[Elecraft] : Re: News from Visalia! (:-))

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

> 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: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] 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" <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] News from Visalia! (:-))
> To: "Elecraft" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Message-ID: <20100419170000.2A58C588D6 at gw1.nlenet.net>
> 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
>