Tom,
The solid state Icom IC-PW1 is doing a great job for me for everything,
CW/SSB and even RTTY at full circle for the whole 48 hrs non stop. It IS
100% automatic. Having used for that things like grid dissipation, etc,
sound, ehhh, quite strange or obsolete, whatever you call it. The PA follows
bands' change and tunes to your freq automatically and instantly, it even
follows the freq change along the band. They say, a rig with the PW1 makes
the combo a 1 KW transceiver. This is/are the pro(s).
The cons.
1. It is not that cheap (you may check the Canadian prices).
2. It is a 1KW PA, not more. Some people try to get more that 1KW and reach
1.2 KW or so. For some time. Then they get problems (see the ch.1 above).
Go figure.
Happy holidays,
73,
Vladimir VE3IAE
---
----- Original Message -----
From: "Georgens, Tom" <Tom.Georgens@netapp.com>
To: <cq-contest@contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, December 22, 2008 12:56 PM
Subject: Re: [CQ-Contest] Contest DxPed amp
> What has been the contest community's experience with solid state amps
> for heavy duty contesting?
>
> I have often thought about the convenience of no tune amps for my
> contest station. It is also nice to have lighter models in case I have
> to bring them home for repair. My current amps (AL1200 and TenTec
> Centurion) have been very reliable recently but are not easy to bring
> home for repair. I have spare transformers for each at home to make
> transport easier, but the AL1200 is relatively large.
>
> Is auto tune in these amps a requirement for stabilty/reliablitly as my
> antennas are reasonably matched? I have other means of providing SWR
> protection in the event of a failure.
>
> Is the cooling sufficient for full bore operation (no RTTY) in a hot
> room?
>
> Does ALC work well enough to protect the amps from overdrive without
> having to touch it every time you change bands? This would defeat some
> of the automation of the no tune amps.
>
> The tube amps are not exactly convenient, but it has been a few years
> since I had one fail during a contest. I would hate to give that up as
> my environment, long times between use and very hot and humid, is not
> conductive to amp reliability.
>
> 73 and Happy Holidays
>
> Tom W2SC 8P5A
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: kr2q@optimum.net [mailto:kr2q@optimum.net]
> Sent: Saturday, December 20, 2008 5:40 PM
> To: cq-contest@contesting.com
> Subject: [CQ-Contest] Contest DxPed amp
>
> I just happened to run into this:
>
> http://www.ameritron.com/catalog/Ameritron_2009.pdf
>
> See page 9.
>
> Very light weight!
>
> de Doug KR2Q
>
> I have no vested interest in this company.
> _______________________________________________
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