[CQ-Contest] Solid State Amp - An invitation

[Dan Levin]

For the last few weeks, I have been working on a project to design and build
a 1500 watt solid state HF amplifier.  The impetus for this project is the
need, in a modern SO2R contest station, for some way to automate amplifier
tuning without spending $12k on a pair of Alpha's or Acoms.

My dream is not simply to build such a beast, but to create an "open source"
style collaborative project.  Because a project like this breaks down into a
few fairly independent parts (RF section, output filters, control circuitry,
etc.) - it should be possible for a group of us to work on it together.  In
the end, we could create a set of designs, PC boards, part lists, firmware,
etc. that would make it possible for any contester who was interested in
building such an amp to do so relatively easily.

I have been in contact with, and received lots of input and advice from,
several folks who are either working on similar projects, or in a few cases
have actually built such an amplifier.  Their assistance has been
invaluable.  I have gathered what I have learned onto a web site,
http://www.k6if.com/ssamp/ .

If you have any interest in a project like this, I would welcome your
comments, thoughts, suggestions, or (best of all) active involvement.  There
is a discussion forum that we can use on the site.

All my best,

                           ***dan, K6IF