[Amps] Flex Power Genius XL 2KW amplifier

[Roger (K8RI)]

I realize I'm just one example.
I used to operate almost exclusively CW and my speed topped out at a bit 
over 40 WPM, but typically I'd run a bit under 30.  Copy by ear and used 
an electronic keyer. I had used the straight paddle for so many hours, 
that I've never mastered an Iambic key.
I always ran semi break-in. I found QSK more annoying than helpful.
OTOH listing an amp as true QSK with delay times listed, "should 
increase its sale ability a bit. Value?  Don't know.

73, Roger (K8RI)

On 10/12/2018 12:07 PM, Richard Solomon wrote:
> How much can adding QSK to
> a Mega-Bucks Amp cost ??
>
> A rather small percentage of
> the purchase pride I expect.
>
> Sounds more to me like the
> bean-counters are ruling the
> roost.
>
> 73, Dick, W1KSZ
>
> On Fri, Oct 12, 2018 at 9:00 AM Manfred Mornhinweg <manfred at ludens.cl>
> wrote:
>
>> Tom,
>>
>>> Just because you don't operate CW doesn't mean there isn't a market out
>>> there for a CW amplifier.
>> I fully agree on that. The question is just how large that market is,
>> compared to the market for an amplifier without QSK capability but
>> slightly less expensive.
>>
>>> "More than 10,000 logs have been submitted for the CQ World Wide DX
>>> Contest, according to Contest Director Bob Cox, K3EST.
>> That shows how very few hams engage in contesting! Assuming that one
>> third of all contesters worldwide participated in this most important
>> international contest, that would tell that about 30,000 hams worldwide
>> are at least occasional contesters - among a total ham population of
>> roughly two million!
>>
>> Of course almost ALL contesters own at least one amp, while among the
>> general ham population maybe one in ten owns an amp. Even so, contesters
>> are only a minor part of the potential customer base for amplifiers, and
>> a very minor part for other equipment.
>>
>>   > In addition, Cox
>>> reports that the number of CW logs have exceeded the number of phone logs
>>> for the first time in more than 20 years.
>> So this tells that CW is on the rise, at least among contesters. Indeed
>> I have noticed some more interest in CW among local hams than, say, 10
>> or 20 years ago. But I wonder what percentage of CW operators value QSK
>> capability high enough to be willing to spend extra money on it. Surely
>> many do, but just how many? In what little CW activity I ever had, I
>> never really missed QSK. And those CW ops I know all have non-QSK amps,
>> and seem to be happy.
>>
>> I'm not saying that QSK is worthless - far from it! I just think (and I
>> fully admit the possibility of being wrong in this) that only a
>> relatively small percentage of hams really values QSK highly enough to
>> only buy an amp that features it.
>>
>> Just tuning through the bands, I do hear about as much CW activity as
>> SSB activity. Also a lot of activity in a few specific digimodes. But
>> most of the CW activity I hear does not seem to be in QSK. Only rarely
>> do I hear a CW op breaking in and the other reacting to that. Most
>> activity is with very clear and explicit TX/RX changeover, suggesting
>> non-QSK operation. This is pretty much the same as VOX operation in SSB
>> - most SSB operators aren't using VOX.
>>
>>> Evidently there is still a LOT of interest in CW.
>> That's for sure. CW is far from being dead.
>>
>>> At least 5272 potential customers are out there.
>> Assuming that every ham who submitted a log for the CQWWDX contest in CW
>>    is a potential customer for a specific QSK-capable amp is very
>> misleading. Firstly, many CW ops seem to be happy with non-QSK amps.
>> Secondly, those who buy only QSK amps will still spread out among all
>> available QSK-capable amps, as customers. Thirdly, each ham might buy
>> one amp in his lifetime, or perhaps a few, but will hardly run and buy a
>> new amp just because it has become available. So the actual sales of a
>> specific amp model to contesters, over its entire production run, will
>> be FAR lower than the number of active contesters. And more importantly,
>> a LOT of hams who aren't contesters also buy amps, so it would be wrong
>> to judge the market for an amp by just looking at contesters!
>>
>> Well, anyone really wanting to know why that specific amp doesn't
>> provide QSK capability should ask the manufacturer. Surely Flex has good
>> reasons for it. In my previous post I outlined what I THINK these
>> reasons could be, but I'm just speculating. I have never talked to
>> anyone at Flex.
>>
>> And I don't mean to put down CW or its enthusiastic followers! I think
>> that it's good that enough hams continue to cultivate this mode and keep
>> it alive. The more variety we have, the better. But a manufacturer
>> doesn't have any obligation to optimize all his products for a specific
>> mode. Instead he might optimize SOME of them for CW, and others for
>> other modes. And typically manufacturers will choose what tradeoffs to
>> make according to what has the best market chances.
>>
>> Manfred
>>
>>
>> ========================
>> Visit my hobby homepage!
>> http://ludens.cl
>> ========================
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-- 
Roger (K8RI)