[Elecraft] Small HF amp suggestions

[Dyarnes]

Hi All,

I have a RM Italy HLA150, but I haven't tried it yet with the KX3.  I've 
been using another amp, the THP HL50B, which works quite well.  Not QSK 
though.  It has good RF sensing, and gives me abut 60 watts or a bit more. 
It isn't auto band-switching either, but otherwise it has been an excellent 
performer for me with all sorts of different QRP rigs.

The HLA-150 I have works O.K., but it really needs to be hard wired to the 
rig, rather than trying to rely on RF sensing.  That's a problem for some of 
my QRP rigs because they don't have provision for keying an amp.  That's why 
I tend to use the HL50-B.  The biggest problem I've heard about, with regard 
to the HLA-150, is that if you run it much over 100 watts it tends to get 
"dirty".  W8JI wrote a lengthy analysis of this amp, and seemed to think it 
was O.K. otherwise.  It is auto band-switching, which is nice.  So, I 
wouldn't be too concerned about that amp so long as you use it prudently. 
Some RM Italy products get a bad name, mainly because they don't have 
effective band filtering, but the HLA series does.

A friend of mine "field tested" one of the new Ten-Tec amps and liked it.  I 
think it's a little expensive, but it seems to have a lot of features.

I have no doubt that the yet-to-be-released Elecraft amp will be a very good 
option.  The delay in production tells me that Elecraft is probably trying 
to pack every feature they can into the package.  Obviously it will be very 
easy to mate with the KX3.  We don't know the price yet.  Hope it's not too 
much.  I have to wonder if Elecraft isn't re-working their offering after 
seeing what Ten-Tec was putting out.  There are a lot of features on the 
Ten-Tec amp that don't seem like they would be included in Elecraft's amp, 
based just on the preliminary picture of it.  But then again, maybe they are 
planning on a somewhat simpler, but effective product at a lower price?? 
>From the picture, the Elecraft amp seems more comparable to the THP type 
amp.  There is such a vacuum of information, I don't know what to expect, 
except I'm sure it will be a very good product.

Other small amps you might consider include the HF Packer Amp, which has 
gone through a number of feature upgrades over time.  It doesn't put out as 
much power though.  Also, the old Ten-Tec 405 linear is a good choice if you 
can find one.  The biggest problem with those is that they are annoying due 
to relay chatter.  I bet that could be modified.  Those will easily put out 
50 watts or more.  I'm not sure it will cover the WARC bands.

So, lots of choices out there.  I'd probably wait to see just what Elecraft 
comes out with before I made a serious acquisition.  For now I'm happy with 
my HL50-B.  If I like what I see from Elecraft, I can probably cover a good 
portion of the cost by selling that one.  For that matter, I've probably got 
a few other things around here I could unload and maybe end up not being 
"out-of-pocket" much, if anything.

Dave W7AQK