[Amps] Tubes vs. Solid State (was) Expert Amps 2K-FA: Any Opinions ?

[Carl]

There were plenty of old amps run on CW at "2000W PEP" at 1200-1300W out and 
many never broke into a sweat either and were capable of more. It was the 
SB-200 and 220 that brought the wimpy PS and everything else into the 
forefront.

Carl
KM1H


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "W2XJ" <w2xj at nyc.rr.com>
To: <amps at contesting.com>
Sent: Monday, April 30, 2012 1:04 PM
Subject: Re: [Amps] Tubes vs. Solid State (was) Expert Amps 2K-FA: Any 
Opinions ?


> Depending on modes used, amps today need to do more than older amps.
> Back when the power limit was 1 KW input amps had to produce nearly half
> the power that modern amps do. 1500 W out with RTTY, Cw or PSK31
> requires a lot more guts as well as low IMD. Modern tube amps that can
> really do this also cost around $6K so that seems to be the market price
> point for a good gutsy amp regardless of the technology.
>
> On 4/30/12 5:17 AM, Pete Smith N4ZR wrote:
>> Bravo, Jim.  Interestingly, Elecraft showed a PA-1500 at Dayton for
>> several years, and I know they had at least one out for field test.  It
>> had a flock of super features, including very fast band-changing, QSK,
>> etc.  Sounds a lot like the KPA-500 X3
>>
>> Recently, someone commented authoritatively (well, it sounded like it)
>> on the Elecraft reflector that Wayne and Eric had decided against
>> marketing the amp because it would have to be priced at $6000, and they
>> thought that price point was too high.  Recent discussion about SS amps,
>> however, seems to indicate that this pricing would now be reasonable,
>> and I, for one, would seriously consider making it my first new amp,
>> even though $6K is more than I have spent on ham equipment in the last
>> decade.
>>
>> 73, Pete N4ZR
>> The World Contest Station Database, updated daily at 
>> www.conteststations.com
>> The Reverse Beacon Network at http://reversebeacon.net, blog at 
>> reversebeacon.blogspot.com,
>> spots at telnet.reversebeacon.net, port 7000 and
>> arcluster.reversebeacon.net, port 7000
>>
>>
>> On 4/29/2012 11:02 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
>>> On 4/29/2012 5:24 PM, Roger (K8RI) wrote:
>>>>> Most of the tube designs have been significantly "over engineered".
>>>>>>    That is, the tubes have excess plate dissipation for the power 
>>>>>> output
>>>>>>    and grids that will take a significant beating.
>>>> Which is a plus for tubes.
>>> Naw, it's a plus for conservative design.
>>>
>>> One thing that seems to be missed in this discussion about home brewing
>>> amps was clearly pointed in a comment in this thread -- the key to solid
>>> state amp design is THERMAL design and protection.  Those are very
>>> different skills than most amp designers of our generation learned, so
>>> at least in part, it's an "old dog new tricks" problem, not a limitation
>>> of the technology.
>>>
>>> 73, Jim K9YC
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