I designed military power electronics for over 40 years, heat is the big killer of electronics assuming all the components are otherwise run will within their voltage specs. with the proper cooling which keeps the semiconductor junction temps well below max limits, things can run a very long time. Most ham gear isn't designed for continuous key down operation so buying a 2000 watt amp that you run at 1000 watts is your derating. 73 and happy hamming Mike K1FNX near Boston
@@DXCommanderHQ QSL, the cooler you can run stuff the longer it will last plus you will stay linear which eliminates all sorts of nasties....... you need to get on 40 ssb abt 10:00 pm your time Cal......... 7.140 ish cheers...........Mike, K1FNX near Boston
This is part of the reason why I run my FT-891 at no more than 70w. It’s already in my car 24/7 so it’s exposed to temperature extremes. (I do take it out during extreme cold.) I want it to last and the difference in signal at the receiver end is negligible between 100w and 70w. As conditions improve, I’ll probably lower the power. 73 de WB3CFN/m
This is exactly why I play my bass through a 750 watt amplifier: I like the headroom. It sounds better when it has some breath left and yes, as your analogy describes, if you want to drive at 70mph all day, you don't want a car that tops out at 70 cos it'll die a premature death. Rock on, Cal! All the best from Josh M0DIT
I agree, i have a 200w radio and a amp capable of 2kw, i drive about 20w from radio into amp with gives an easy 1kw out, nothing is over driving and the equipment has an easy life.
That makes even less sense seeing as on SSB, 100w is your PEAK power, and most of the time you're only transmitting about 70 or 80. I think this entire video is bollocks, but if you had said FM I could of understood that there was something to what you're saying.
@Anony Ninja , what ever your name is.. If you think this entire video is a load of bollocks, you are clearly watching the wrong channel. Crawl away back to your pond, there's a good creature.
@@DXCommanderHQ I hope my comment didn’t come across wrong. I intended to mean that I agreed with you. You said the truth. I apologize if you interpreted it differently. 73
You´re absolutely right Cal! That was my decision as well! One reason was to have an Amp that can handle much more than i really do in output power. All things inside a bigger amp is is designed to cope with this performance. When I drive the Am with about 400-600W, everything is absolutely ok and I have more than enough headroom. I have a transistor PA that can do 1200W, about 600-800W in digital. But that's the brochure. In reality it can do that, that's true, but then comes this amp equal to a fighter jet that takes off. The fans go to maximum. Thus, years ago, I also opted for an Acom 2000. I don't need to consider anything there at 600-800W. Actually, not even at full power. Your explanation was absolutely correct. Thumbs up for it!
Precisely Cal, when possible I’ve always favored over-specing, it’s something my Father taught me when he had his heavy duty towing and recovery business. Basically he had a HIGHLY customized military rotator crane, on a 76 International Semi Truck, which weighted 41,000lbs. We normally didn’t have a stitch of cable, strap, pulley, etc. that was operated at its break rating, and most times, we kept it under the operating spec which was 3:1 or 5:1. If we had to push (guess that’d be pull 😂) something like a chain or strap hard, we inspected it after the job before putting it back on the truck. Now days when so many devices on the market are hyped up, and the specs are… well in some cases lies. Fortunately our hobby has many reputable manufactures.
Specs and Lies. AGreed. Same with wind-ratings. I've always wanted to know how an antenna (for instance) can be tested fully in open space at 80mph! (guess they use FEA software).
Well said!! Electronics love cool. The very reason we kept our computer room (in an earlier life) at 60 degrees F or lower. I have a small 100W amp for my Xiegu G-90 to do FT8 with and I run between 75 and 85W out (depending on band) with 1W input to keep from damaging the amp but giving me an increase from the 20W G-90. Just makes sense. Thanks Jack K5FIT
@@DonzLockz 75W is a lot for a 100W amp. Steve Venner from ML&S explained it to me this way, when it comes to FT8, do not exceed the maximum AM output rating of your device (which is usually 25% of the maximum SSB output).
Acom 1010 does the cooking here at G5YAX Manor. Its IPF rating is about 600W (in pink fit 😂). Good thing I bought it prior to gas price skyrocketing as Clerk of Works has denied recent budget requests for radio infrastructure improvements 😂.
Absolutely, its all about headroom. Plus its nice for you to make sure your antennas will handle legal limit for U.S. and other areas that have higher limits of wattage. So you then can say it will handle x amount of watts 100% duty cycle. Thanks for all your hard work. Your a busy guy. 73
Good morning Callum, I have a little ameriton als 600 watt solid-state amplifier, and I really enjoy it. And sometimes I needed it. Thank you for the video. Enjoyed it. Hope you have a great weekend. WD5ENH Steve
You nailed it!!! Plus having extra power makes doing DX a LOT easier. A great antenna with 100w or less can only do but so much & same with propagation. I also find more hams are willing to ragchew or hold extended QSO's if the other party has a strong signal on their end. Then theres busting thru pileups. I work broadcast radio and all our gear is overbuilt for continuous duty & do over rated power and require extensive cooling cuz a 25kw amplifier burning up is not the same as a 100w amp burning up lol.
In the computer world we used to have the same issue with things overheating. With the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A it was the 7805, 5V regulators on the expansion cards. The technology wasn't available to make them to cope with the power needed and they used to get so hot and it would burn the PCB around the component. Now they're available and can handle 2.2 Watts and therefore run much cooler under normal conditions. Exact same analogy. Something over engineered is always better as it will handle the everyday scenario without any issues 👍
After the recent OFCOM consultation it is highly likely that a Full License holder in the UK will be able to run 1kW in 2024. Your 2kW+ amp was a great purchase!
Smiling! My dad was a mechanic used the same speech to me and my first motorcycle in 1964, I pushed it to the limit till I was putting a new piston in it. I bought a bigger motorcycle and never again 15 motorcycles latter and 60 years of riding had that issue.
