[CQ-Contest] QRO or Commander

[Bill Turner]

ORIGINAL MESSAGE:

On Thu, 06 Sep 2007 15:29:37 -0500, Philip Leonard WVØT
<leolists at seidkr.com> wrote:

>QRO HF-2500DX vs. Commander HF-2500
>
>Which would you choose and why?  They both appear to be very capable
>amps.  Are there others you would suggest in this price range?

------------ REPLY FOLLOWS ------------

I would prefer the HF-2500 (which I have) because it uses triodes
instead of tetrodes like the QRO. That's just a personal preference,
tetrodes work fine but there can be some undesirable interaction
between plate and screen under certain conditions. 

IMO - and others may disagree - tetrodes are better for commercial
broadcast operation where the amp is carefully tuned up and left to
run on one frequency with one antenna, forever. In the constantly
changing ham environment, triodes are more forgiving.

If you go with the HF-2500 and you plan to do RTTY contesting, get the
new Magnum version. The plate tank circuit has been beefed up on 40
meters and lower frequencies. In the non-Magnum version the toroid was
somewhat under-rated for running RTTY at full power for extended
periods, although short periods are ok. It is ok for extended periods
of CW and SSB at full power.

Bill W6WRT