>
>Tom,
>
>I'm sure ACOM is alive and well. Last I heard, they had shifted a lot of
>their production to the new "1000" line of manual tune amps and are selling
>a lot of them. As I understand it, they underestimated the demand for the
>2000A and as a result are not making enough of them. I would also suspect
>that their margins are better on the 1000. I guess they decided they don't
>need to advertise either one.
>
>73, Dick WC1M
>
/\ Dick -- I used to work for the Technical Support Dept. of The
Pacific Missile Range at Point Mugu, CA. Our dept. repaired Collins
208-U10 autotune linear amplifiers. When a 208-U10 was in good working
order, it was like Godzilla rising from the ocean. 50mW in would result
in 15kW out. However, on average, roughly half of the 208-U10 amplifiers
on the Range were broken, awaiting parts and repair. It seems that mo'
complicated is not always mo' betta. An interesting parallel is the
Antilock Brake System on automobiles. Even though ABS is way more
complex than garden-variety brakes - because it's computer controlled,
ABS is supposed to prevent wheel locking, thereby reducing the chance of
a crash. However, Insurance company statistics show that ABS equipped
autos have a higher accident rate than autos equipped with ordinary
brakes. My guess is that this has something to do with the ABS'use of a
computer. Do computers ever Crash?
- Perhaps the margin on the model 1000 ACOM is better than the margin on
the autotune 2000A due to the difficulties in troubleshooting autotune
amplifiers?
cheers
- R. L. Measures, 805.386.3734,AG6K, www.vcnet.com/measures.
end
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