That is right! Well said. Many people don't realize how much power they are losing through a shack tuner + feed line + a non-resonate antenna. Sometimes greater than 8 DB loss when using 75 ft or greater of RG8x on a high SWR antenna. Their 100 watt rig (Fiat 500) is pumping its heart out with flames shooting out the back but in reality is perhaps only getting 15-20 watts to the antenna. The losses can be horrendous. Even with RG213 it could still be losing 4-6 db. You have the right idea with your DX Commander line of antennas. Compared to the plethora of (expensive) non-resonate verticals on the market that are barely tunable and need a tuner to work at all, a DX Commander and a 100 watt rig is like having a linear amplifier on one of those other verticals.
I love the 100w and a wire moaners.... painful to listen to... ignorance is bliss... My car with do 150mph but is happy and comfortable to do 70mph...with no pressure or stress on the engine... simple really.... I operate within my licence conditions so HTFU 🙂
My 6 year old 7300 has done 100w FT8 almost every day since new and is still going gang busters today. ICOM has always produces a superior PA in their rigs. I only buy ICOM for this and many other reasons.
If these name brand ham radios are as easy to blow up as this guy says, the entire hobby needs a reality check because they're being sold for way too much. Imagine paying around 1,000 dollars or more for a radio, and then having to baby it, and not being able to use it to it's potential - and then having to go out and spend several MORE thousands of dollars just to stop the original item from blowing up. Any 100w radio worth its salt could actually do MORE power, but has been dialed back. If a radio is "AT IT'S LIMIT" at it's full power, then that's a terrible design. I got a room full of radios that are older than me that still put out full power.
@@skoda8761 correct - If a piece of equipment is designed to run at 100W continuous then it should do so without any problems. The problems occur when the equipment is not being run into decent loads, and such like. Over-engineering something can help, but it generally masks the real problem. Andy
Guys, these radios are NOT designed to run full duty 100% of the time. It would be like putting your foot to the floor for hours on end and wonder why your motor blew up.
Hi Cal, I use a Crown MA3600VZ power amp on my hi fi for the same reasons as you use your Acom amp about 25% duty cycle keep cool 😀 Take care, all the best Dave.
OK, so I don't know that amp.. I have 4 x K2 amps (unused..!) and run a pair of XTi-4002 for my system. Normally silent but last summer, the fans kicked in a couple times. The K2 amps are totally sealed and silent.
@@DXCommanderHQ Yes Cal, the XTi range of amps have a switch mode power supply with a modulated HT rail for the left and right amp channels and they are quite conventional topology so they need to be cooled, the K2 amps are also switch mode power supply but the amp channels are completely digital so about 95% efficient so they don't need any cooling all good stuff, the old MA range are old fashioned technology using big transformers and bipolar output stages fantastic for there audio quality but dead heavy and get quite warm to. Regards Dave. Regards Dave.
@@DXCommanderHQ Yes Cal you are correct my mistake, I remember the K1 and the K2 the front panel had a round shape in it to accommodate the big toroid mains transformer, they also have some massive inductors in the output filtering as well, so yes quite a heavy amp but not heavy as the MA range of amps. Cheers Dave. 😀
Excellent explanation Cal. Can't trust the manufactures are derating their power output engineering so running at full power for extended periods is going to make those finals very hot. I like to stick to 50 - 75% output on continuous output modes. Even if I want 100W output, I will turn on my 500W amp and dial back my radio. Many times the fans don't even kick on.
I recently bought my first linear amplifier, an RM Italy BLA600 rated at 500W in all modes. I plan to run it at no more than 400W PEP and perhaps 100-150W FT8, if that. I may just put it in standby (bypass) and continue to run 50W FT8 with my DX10 as Yaesu recommends for maximum digital mode power, we'll see. I think a rare occasional foray into higher power levels in digital mode to snag a DX contact aren't going to destroy it. It has very good protection circuits per the manufacturer. And all of the kit I have to go with it (9:1 unun, tuner, low-pass filter) is rated at 1.5kW. My coax is rated even higher: LMR-400 to the antenna, RG-213/U for the jumpers between the amp and tuner and between tuner and filter. I got the BLA600 because it was available and I could just afford it. Due to the nearness of neighboring houses to my antenna I never plan to run more than 400ish watts HF. It should be enough to be able to be heard.
I’m thinking I should have gone up to at least 1Kw. I have an Ameritron 606s and usually keep it at around 400w which is not straining or stressing the unit too many ch but the extra room would have been better. If I would have gone up to 1Kw or 1.5Kw then several other things would have had to be upgraded as well. Nice video, always appreciate your view
That is exactly why Eddie Van Halen ran his Marshall's on a Vari-Ac....Sure they are 100 watts but if you run them wide open your at least going to be going through tubes ( valves ) like crazy...So to get the tone he wanted he turned the input voltage down to 88 to 89 volts and then he could run them wide open without fear of a classic Marshall Plexi meltdown...lol
@DXCommander yes, that's how he got his famous tone dubbed the " Brown Sound " of course in the later years he went to a self branded amp made by Fender called the EVH 5150iii...it's bullet proof, you can run it wide open all night and it harms nothing but your hearing ha ha
I do not have an amplifier yet!!. I would like a no tune solid state unit that produces around 800-1000W but plan on running around 400 for just this reason even though I could legally run 2000 ish.. I run my rigs now around 65W to keep the finals happy. Great video VA3XAP
Yep! That's why you want big amps... It's called headroom 😊. I've got several different amplifiers... an OM Power OM-2000A+, 3 Henry's, and a Drake L-4B, among others. The Henry 3K-Classic-8877 is my favorite, with an 8877 (3cpx1500A7) tube and massive power supply, it will do easily 3kW PEP. I have it because, if needed, I can run at full legal limit (1500 W), CONTINUOUSLY, without ever missing a beat, and over-stressing the amp. If you want your gear to last, it should be rated at more than you routinely intend to run at, at least 50% more, with 100% being even better. Thanks Callum. Cheers from west Texas... ~Alan
True to life Callum..buying an auto that has only a squirrel under the hood might run fair for the first few hunfred km, but later the same squirrel, from continuously running it's peak will be a very worn and tired soul. It would make more cents ($) to have the double duty power operating at half or less than since (we expect) the workings were built for the higher end and can handle the half all day long. . At least the older designs were generous in these facts. My old mobile 10m/11m tube 65watt amp could do a 100+ when tuned but the tubes were glowing bright purple when doing so .ha! So again lower the plate to half and my stainless whip hummed at 65 watts . Great points made .. A little chuckle here.. An old Heathkit kilowatt built for 80m through 10 m had an air coil tapped and 'tuned' for 11 m and splattered so much it set off the silent fire alarm in the building next door. . needless to say the arriving crew were disappointed to find only a smoking 4000 watt portable generator powering that station..hi hi. I truly believe if that whip were fiberglass, it may have turned to mush in the above load test..
