I am thoroughly DISpleased with the Expert 1K-FA for FULL-BORE Contesting.
Within 15 or 20 minutes of operating, the output power drops about 100 watts
or more which the USA Tech says is typical for such an amp. This is NOT
advertised in the SPE marketing materials ;0(
OTOH, I have two lighter weight Ameritron ALS-600S amps (switching power
supply versions) for DX or Contest-Pedition purposes, neither of which have
exhibited such a high percentage power drop (even without any special
'Contest Mode Fans' in them).
Although less power but MUCH easier to deal with two lesser weight
components which fit nicely into a well padded Pelican 1650 case, I used one
as KL8C in the ARRL CW SS in 2007 with absolutely no operational problems.
Garry/NI6T & I used the other one in our CQP Kings County expedition this
past October also with no issues.
The only drawback, of course, is that you may need a tuner if the SWR isn't
real low. For KL8C my HS-1800 screwdriver with DX Engineering aluminum
extension shafts and Hot-Rodz capacity hat was the 'remote' tuner :^) In
Kings County, we used an LDG-1000.
Both my ALS-600S amps have the nifty AD5X Full QSK modification (I think
Phil's kit was only about $40 or so for each amp). See
http://www.ad5x.com/images/Presentations/QSKals500als600RevA.pdf .
Ameritron now has an upgraded version of the ALS-600S which is configured to
use a band decoder for auto-band switching. Unfortunately, they still
haven't been able to get the ARI-500 unit to work with a TS-480. I'm
hoping a resolution for this can be found soon.
There is a higher power version of the ALS-600S coming out soon that might
be worthwhile looking into as an option.
FYI & 73.
Rick, K6VVA * The Locust
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