
>> 7800/PW1.  :)
>>
>> Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.  After all, I do own a rather
>> well equipped K3.  But with two kids in college and a
>> mortgage payment in today's economy, what I have does an
>> admirable job.  I did have to do "final QC" on my ALS600, and
>> I did have to integrate a band decoder to it to switch bands
>> from the radio, and I did have to install Phil AD5X's
>> marvelous little QSK board, but the K3/ALS600/MFJ998
>> combination I currently operate does exactly what it needs to
>> do with little fuss and surprisingly high reliability at a
>> very reasonable price point.
>>
>> While its true that you get what you pay for, as I used to
>> say when I was in TV and purchased EFP cameras instead of the
>> 5 times more expensive studio versions of the same thing for
>> my station. "Nobody at home can see the difference".
>>
>> It would be nice to have a matching amp and panadapter to go
>> with my K3. The Panadapter is well priced for what you get,
>> what it is, and for its computer-less feature set, and I will
>> probably end up with one of those next year.
>>
>> The KPA500, in my personal environment, is not.
>>
>> Again, my opinion, and your mileage will indeed vary.
>> Matching boxes are not high on my priority list because,
>> well, "You cant hear the difference at home".
>>
>> -lu-w4lt-
>>
>>
>> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:59:58 -0700
>> From: "Jim Brown" <[hidden email]>
>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] News from Visalia! (:-))
>> To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
>> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
>> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
>>
>> On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:16:58 -0400, Terry Posey wrote:
>>
>> >ALS600 with the Linear Power supply, AD5X Full Break In mod and an
>> >external bandswitching accessory plus an MFJ998 would come in
>> >considerably under the $2,000 price.
>>
>> Do I understand that you are equating MFJ with Elecraft?
>> That's quite a
>> stretch! While I have great respect for W8JI's engineering,
>> that does not
>> extend to MFJ's manufacturing, and Ameritron has common
>> ownership with MFJ.
>> :)
>>
>> I can also buy at least twenty different models of 100 watt
>> HF transceiver
>> for much less than the cost of a K3. Yet I OWN two K3s.
>>
>> I just returned from Visalia. The exhibit hall included large booths
>> showing Icom and Yaesu rigs. The Elecraft booth was JAMMED
>> from the minute
>> the doors opened until they closed. The Yaesu and Icom booths
>> had only
>> modest traffic, and were oftn next to deserted.
>>
>> 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
>

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[Joe Subich, W4TV-4]

> Did I read that the two finals in the KPA500 were push-pull?

That's typical of these designs.  The Grandberg design uses
the four MRF-150s in parallel/push-pull (two FETs on either
side).