So on account of this I dialled my FTDX3k back to 90% throttle this morning and made 5/5 on 10 into Oregon from the east coast NZ. Antenna is modelled on the 12.4 sig. ZL1HIM
I think everyone worldwide should be able to do the same watts. It is frustrating when I'm doing1800, and can't hardly hear Europe, responding. But they sure can hear me.
Nice video. Another passion of mine is cars (damn me). Recently got rid of a 750 BHP RS6. Did I drive mental in it? No (well mostly no). I did 140,000 miles of work related driving in it. The V8 was solid as a rock and quite honestly was in 4 cylinder mode for most of my trips where I was chasing the econ meter - that was as much a challenge as the performance. The point is, it was never stressed. Miss the car, but the really expensive clever suspension was going wrong, so it had to go. / When I was recording my music I was doing a lot of progrock mixed with classical themes. At one time I had a four PC array in my little studio so the effort was shared between them (lots of virtual instruments, reverb and similar). / So I am am currently 2E0MSR - with 50 W to play with, but as you note, there are losses etc. I have a ACOM 1000 amp which I treated myself to once getting the intermediate, with the aim of using once I get my full. HA - the full is taking longer due to work commitments. So it is a posh office warmer, but it is ready to go - noting that like my car, if I need 400W, then it will be ticking over. / I am addicted to gear though :( Mark. (Aside - Have achieved many good SSB contacts on SSB and appreciate the whole station set up is key, the antenna being at the top of the list. )
I have a Dentron with an 8877 in it. It'll cruise all day at 1500 watts with 40 watts of drive. Easy on the amp AND radio. A friend runs an AM broadcast station at 1kw with the same tube. No problems for 20+ years.
My first amplifier was an Ameritron AL-811HXCE, which was okay for SSB, but overheated on 400W SSTV, etc. My Alpin 100 mkIII runs a lot cooler at 400W on SSTV, than my previous amplifier. There's more headroom too, plus the new 1kW legal limit can be a boon.
It is good not to hammer the amplifier, both for long term reliability and signal cleanliness. Although on the face of it our power limit is low in the UK (400w) it is mandated at the antenna feedpoint, not at the shack. With a few dB of feeder loss and an RTTY duty cycle you do stress the smaller amplifiers.... I have had one of those lectures on air, someone too ignorant to realise that I was actually talking to a friend at greyline time and struggling for that last minute or so of the QSO.
Ignorance.. Yes, they comment here too. There's a chap running his 7300 at fulle 100W. He might be lucky but I know two repair guys who are good at replacing 7300 finals through experience..!
If you get 150 horsepower out of a high compression, 2.5 liter gasoline motor, you will have a high strung engine that will not be able to lug much, and making it work hard and pull to much could blow it up, you have to be very mindful of how hard you work it and how much abuse it can take. Get 150 horsepower out of a low compression 4.9 liter I6, and you will have rough and tumble, hard pulling, cool running, abuseable and durable workhorse that never works too hard to hurt itself. Displacement is more important in low tuned workhorses than it is in high performance sports. I like a 500 watt "10 meter" amp because I can talk at ~360 watts PEP all day long. 1,200 watt HF kicker to talk at 800 watts, or do any FM or digital all day at still high power. Those who run big motors or big amps and "detune" them and run them easy find they have stuff that lasts forever. For many of us, running big means we can do whatever we want, in a variety of fields and interests, with plenty of headroom and not working anything to death. Watch a gunsmith or blacksmith, they will use a bigger hammer and adjust their swing, they don't pick up a small hammer and throw it harder. Bigger, heavier, it isn't about using them to their maximum for the biggest gain, but rather using them at their minimum for duration and effect.
Hey Cal! With 10 meters really opening up, is there a chance you could either build or draw up a delta loop 10 meter antenna? Just curious. Keep up the quality videos, I really enjoy them all!
*EDIT* I'm just going to re-write this completely.. I don't want to be the nay say guy. Good video Calum. Life is full of inaccuracies, and I don't want to be that guy pouncing on mistakes. I can't correct most of my own, so why try and correct anyone else's unless it is life or limb or something really really important.
Great points, Callum! There's a general philosophy promulgated here in the US that you should only ever use just enough power to make the contact, which everyone spouts as though it were a mantra (regardless of what they themselves do, of course). While I understand the logic behind this idea, it seems odd to me that I've never heard anyone here look at it from the standpoint of power efficiency, and make the arguments you've just made. Cooking the radio's final to make a contact is a bit like red-lining a cheap Nissan every time you're out running errands. Cheers!
@@DominicMazoch Yes, and I feel so much safer for all the oversight of the Federales. Especially being that they're quick to spend all that taxpayer money to shoot down ham radio balloons (look it up). Warms the heart.
