[Elecraft] What's with the new amplifier?

[N2TK, Tony]

Hi Vic,
Poor choice3 of words on my part. I guess a better choice of words would be
that the 87A automatically adjusts for minimum swr for changes in swr within
a certain range. I know it works over the swr range on 40m from band edge to
band edge using a 402cd.
I don't manually program the 87a. I leave the amp find the best tuning. This
way it is one less thing I need to worry about during a contest. Don't know
if this is the best way, but it seems to work fine. Maybe this is called the
lazy man's setup?

I use an Acom 2000A at home. The amp is in the basement. The remote control
head is in the shack. Very quiet this way - hi.

Looking forward to the Elecraft 1500W amp. My wish list is:
- 6-160M
- select a mode for continuous auto-tune like the 87a
- remote control head so I don't need the amp in the shack
- QSK switch-over times comparable to Acom and Alpha.
- Lots of metering info like the 2000a.

73,
N2TK, Tony


 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Vic K2VCO [mailto:vic at rakefet.com]
Sent:	Tuesday, February 14, 2006 5:32 PM
To:	N2TK, Tony
Cc:	'Augie (Gus) Hansen'; 'Jeff Stai'; 'Elecraft Reflector'
Subject:	Re: [Elecraft] What's with the new amplifier?

N2TK, Tony wrote:
> Yes, the 87A has an auto tuner.

 From page 7 of the manual:

"On any frequency where your antenna VSWR exceeds 1.5:1, it's important
to manually program the ALPHA 87A for a proper match. See manual
sections 7.2-7.4. Efficiency, linearity, and output often can be
improved even when VSWR is less than 1.5:1. The 87A does not contain an
antenna tuner. The SWR will need to be tuned via the antenna or an
external tuner connected to the output of the Alpha 87A."

<http://www.alpharadioproducts.com/87A_manu.pdf>

Yes, there is a mode that you can use to adjust the 87A for an antenna
that isn't perfectly matched, just like you can with any manually tuned
tube amplifier.  No it does *not* have a built-in tuner!
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco