Go for the 1500W amp. If you haven't seen it, watch the recent webinar
by N6BV at the PVRC site. Dean addresses how 1 or 2 db can make a big
difference.
Barry W2UP
On 7/16/2012 5:22 AM, Peter Chamalian wrote:
> I have a K3 and the KPA-500. It's a very nice little amp but at 500 watts I
> was getting pushed around all over the place. With my THP HL-1.5KFX, I run
> 800 watts and that makes a definite difference. If you are serious about
> contesting, go for the legal limit!
>
> The difficulty with a non-Elecraft amp may be to get the amp to band change
> for you, depending on which one you get. The Acom will do that just fine
> with a single dit.
>
> Back in the day when I was running tune amps, I would mark the dials for
> each band so tuning was a very quick set of movements. The extra 5 seconds
> won't make a difference unless you just moved someone from one band to
> another and even then it's not significant.
>
> Pete, W1RM
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Richard Thorne [mailto:rmthorne@att.net]
> Sent: Sunday, July 15, 2012 6:25 PM
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] 500 Watt Amp or 1500 Watt Amp
>
> Hello Group,
>
> I'm finally building my first serious contest station after hamming for over
> 30 years. My wife and I moved out to the country last August to a lot with
> no restrictions. My first tower is up and I'm planning a 2nd soon.
>
> I'm looking at amp possibilities. My rig is an Elecraft K3 so the
> KPA500 looks intriguing in that it will follow the rig and I won't have to
> tune it, i.e., quick band changes.
>
> Is 1500 watts really worth looking at? I could go the Acom 2000a or Alpha
> route, but that's not quite in the budget now. So I'm looking at the
> Ameritron AL-1200, 1500 or other comparable amp. The disadvantage is tune up
> time, but I'm not sure that's really a big deal. I've operated at K5NA for
> years and it doesn't take much to tune to a different band using pre-marked
> settings.
>
> So the question, does the extra 1000 watts make a difference? as compared to
> the ability to make quick band changes using a solid state amp?
>
>
> Thanks
>
> Rich - N5ZC
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