This "use minimum power to make the contact" seems a total waste of time and thinking power.. Often in the old days, I would reduce my power only to have some guy from another country thinking the frequency was clear and would stomp back on top of me. No.. Use the right bandwidth and keep your freq clear! LOL! With modern radios, we can all be within 2kHz of each other regardless of the power (within limits).
Sure, why not.. For instance, the TS-990s have the capability of doing around 450W if you look at the circuit board, but it's throttled back to 200W. That's Kenwood though! :)
HI Callum, please pardon my french and forwardness. Would you please use a bit of you immensly precious (youtube) time to explain the theroretical and real world diffrences between using harmonics of antenna's in amateur radio,for instance the diffrences beween a HF flat dipole and a delta/sky loop (and its harmonics), i had some questions on the every vs odd harmonic calculation etc. if possible allso touching the height above ground/hedgehog patterns etc .. thank you in advance. Edwin/pd0sot/Sonic . .
PS - I have been quiet recently but been doing a LOT of research about how we can "bend" the 3rd harmonic so it can appear lower down.. Big video coming up and I'll do it all..
@@DXCommanderHQ if you need any help/assistance/encouragement/milk&cookies let me know. I am not one for throwing the question over the wall and just sit and wait until the merchandise comes back over :)
Why high power anyway? Nothing over 5 Watts here for 30+ years. 10m c.w. on Tuesday my 1 Watt got 1500 miles to Bulgaria on an indoor dipole. My report 559 and I gave him 599 with his 100 Watts. Nothing wrong with 559. How much further did my signal actually go? QRP to QRP is a far greater achievement than running our limit of 400 Watts to do the same thing. I've had some great QRP to QRP contacts. How much power do you need? I like my electricity bills the way they are and often run on a solar panel and rechargeable battery. G4GHB
i think an acom 1000 would have done the trick as well. (and keep your principle intact even though - 500w is enough, leave 500w unused and you be fine too) ft8 is a low power mode (if you cant make it with 60 watts.. dont knock other peoples AGCs down using the nuclear 1000w option) I dont think winning by supressing others is what you had in mind, that would not match who you are. And rtty is only done in contests - and 500w is more than enough for that too. I love the acom amplifiers, but truth to be told - it is not used much. Most of the time i do without, digimodes? i do without. If you can afford a 2kw, why not - but whether you really need it is a different story. I dont max out my amp ever for anything else than ssb. Ther is no need, no added benefit... (we all know the 4 x w = 1 S unit = 6db - math, so yeah.. 100 to 400 - that makes a difference... 400 to legal limit ? neglible. no need to max out.) Anyhow, i love my acom. My girlfriends name is "svetlana" would not mind to have the bigger one, but i am honest enough to admit : i dont really need a bigger one. Neither do you mate :) The Acom 1000 does 1300w on my meter with 90w - and most of the time i reduce it to 700w out or so. (half basically) Big respect to all the portable guys and qrp guys and magloopers - i love you all, and respect any of you more than someone who runs the AMP unnecessairly thus shouting farther than he is able to listen. (that is not ment to be a poke at you dxc!.. but you know it happenes)
All good points. I do need the big one else I couldn't test key down at 1,500W for the US market. And running 800W (with 3dB loss on the feeder) is a bit much for most amps.
Maybe people should just buy an RM BLS350 and get it tuned & remapped. My car would only do 155mph, but after it was tuned and remapped it now does 186mph. Of course, I only drive it at 140mph so it lasts a lot longer.
They are also very nice. But I am also led to believe a similar board layout. I seem to remember there was a "floater" designer that had input to both designs.. Can't remember the story now.
Collum…. Let’s see you test that “bugger” at full power, Sir. What would happened to your antennas? Another fire test video? Love these short 5 min (or so) snipit videos! 73 de KD6UYK (Tim).
Well, they do survive. We would need to do another test with a loading coil to get a visible result. The Rapide with it's 13 turn coil did get hot after about 40 seconds on 40m.
The notion that operators should justify using a large amp is ridiculous. Your signal sounded good the few times I heard your call from NYC so enjoy it and ignore the peanut gallery. I can't afford factory nor artisan but, I like and do build my own and the same nonsense gets directed at Homebrewers too. Use it when you like no guilt.
Why for me is bc my receiver on my ftdx10 works so well with my antenna configuration I can hear all around the world but Tx on 100w just can’t keep up bc other receivers don’t work as well as mine, so most often on the lower bands 160/80/40 you need a little kick 1kw usually works but if I’m trying to get over a bunch of qrm like 3YOJ I kick it to 1750-1800average to give me 1500w pep ☺️
Id like to run one of these but the 8k price tag is way too high. I could order it right now but the thing isnt made of gold. There's no justification to charge that much.
I have a Blackstar guitar amp 40watts it can get very warm and its full of SMD components for switching if it brakes down I cannot repair it where as a pure valve design I can it seems to me this amp is trying to be to clever and overcomplicated .
Blackstar appear to be a fine amp company. I knew the product manager. Actually, played in a band with him once. But you are right, it's an extremely "clever" amp and full of SMD!
I do agree with you Laird Callum you need to test your aerials for the rest world I hold USA FCC advanced class licence KG0PL over there I can run 1.5 KW PEP, as well as my full UK amateur Radio licence G0MEJ Your DX Commander Aerials, got stand the power full Data mode full duty cycle. Myself with HF Radio of 100 watts if I am using full cycle data modes I would only run 10 watts PEP output I would my P.A last a long time. It is better to spend money on your aerials systems
now it would be different if you were a CB er they run what they like LOL i run amplifiers when reading the GB2 RS news simply to save the radios but i never run full watts of what the amplifier will do .G0VVT
Gotta call bullshit on that one, as the hobby name indicates the service is "amateur radio" where you are encouraged to actually build stuff not an arms race where you simply throw money at the subject and expect to receive credit for putting out skull crushing signals, built not bought, or in my case cheap and cheerful-ish.
