On 8/27/2010 1:39 AM, Bill, W6WRT wrote:
> ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
>
> On Thu, 26 Aug 2010 20:45:35 -0700 (PDT), Jim Hoge
> <knowkode@verizon.net> wrote:
>
>> I haven't made up my mind as to buy or build. If I build, I know it will
>> take me
>> too long to complete the project and I will have a tendency to upgrade
>> components above and beyond what would be adequate. I love to spend time in
>> the
>> shop, perhaps as much as in front of the radio. I suspect that if I buy, I
>> will
>> again be settling for less than I'd like. The short answer is I dunno.
>>
>> Jim W5QM
> REPLY:
>
> Actually, that's a very good answer. Shows you have really been
> thinking about it.
Agreed.
> If I may, here are a few thoughts I had when I went through the same
> decision making process:
>
> The first thing to answer for yourself is do I really want to build an
> amplifier or do I really just want to have an amplifier? In other
> words, is having a homebrew amp really important to me? Or is having a
> beautiful, commercially built amp plenty good enough?
>
It depends on what will satisfy you. I chose both routes. I've been
collecting parts for some time...actually this is the second time for
collecting parts. At one time I had nearly every thing I needed, to
build a real conservative legal limit plus amp even with spare tubes. I
also had lots of test equipment left from when I was in amateur radio
commercially (sales and service), but when I quit work to go back to
college full time and get my pilot's license there were probably 10 to
15 years I never turned on a rig. I sold off everything except a
transceiver, the tower, rotator, tribander, and a couple of wire
antennas. After college I worked 7 more years and then retired. Since
then I've been becoming more active, purchased a good rig, restored some
old Hallicrafters gear, picked up a couple of amps, decided I wanted a
conservative legal limit amp with plenty of overhead and started
collecting parts again. I purchased one of the nicest amps I've had, the
Tokyo Hy-Power HL1.5Kfx. Beautiful fit and finish, auto band switching,
quiet, ran a KW out 1.8-30 MHz (800 watts on six) with almost no fan
noise. It would run that power on those bands all day long with the only
extra required being a second fan.
But, it really wasn't what I wanted so I sold it and purchased a real
amp that would do the legal limit all day long in virtually any mode
save maybe AM which I never operate.
NOW I'm aggressively chasing down parts to build either a 3CX3000, or
more likely either a 4CX3000A7, or YC156. Probably the 4CX3000 as I
can play with circuits from 1.8 through the 144 MHz band.
> If having a homebrew amp is important, welcome to the club. I came to
> that decision and after literally years of collecting parts, building
> and discarding different designs and configurations, I finally have an
> amp sitting on my desk that is built like a tank, does all I want and
> one I am proud of. I built at least four amps before this one but none
> were quite good enough in one respect or another and they all got
The one I'm chasing will be my 4th as well, but the last one I built was
a good 30 years ago.
> cannibalized for parts for the next one. There are a few parts in this
> amp that have been used and re-used for thirty years. I'm sure every
> long-term homebrewer knows exactly what I mean. :-)
>
> But was that a good idea overall? Financially, no. Just in terms of
> dollars and cents, I would have been way ahead to buy a good quality
> amp, use it as long as I wanted and eventually sell it. With any luck
> I could sell a really quality amp for near what I paid for it. The net
> cost of ownership would be relatively small compared to the countless
> dollars and hundreds if not thousands of hours I put into my homebrew
> amp projects over the years.
That was my conclusion as well. I'm a bit of a perfectionist when it
comes to building and when I get it finished I want it to look every bit
as good as any commercial amp...save maybe the Japanese amps.
> But if I had just bought an amp I would have missed a great learning
> experience. I built my amp from scratch, not copying any existing
> design other than taking generic schematics from many sources. In
> doing it this way,I had countless little learning experiences that you
> never hear about or read about in books.
Interspersed with a few exciting moments.
> Without doubt, I am far more
> knowledgeable about how an amp REALLY works than if I had just bought
> one and followed the owner's manual. I made a lot of mistakes and I
> learned from every one. You can't get that kind of education in school
> or from books.
So now I'm looking forward to getting the equipment to make a
professional looking panel as well as do a good job on the metal work in
addition to building a circuit for HF, 6-meters, and two-meters.
I keep telling the locals the 4CX3000 is for packet and making sure I
can get into the local repeater. <:-)) Occasionally some one comes along
that really believes that.
> Enough rambling. I hope this helps with your decision. Either way you
> decide will be the right one for you. Good luck and keep us posted.
>
Likewise,
73 and good luck,
Roger (K8RI)
> 73, Bill W6WRT
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