Message text written by "John Langdon"
>I installed it two days ago.<...SNIP...> IMHO I would rather have the 87a
with the firmware upgrade than take a chance on the ACOM.<
Many thanks for your input. Sounds like the upgrade is the way to go.
I had an ACOM2000A here for a few days for test and assessment purposes and
took the opportunity for direct comparisons with my 87A. The 2000A is
pretty impressive. It's very well made and the automatics worked
faultlessly, even when extensive efforts were made to provoke misbehaviour.
At rated output, the IMD performance was slightly better than the 87A
close-in but the higher orders (which are the ones that matter) were a bit
worse. Generally, however, there wasn't much in it. The little remote
controller is delightful, and makes life very easy. If you're paranoid,
like me, it's nice to be able to see exactly what the amplifier is up to.
Faced with the choice I'd still opt for the 87A, but it would be a close
call and perhaps not entirely a rational one. That said, my four-year-old
87A -- which now has just over 1,000 hours of filament time on the clock --
has been totally reliable and dependable.
73 John
GW4FRX
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