Hey... I just watched this.. ruclips.net/video/kOJrJPjomm4/видео.html - I remember buying one of the last air-cooled 911 C4S in Arctic SIlver. Unfortunately, I lost £36k on that one in 18 months! Mind you, had I rented a garage and kept it, I might have eventually recovered my losses! But I had a family to bring up so that "bet" was lost on us..
Bullocks people just run what you like and keep swr as low as you cane and all of you are buying almost every year a new radio when it is on nr.1 😂 on the list.
I designed military power electronics for over 40 years, heat is the big killer of electronics assuming all the components are otherwise run will within their voltage specs. with the proper cooling which keeps the semiconductor junction temps well below max limits, things can run a very long time. Most ham gear isn't designed for continuous key down operation so buying a 2000 watt amp that you run at 1000 watts is your derating. 73 and happy hamming Mike K1FNX near Boston
Mike, GREAT comment. Thanks for chipping in.
@@DXCommanderHQ QSL, the cooler you can run stuff the longer it will last plus you will stay linear which eliminates all sorts of nasties....... you need to get on 40 ssb abt 10:00 pm your time Cal......... 7.140 ish cheers...........Mike, K1FNX near Boston
This is part of the reason why I run my FT-891 at no more than 70w. It’s already in my car 24/7 so it’s exposed to temperature extremes. (I do take it out during extreme cold.) I want it to last and the difference in signal at the receiver end is negligible between 100w and 70w. As conditions improve, I’ll probably lower the power. 73 de WB3CFN/m
This is exactly why I play my bass through a 750 watt amplifier: I like the headroom. It sounds better when it has some breath left and yes, as your analogy describes, if you want to drive at 70mph all day, you don't want a car that tops out at 70 cos it'll die a premature death. Rock on, Cal! All the best from Josh M0DIT
Nice one Josh. Same here with my XTi4002 amps :)
Always a guaranteed smile in your day when a video from Cal pops up. 👊
Awe! Shucks! :)
Having an amp with lots of elbow room means it lasts longer and puts out a cleaner signal. Simple as that.
I agree, i have a 200w radio and a amp capable of 2kw, i drive about 20w from radio into amp with gives an easy 1kw out, nothing is over driving and the equipment has an easy life.
Perfect.
Only running my 7300 and g90 at 10w they should out live us all 😁😁 Another cracking video C.
On the other end of things I run 90% QRP yet use an FTdx10 at 5 watts. Radio will last forever and I get a great receiver. 73
It certainly will. And honestly, I applaud you.
Great analogy Cal
I only run my 991a @85W on SSB for similar reasons!! Cheers n 73 😉
Boom!
That makes even less sense seeing as on SSB, 100w is your PEAK power, and most of the time you're only transmitting about 70 or 80. I think this entire video is bollocks, but if you had said FM I could of understood that there was something to what you're saying.
@Anony Ninja , what ever your name is.. If you think this entire video is a load of bollocks, you are clearly watching the wrong channel. Crawl away back to your pond, there's a good creature.
Another thing is the bigger the amplifier, the more features it has. That remote screen on the ACOM 2000 is fantastic.
Yes Don Agreed!
You keep teasing us with this amp. We are dying to see you blow some stuff up with it! Maybe a collaboration with Electoboom.
Haha.. I would love to blow something up.. Actually, Mike and I have a plan. Hang on..
“Don’t regurgitate bologna! It makes you sound stupid!” 🤣🤣🤣
You said it Lord Callum!!
Well apparently I did.
@@DXCommanderHQ I hope my comment didn’t come across wrong. I intended to mean that I agreed with you. You said the truth. I apologize if you interpreted it differently. 73
You´re absolutely right Cal! That was my decision as well! One reason was to have an Amp that can handle much more than i really do in output power. All things inside a bigger amp is is designed to cope with this performance. When I drive the Am with about 400-600W, everything is absolutely ok and I have more than enough headroom. I have a transistor PA that can do 1200W, about 600-800W in digital. But that's the brochure. In reality it can do that, that's true, but then comes this amp equal to a fighter jet that takes off. The fans go to maximum. Thus, years ago, I also opted for an Acom 2000. I don't need to consider anything there at 600-800W. Actually, not even at full power. Your explanation was absolutely correct. Thumbs up for it!
Andre! Hello again. Yes, the fighter-jet fans.. No thanks :)
Precisely Cal, when possible I’ve always favored over-specing, it’s something my Father taught me when he had his heavy duty towing and recovery business. Basically he had a HIGHLY customized military rotator crane, on a 76 International Semi Truck, which weighted 41,000lbs. We normally didn’t have a stitch of cable, strap, pulley, etc. that was operated at its break rating, and most times, we kept it under the operating spec which was 3:1 or 5:1. If we had to push (guess that’d be pull 😂) something like a chain or strap hard, we inspected it after the job before putting it back on the truck. Now days when so many devices on the market are hyped up, and the specs are… well in some cases lies. Fortunately our hobby has many reputable manufactures.
Specs and Lies. AGreed. Same with wind-ratings. I've always wanted to know how an antenna (for instance) can be tested fully in open space at 80mph! (guess they use FEA software).
Well said!! Electronics love cool. The very reason we kept our computer room (in an earlier life) at 60 degrees F or lower. I have a small 100W amp for my Xiegu G-90 to do FT8 with and I run between 75 and 85W out (depending on band) with 1W input to keep from damaging the amp but giving me an increase from the 20W G-90. Just makes sense. Thanks Jack K5FIT
Does it still get hot at that power?
