[Elecraft] KW Amp Prices

[JS]

We mostly live in high rise multi-storey condominium in Hong Kong.  Outdoor 
huge antennas are definitely out of question.  While most of the time using 
QRP, QRO is not a sin especially in some marginal and difficult situation. 
In case necessary, I use my K2 to drive my ICOM ICPW-1 to get about 300 
watts.

It is nothing wrong with an AMP kit.  It is educational.  How to use the AMP 
is a matter of operation practice and the AMP itself is nothing evil.  I am 
looking forward to having an AMP Kit which I can build and maintain.  I love 
my PW-1 but it has to be sent back to factory if there is anything wrong.

Shall we think more positively?  The skill learnt from building an AMP kit 
should be different.

It is my 2 cents view.

72/73

Johnny Siu VR2XMC

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Vic Rosenthal" <vic at rakefet.com>
To: <DYARNES at aol.com>
Cc: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>; <w7is at intergate.com>
Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 1:45 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KW Amp Prices


> DYARNES at aol.com wrote:
>
>> If you spend  one tenth of that amount sprucing up your antenna system 
>> you will get more  benefit.
>
> If you already have a 'basic tribander' or similar on a 40-foot tower, the 
> next step up is to a 'serious' beam on a 70 foot tower.  That will cost 
> you more than most amps, and in many cases is impossible because of 
> neighbors, zoning, etc. If your antenna is currently a hamstick, then, 
> yes, spruce it up first!
>
>> Anything more  than a couple hundred watts just creates QRM--it becomes 
>> brute force  rather than technique!
>
> Suppose you have a couple of hundred watts and you are trying to work DX 
> on 160 meters.  There will be lots of times that you call a station and he 
> simply doesn't hear you.  If you are just below the noise level at his 
> location, a couple of DB may put you just over, and you will be heard. 
> You can work a lot of DX with low power, but that doesn't mean that 
> there's no value in higher power.
>
>> In truth, I'm just a tad  disappointed that a company, which has such 
>> strong roots in lower power  equipment and innovation, finds it necessary 
>> to jump into the QRO market.   I realize that everyone has to make a 
>> living somehow, but the incredible talent  in that company could 
>> seemingly be much better utilized in a thousand other ways  than amps.  I 
>> can only conclude that the markup must be phenominal!
>
> I find this statement offensive.  Your personal prejudices are not moral 
> imperatives.  There's nothing evil about QRO, and a manufacturer selling 
> QRO equipment is not profiting from sin.  Given the short transmitting 
> duty cycle and the relatively small amount of time we spend operating, the 
> additional energy expended by QRO station compared to a 100 watt station 
> is small indeed. The markup is not phenomenal, by the way.  If you have 
> ever built high power gear either with tubes or solid-state devices, you 
> know that the cost of the components is much greater.
>
> In the US we are permitted by our license to use 1500 watts.  We are also 
> required to use the minimum amount of power necessary to maintain 
> communication in any particular case.  I suggest that we improve ourselves 
> morally (and legally) by trying to follow this last rule rather than 
> beating up on the manfacturers of amplifiers.
>
> -- 
> 73,
> Vic, K2VCO
> Fresno CA
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco