> In an interesting twist, RFE claims on its website that CCI
> (Communications
> Concepts Inc.) has a "monopoly" on selling "HF leen-yar" kits in the US.
>
> ::And RFE is incorrect in that assertion. Anyone can sell amplifier kits
> in the U.S., provided they meet the CFR requirements and make a
> certificated product. Certification costs approximately $4000 per model,
> so a small garage shop may have trouble investing in this, but a real
> manufacturer shouldn't. I think the main issue is that RFE's (and many
> other similar) products would not meet the certification requirements,
> anyway, so money spent in trying would be wasted. If Heath were still in
> business today, I have no doubt their amplifiers would make it through the
> requirements and become successfully certificated.
>
>
> A review of CCI's site reveals that they sell the kits not as "complete"
> kits, but as sets of kits. And they dodge the law by claiming the kits
> are
> for "prototype" purposes, and are sold without assembly instructions.
>
> ::That's not really true, although I understand where you're coming from.
> What CCI sells is a bag of parts and a Motorola App Note or Eng Bulletin,
> and a "good luck" statement. The bag of parts does not make an amplifier
> kit, since it's missing the chassis, covers, RF connectors, fuseholder(s),
> DC input connector, heatsink(s) and cooling fan(s), etc. It's far from a
> complete kit. And it's true, there are no instructions, just the AN or EB
> with a schematic. Any competent builder/ham can complete the amplifier
> and make it work (I've built four of these) but the amps do not contain
> LPF/BPF circuitry so unless some sort of filtering is added, they likely
> wouldn't meet the CFR requirements for harmonics. There is a notation to
> that effect. If you build one and use it on 10 meters, with a decent
> outboard LPF like a Drake, Bencher, etc., it will likely meet the
> requirements (after the filter) and would be good to go on that band. But
> 80 meters is obviously another story.
>
>
> The prices CCI charge for PCBs are almost obscene. I'd love to show up at
> Dayton with a truckload of allegedly surplus Motorola-badged boards tagged
> with the app note or engineering brief number only, and offer them at $10
> each, three for $25, 15 for $99, mix-and-match.
>
> ::I've never bought just the PCB. The kits they sell include the PCB and
> all parts to go on the PCB, and seem pretty reasonably priced to me. If I
> look up all the parts on DigiKey and other distributors and sum them, it
> comes up to more than CCI sells the kits for.
>
> ::73 de WB2WIK/6
>
> Jim N6OTQ
>
> I wonder -- can RFE sell its kits to hams in Cuba?
>
>
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