@@DonzLockz 75W is a lot for a 100W amp. Steve Venner from ML&S explained it to me this way, when it comes to FT8, do not exceed the maximum AM output rating of your device (which is usually 25% of the maximum SSB output).
@RF_Burns thank you, that's a good way to remember and to prevent the amp from overheating and dying too early. ;)
Acom 1010 does the cooking here at G5YAX Manor. Its IPF rating is about 600W (in pink fit 😂). Good thing I bought it prior to gas price skyrocketing as Clerk of Works has denied recent budget requests for radio infrastructure improvements 😂.
Clerk of works! LOL
Absolutely, its all about headroom. Plus its nice for you to make sure your antennas will handle legal limit for U.S. and other areas that have higher limits of wattage. So you then can say it will handle x amount of watts 100% duty cycle. Thanks for all your hard work. Your a busy guy. 73
Tnx Chris!
I run between 5-200w, never needed any more pwr to get me round the world, and I hope keeping a amp out of the shack will keep less qrm on the bands.
Good morning Callum, I have a little ameriton als 600 watt solid-state amplifier, and I really enjoy it. And sometimes I needed it. Thank you for the video. Enjoyed it. Hope you have a great weekend.
WD5ENH
Steve
Sounds great!
Agreed 100% mate, cheers from Australia VK3TEX.
You nailed it!!! Plus having extra power makes doing DX a LOT easier. A great antenna with 100w or less can only do but so much & same with propagation. I also find more hams are willing to ragchew or hold extended QSO's if the other party has a strong signal on their end. Then theres busting thru pileups. I work broadcast radio and all our gear is overbuilt for continuous duty & do over rated power and require extensive cooling cuz a 25kw amplifier burning up is not the same as a 100w amp burning up lol.
Love the end of your comment.. Haha, I'll bet!
In the computer world we used to have the same issue with things overheating. With the Texas Instruments TI-99/4A it was the 7805, 5V regulators on the expansion cards. The technology wasn't available to make them to cope with the power needed and they used to get so hot and it would burn the PCB around the component. Now they're available and can handle 2.2 Watts and therefore run much cooler under normal conditions. Exact same analogy. Something over engineered is always better as it will handle the everyday scenario without any issues 👍
Richard, you said that pretty well! Good comparison.
Don't make me think about water cooling my power amplifier like I water cool my CPU and GPU in my computer. 😊
After the recent OFCOM consultation it is highly likely that a Full License holder in the UK will be able to run 1kW in 2024. Your 2kW+ amp was a great purchase!
Smiling!
My dad was a mechanic used the same speech to me and my first motorcycle in 1964, I pushed it to the limit till I was putting a new piston in it. I bought a bigger motorcycle and never again 15 motorcycles latter and 60 years of riding had that issue.
Lovely!
Awesome info Callum!!!
That is right! Well said. Many people don't realize how much power they are losing through a shack tuner + feed line + a non-resonate antenna. Sometimes greater than 8 DB loss when using 75 ft or greater of RG8x on a high SWR antenna. Their 100 watt rig (Fiat 500) is pumping its heart out with flames shooting out the back but in reality is perhaps only getting 15-20 watts to the antenna. The losses can be horrendous. Even with RG213 it could still be losing 4-6 db. You have the right idea with your DX Commander line of antennas. Compared to the plethora of (expensive) non-resonate verticals on the market that are barely tunable and need a tuner to work at all, a DX Commander and a 100 watt rig is like having a linear amplifier on one of those other verticals.
Nicely put. Never thought about it exactly as you said it..!
I love the 100w and a wire moaners.... painful to listen to... ignorance is bliss... My car with do 150mph but is happy and comfortable to do 70mph...with no pressure or stress on the engine... simple really....
I operate within my licence conditions so HTFU 🙂
HAHA!!!
My 6 year old 7300 has done 100w FT8 almost every day since new and is still going gang busters today. ICOM has always produces a superior PA in their rigs. I only buy ICOM for this and many other reasons.
Good luck!
If these name brand ham radios are as easy to blow up as this guy says, the entire hobby needs a reality check because they're being sold for way too much. Imagine paying around 1,000 dollars or more for a radio, and then having to baby it, and not being able to use it to it's potential - and then having to go out and spend several MORE thousands of dollars just to stop the original item from blowing up. Any 100w radio worth its salt could actually do MORE power, but has been dialed back. If a radio is "AT IT'S LIMIT" at it's full power, then that's a terrible design. I got a room full of radios that are older than me that still put out full power.
Love Cal but now this is BS, he loves his big power radio and car thats all
@@skoda8761 correct - If a piece of equipment is designed to run at 100W continuous then it should do so without any problems.
The problems occur when the equipment is not being run into decent loads, and such like. Over-engineering something can help, but it generally masks the real problem.
Andy
Guys, these radios are NOT designed to run full duty 100% of the time. It would be like putting your foot to the floor for hours on end and wonder why your motor blew up.
Hi Cal, I use a Crown MA3600VZ power amp on my hi fi for the same reasons as you use your Acom amp about 25% duty cycle keep cool 😀
Take care, all the best Dave.
OK, so I don't know that amp.. I have 4 x K2 amps (unused..!) and run a pair of XTi-4002 for my system. Normally silent but last summer, the fans kicked in a couple times. The K2 amps are totally sealed and silent.
@@DXCommanderHQ Yes Cal, the XTi range of amps have a switch mode power supply with a modulated HT rail for the left and right amp channels and they are quite conventional topology so they need to be cooled, the K2 amps are also switch mode power supply but the amp channels are completely digital so about 95% efficient so they don't need any cooling all good stuff, the old MA range are old fashioned technology using big transformers and bipolar output stages fantastic for there audio quality but dead heavy and get quite warm to.
Regards
Dave.
Regards
Dave.
Late reply here.. Actually the K2s and K1 amps have a MASSIVE transformer so I don't think it's switched mode. Which is why the weigh a ton!
