[Elecraft] Elecraft Product Ideas

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/20/06 7:19:38 AM Eastern Daylight Time, 
ncsailors at yahoo.com writes:


> 1.  A 13.8vdc  dual-6146 TUBE AMPLIFIER, separate box,
> with view of the tubes ... 200 watt PEP.  

Nice idea, but it would compete with the KPA-100. A prime
rule of marketing is that you don't compete with yourself.

I know
> 
> it may sound odd - but TUBES crank it out better than
> solid state - no matter what they tell us!  

I'm a hollow-state fan and builder/user from way back.

Please explain how "TUBES crank it out better than
solid state". 100 W of clean RF is the same RF
whether it comes from silicon or vacuum. 

 I'd buy
> 
> one in a heartbeat.  

I might, too. But it would be more expensive than a KPA-100,
and probably use even more amps. Also bigger and heavier.

It would need a DC-DC inverter capable of supplying the 
plates, screens and grids of the 6146s. Also 1.25 amps to light the
heaters. Variable caps and bandswitching, etc. Many custom parts,
and the parts would have to be bought new. 

The big problem, though, would be getting it FCC certified. Elecraft cannot 
offer
the KPA-100 as an external unit because of certification rules. Hams have 
built the
KPA-100 and other amps in separate enclosures, but those are 
amateur-homebrew-modifications, not a product of Elecraft.

Ten Tec made a 50 watt external amp for their QRP rigs - the model 405. Sweet 
little amp! They had to stop selling it back in the late 1970s when the rules 
changed. 

The FCC rules affect kits as well as manufactured rigs.

73 de Jim, N2EY