[Amps] Not just you... The cost of amplifiers

[Jim Brown]

On Sat,12/3/2016 6:12 AM, Catherine James wrote:
> I have 3 amps:.

I have 3 Titan 425s, a Herc II, a KPA500, a bunch of VHF/UHF bricks, and 
just bought a SPE 1K-FA. Only the KPA500 was bought new. All but the 
KPA500 came used, and all of the used amps combined cost me less than a 
new Alpha.

The 425s have served me well. I think the power xfmr in one of themjust 
fried, but I've gotten 12 years out of the oldest, 10 from the newest, 
with two in service in my SO2R contesting station and one as a spare. 
Those Titans are first rate, no-frills amps.

I like to buy quality used gear when it's available and it's what I 
want. My current rigs are a pair of K3s; they're the first rigs I've 
bought new since 1980 (and I bought them in kit form), when I bought a 
Ten Tec Omni A. :) In the interim, I've owned a Drake 4-line, an HT37, 
Omni V, TS850, K2, 746, TS590, FT736, and FT1000MP.

Comments about cost of living and inflation are well taken. I paid about 
$3.5K for my first IBM-clone computer around 1984, and I could not have 
afforded it if it was not used in my biz. That's about $10K in today's 
dollars. A decent laptop that is at least 4000x more capable cost me 
about $600 in 2016. My biz also needed high res 20-in CRT video 
monitors, for which I paid almost $2K in the early '80s ($8K in today's 
dollars). A better monitor cost me $200 in 2016.

73, Jim K9YC