73,

  ... Joe, W4TV
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf
> Of Guy Olinger K2AV
> Sent: Tuesday, April 20, 2010 9:06 AM
> To: Joe Subich, W4TV
> Cc: [hidden email]; Jim Brown; Elecraft
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))
>
>
> Did I read that the two finals in the KPA500 were push-pull?
>
> 73, Guy
>
> On Tue, Apr 20, 2010 at 2:21 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV
> <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
> price point
> >> for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for what you get.  Now
> >> seeing photos, its certainly better looking than my
> ALS600.  And the
> >> build quality is probably better than my Ameritron
> product, but for
> >> that power level, and taking into account the value of my
> time if I
> >> had to build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.
> >
> > Taking this one step further, the KPA-500 may have an
> updated design -
> > after all the ALS-600 is a close copy of Granberg's 20 year
> old design
> > (Motorola Engineering Bulletin # 104) - but other than the
> > microprocessor control in the KPA-500, the bill of
> materials should be
> > fairly similar for the KPA-500 and the ALS-600.
> >
> > The FETs in the KPA-500 will be slightly more expensive (2 x $87 in
> > the KPA-500 vs. 4 x $36 in the ALS-600 for Q=1000) but the
> differences
> > should be offset at least in part by easier assembly and
> calibration.  
> > I would expect the KPA-500 to sell for no more than 20% above the
> > street price of the ALS-600 with linear supply. Any more
> than that is
> > difficult to justify ... after all, a watt is a watt.
> >
> > 73,
> >
> >  ... Joe Subich, W4TV
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: [hidden email]
> >> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of
> Luis V. Romero
> >> Sent: Monday, April 19, 2010 11:51 PM
> >> To: 'Jim Brown'
> >> Cc: 'Elecraft'
> >> Subject: [Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))
> >>
> >>
> >> I wrote that statement, Jim:
> >>
> >> I'm just stating my opinion that, in the big picture, the
> price point
> >> for the KPA500 seems a bit on the high side for what you get.  Now
> >> seeing photos, its certainly better looking than my
> ALS600.  And the
> >> build quality is probably better than my Ameritron
> product, but for
> >> that power level, and taking into account the value of my
> time if I
> >> had to build it, the cost is a bit high in my opinion.
> >>
> >> I'm not in this to have a pretty shack to impress my friends with
> >> lots of lights, gingerbread and ham status symbols.  If I
> were into
> >> that, I would take out a 2nd mortgage and buy a 7800/PW1.  :)
> >>
> >> Maybe I'm "cheap", maybe not.  After all, I do own a rather well
> >> equipped K3.  But with two kids in college and a mortgage
> payment in
> >> today's economy, what I have does an admirable job.  I did
> have to do
> >> "final QC" on my ALS600, and I did have to integrate a
> band decoder
> >> to it to switch bands from the radio, and I did have to
> install Phil
> >> AD5X's marvelous little QSK board, but the K3/ALS600/MFJ998
> >> combination I currently operate does exactly what it needs to
> >> do with little fuss and surprisingly high reliability at a
> >> very reasonable price point.
> >>
> >> While its true that you get what you pay for, as I used to
> say when I
> >> was in TV and purchased EFP cameras instead of the 5 times more
> >> expensive studio versions of the same thing for my
> station. "Nobody
> >> at home can see the difference".
> >>
> >> It would be nice to have a matching amp and panadapter to
> go with my
> >> K3. The Panadapter is well priced for what you get, what
> it is, and
> >> for its computer-less feature set, and I will probably end up with
> >> one of those next year.
> >>
> >> The KPA500, in my personal environment, is not.
> >>
> >> Again, my opinion, and your mileage will indeed vary.
> Matching boxes
> >> are not high on my priority list because, well, "You cant hear the
> >> difference at home".
> >>
> >> -lu-w4lt-
> >>
> >>
> >> Date: Mon, 19 Apr 2010 09:59:58 -0700
> >> From: "Jim Brown" <[hidden email]>
> >> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] News from Visalia! (:-))
> >> To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
> >> Message-ID: <[hidden email]>
> >> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
> >>
> >> On Sun, 18 Apr 2010 16:16:58 -0400, Terry Posey wrote:
> >>
> >> >ALS600 with the Linear Power supply, AD5X Full Break In
> mod and an
> >> >external bandswitching accessory plus an MFJ998 would come in
> >> >considerably under the $2,000 price.
> >>
> >> Do I understand that you are equating MFJ with Elecraft?
> That's quite
> >> a stretch! While I have great respect for W8JI's engineering,
> >> that does not
> >> extend to MFJ's manufacturing, and Ameritron has common
> >> ownership with MFJ.
> >> :)
> >>
> >> I can also buy at least twenty different models of 100 watt HF
> >> transceiver for much less than the cost of a K3. Yet I OWN two K3s.
> >>
> >> I just returned from Visalia. The exhibit hall included
> large booths
> >> showing Icom and Yaesu rigs. The Elecraft booth was JAMMED
> from the
> >> minute the doors opened until they closed. The Yaesu and
> Icom booths
> >> had only
> >> modest traffic, and were oftn next to deserted.
> >>
> >> 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
> >

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