@@DXCommanderHQ Yes Cal you are correct my mistake, I remember the K1 and the K2 the front panel had a round shape in it to accommodate the big toroid mains transformer, they also have some massive inductors in the output filtering as well, so yes quite a heavy amp but not heavy as the MA range of amps.
Cheers
Dave. 😀
Excellent explanation Cal. Can't trust the manufactures are derating their power output engineering so running at full power for extended periods is going to make those finals very hot. I like to stick to 50 - 75% output on continuous output modes. Even if I want 100W output, I will turn on my 500W amp and dial back my radio. Many times the fans don't even kick on.
Exactly!
You can never have enough power ;)
I recently bought my first linear amplifier, an RM Italy BLA600 rated at 500W in all modes. I plan to run it at no more than 400W PEP and perhaps 100-150W FT8, if that. I may just put it in standby (bypass) and continue to run 50W FT8 with my DX10 as Yaesu recommends for maximum digital mode power, we'll see. I think a rare occasional foray into higher power levels in digital mode to snag a DX contact aren't going to destroy it. It has very good protection circuits per the manufacturer. And all of the kit I have to go with it (9:1 unun, tuner, low-pass filter) is rated at 1.5kW. My coax is rated even higher: LMR-400 to the antenna, RG-213/U for the jumpers between the amp and tuner and between tuner and filter. I got the BLA600 because it was available and I could just afford it. Due to the nearness of neighboring houses to my antenna I never plan to run more than 400ish watts HF. It should be enough to be able to be heard.
Nice
I’m thinking I should have gone up to at least 1Kw. I have an Ameritron 606s and usually keep it at around 400w which is not straining or stressing the unit too many ch but the extra room would have been better. If I would have gone up to 1Kw or 1.5Kw then several other things would have had to be upgraded as well. Nice video, always appreciate your view
Love to put “fire down the wire”! One of these days I’ll get you logged Cal, 🤞🏽 I’ll keep listening from Washington state! K7DFL
We will do it :)
Finally got ya Cal! Thanks my friend
That is exactly why Eddie Van Halen ran his Marshall's on a Vari-Ac....Sure they are 100 watts but if you run them wide open your at least going to be going through tubes ( valves ) like crazy...So to get the tone he wanted he turned the input voltage down to 88 to 89 volts and then he could run them wide open without fear of a classic Marshall Plexi meltdown...lol
Ah! I didn't know that!
@DXCommander yes, that's how he got his famous tone dubbed the " Brown Sound " of course in the later years he went to a self branded amp made by Fender called the EVH 5150iii...it's bullet proof, you can run it wide open all night and it harms nothing but your hearing ha ha
I do not have an amplifier yet!!. I would like a no tune solid state unit that produces around 800-1000W but plan on running around 400 for just this reason even though I could legally run 2000 ish.. I run my rigs now around 65W to keep the finals happy. Great video VA3XAP
Perfect Andy!
Yep! That's why you want big amps... It's called headroom 😊.
I've got several different amplifiers... an OM Power OM-2000A+, 3 Henry's, and a Drake L-4B, among others. The Henry 3K-Classic-8877 is my favorite, with an 8877 (3cpx1500A7) tube and massive power supply, it will do easily 3kW PEP.
I have it because, if needed, I can run at full legal limit (1500 W), CONTINUOUSLY, without ever missing a beat, and over-stressing the amp.
If you want your gear to last, it should be rated at more than you routinely intend to run at, at least 50% more, with 100% being even better.
Thanks Callum.
Cheers from west Texas...
~Alan
Nice one Alan!!
As always, having is better than needing
73´s DH1KJ
True to life Callum..buying an auto that has only a squirrel under the hood might run fair for the first few hunfred km, but later the same squirrel, from continuously running it's peak will be a very worn and tired soul. It would make more cents ($) to have the double duty power operating at half or less than since (we expect) the workings were built for the higher end and can handle the half all day long. . At least the older designs were generous in these facts.
My old mobile 10m/11m tube 65watt amp could do a 100+ when tuned but the tubes were glowing bright purple when doing so .ha! So again lower the plate to half and my stainless whip hummed at 65 watts .
Great points made ..
A little chuckle here..
An old Heathkit kilowatt built for 80m through 10 m had an air coil tapped and 'tuned' for 11 m and splattered so much it set off the silent fire alarm in the building next door. . needless to say the arriving crew were disappointed to find only a smoking 4000 watt portable generator powering that station..hi hi.
I truly believe if that whip were fiberglass, it may have turned to mush in the above load test..
Good story!
So on account of this I dialled my FTDX3k back to 90% throttle this morning and made 5/5 on 10 into Oregon from the east coast NZ. Antenna is modelled on the 12.4 sig. ZL1HIM
I think everyone worldwide should be able to do the same watts. It is frustrating when I'm doing1800, and can't hardly hear Europe, responding. But they sure can hear me.
Nice video. Another passion of mine is cars (damn me). Recently got rid of a 750 BHP RS6. Did I drive mental in it? No (well mostly no). I did 140,000 miles of work related driving in it. The V8 was solid as a rock and quite honestly was in 4 cylinder mode for most of my trips where I was chasing the econ meter - that was as much a challenge as the performance. The point is, it was never stressed. Miss the car, but the really expensive clever suspension was going wrong, so it had to go. / When I was recording my music I was doing a lot of progrock mixed with classical themes. At one time I had a four PC array in my little studio so the effort was shared between them (lots of virtual instruments, reverb and similar). / So I am am currently 2E0MSR - with 50 W to play with, but as you note, there are losses etc. I have a ACOM 1000 amp which I treated myself to once getting the intermediate, with the aim of using once I get my full. HA - the full is taking longer due to work commitments. So it is a posh office warmer, but it is ready to go - noting that like my car, if I need 400W, then it will be ticking over. / I am addicted to gear though :( Mark. (Aside - Have achieved many good SSB contacts on SSB and appreciate the whole station set up is key, the antenna being at the top of the list. )
Posh office warmer.. Haha. Love it.
