[Icom] PW1 VL1000 ACOM 2000

Thu, 25 Jul 2002 22:09:46 -0400

Hello Adam,
Yes I remember your experience with HV.  But I warned you about holding a
Martini in one hand while adjusting HV with the other!  You are supposed to
have the non adjusting hand in your back pocket for safety reasons.  The
damp glass only helps in conducting the juice, that is the electrical juice
back to ground.

With the Acom, there is no need to be inside the amp for anything.  It is
completely computerized and all control functions are done via the out-board
RCU.   In all reality, the Acom is as automatic with your rig as the PW-1
is.  It will sense your frequency segment and band in less than a split
second, and auto tune, change bands and if you have the automatic antenna
switch, will select any one of up to 10 antennas to be used on a particular
segment.  All of this is completed in under .5 seconds!  The only
interconnect cable used is your coax from the exciter to the amp.  You don't
even need an ALC line.

The amp will run all day, key down at full legal limit, no problems.  You
may monitor any two of twenty parameters on the RCU in addition to the
forward and reflected power meters, all at once.
The distortion figures are much better than any of the solid state amps or
for that matter even many of the tube amps on the market.  It uses a pair of
ceramic tetrodes vs. most other tube amps running triodes.  And the best
part of it all is the lack of noise.  My computer makes more fan noise than
the Acom!  In fact the fan in the IC 781 is louder than my Acom.

The entire amp is constructed of heavy duty aluminum, front panel included.
No plastic like the solid state amps.  Adam, you know me and how I do my
advance studies before making a purchase, and the Acom was my first choice
by a long shot.  But this is all just my opinion and I hope this sheds some
light on the subject for anyone looking to make a lifetime investment in an
amplifier.  Do look at all the amps out there, then check the Acom last, you
will end up buying one.
Bruce K1XR

----- Original Message -----
From: "Adam Farson" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 25, 2002 7:33 PM
Subject: RE: [Icom] PW1 VL1000 ACOM 2000

> Hi Bruce,
>
> It all comes down to personal choice. I have had excellent results with
the
> Quadra in the 4 years (almost) that it has been in my station. The PW-1 is
> somewhat more automated when driven by an Icom exciter - it tracks the
> frequency and band selection on the exciter, whilst the Quadra requires a
> "stimulus" when changing bands or retuning (F SET or TUNE button).
>
> The main factor which kept me away from the Acom was that near-fatal
> accident at CERN in 1968.
>
> Best 73,
> Adam, VA7OJ/AB4OJ
> North Vancouver, BC, Canada
> http://www.qsl.net/ab4oj/
> Note new e-mail address:
> mailto:[email protected]
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]]On
> Behalf Of Bruce Marton
> Sent: July 25, 2002 15:23
> To: [email protected]
> Subject: Re: [Icom] PW1 VL1000 ACOM 2000
>
>
> Acom 2000 has it over the others, hands down.
> Lower distortion, higher output (up to 2.4KW) fully automatic, fully
> protected and much cheaper finals to replace if needed.
> Makes a 500 watt and up, transceiver.  12 watts drive gets me around 500
to
> 600 watts output.  75 to 80 watts gets you up around 2 KW plus.  I run my
> drive down at 12 watts most of the time and around 50 watts if needed to
do
> 1.5 KW.  Keep everything fairly cool.  The noise level from the fans are
> almost zero in the Acom.  This is your best value in a full auto tune
> operation.
> Bruce K1XR
>
>
>
> ----
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> Icom FAQ: http://www.qsl.net/icom/
>