Well said 👏 Totaly agree 👍
I have a Dentron with an 8877 in it. It'll cruise all day at 1500 watts with 40 watts of drive. Easy on the amp AND radio. A friend runs an AM broadcast station at 1kw with the same tube. No problems for 20+ years.
Yes.. AM is the other power stealer.. Good point.
The reason I have way more than I need, it will last a lifetime
My first amplifier was an Ameritron AL-811HXCE, which was okay for SSB, but overheated on 400W SSTV, etc.
My Alpin 100 mkIII runs a lot cooler at 400W on SSTV, than my previous amplifier. There's more headroom too, plus the new 1kW legal limit can be a boon.
Not heard of the Alpin.. But I'm not an equipment geek..!
@@DXCommanderHQit's similar to the Acom 1000.
It is good not to hammer the amplifier, both for long term reliability and signal cleanliness. Although on the face of it our power limit is low in the UK (400w) it is mandated at the antenna feedpoint, not at the shack. With a few dB of feeder loss and an RTTY duty cycle you do stress the smaller amplifiers.... I have had one of those lectures on air, someone too ignorant to realise that I was actually talking to a friend at greyline time and struggling for that last minute or so of the QSO.
Ignorance.. Yes, they comment here too. There's a chap running his 7300 at fulle 100W. He might be lucky but I know two repair guys who are good at replacing 7300 finals through experience..!
Well said!
If you get 150 horsepower out of a high compression, 2.5 liter gasoline motor, you will have a high strung engine that will not be able to lug much, and making it work hard and pull to much could blow it up, you have to be very mindful of how hard you work it and how much abuse it can take. Get 150 horsepower out of a low compression 4.9 liter I6, and you will have rough and tumble, hard pulling, cool running, abuseable and durable workhorse that never works too hard to hurt itself. Displacement is more important in low tuned workhorses than it is in high performance sports.
I like a 500 watt "10 meter" amp because I can talk at ~360 watts PEP all day long. 1,200 watt HF kicker to talk at 800 watts, or do any FM or digital all day at still high power. Those who run big motors or big amps and "detune" them and run them easy find they have stuff that lasts forever.
For many of us, running big means we can do whatever we want, in a variety of fields and interests, with plenty of headroom and not working anything to death. Watch a gunsmith or blacksmith, they will use a bigger hammer and adjust their swing, they don't pick up a small hammer and throw it harder. Bigger, heavier, it isn't about using them to their maximum for the biggest gain, but rather using them at their minimum for duration and effect.
Yes, .. you used the word "headroom". Perfect.
As a dyed in wool QRP nut I'll never have an amplifier. However, if I did it would be a Spinal Tap one and go to 11!
Other way to look at it: You bought an amplifier that claims 2KW, in reality it is 1.2KW and you use it at 0.8KW. It will probably outlast you.
I do sometimes use all the power actually, but only for key-down tests.
@@DXCommanderHQ Yeah I know, I have seen the videos 😉
here here, well spoken Cal
Hey Cal! With 10 meters really opening up, is there a chance you could either build or draw up a delta loop 10 meter antenna? Just curious. Keep up the quality videos, I really enjoy them all!
Erm.. Yeah, we can have some fun with that.. I'll add it to the list.
@@DXCommanderHQ Thanks! KN6QCZ
Absolutely totally agree
*EDIT* I'm just going to re-write this completely.. I don't want to be the nay say guy. Good video Calum. Life is full of inaccuracies, and I don't want to be that guy pouncing on mistakes. I can't correct most of my own, so why try and correct anyone else's unless it is life or limb or something really really important.
Well, I don't recall your first draft - but that was an exceptional post! Never seen it written so well! LOL
@@DXCommanderHQ Ham radio is a great hobby and one I am just happy to be a part of.
Great points, Callum! There's a general philosophy promulgated here in the US that you should only ever use just enough power to make the contact, which everyone spouts as though it were a mantra (regardless of what they themselves do, of course). While I understand the logic behind this idea, it seems odd to me that I've never heard anyone here look at it from the standpoint of power efficiency, and make the arguments you've just made. Cooking the radio's final to make a contact is a bit like red-lining a cheap Nissan every time you're out running errands. Cheers!
Indeed. Well said.
Actually, you are supposed to use the minimum amount of power for solid contact comes from the FCC rules.
@@DominicMazoch Yes, and I feel so much safer for all the oversight of the Federales. Especially being that they're quick to spend all that taxpayer money to shoot down ham radio balloons (look it up). Warms the heart.
This "use minimum power to make the contact" seems a total waste of time and thinking power.. Often in the old days, I would reduce my power only to have some guy from another country thinking the frequency was clear and would stomp back on top of me. No.. Use the right bandwidth and keep your freq clear! LOL! With modern radios, we can all be within 2kHz of each other regardless of the power (within limits).
@@DXCommanderHQ Well said, Cal!
I get what you are saying, but any decent device should have a little 'in hand' beyond the specified Wattage. Many don't of course.
Sure, why not.. For instance, the TS-990s have the capability of doing around 450W if you look at the circuit board, but it's throttled back to 200W. That's Kenwood though! :)
HI Callum, please pardon my french and forwardness. Would you please use a bit of you immensly precious (youtube) time to explain the theroretical and real world diffrences between using harmonics of antenna's in amateur radio,for instance the diffrences beween a HF flat dipole and a delta/sky loop (and its harmonics), i had some questions on the every vs odd harmonic calculation etc. if possible allso touching the height above ground/hedgehog patterns etc .. thank you in advance. Edwin/pd0sot/Sonic . .
That is a GOOD idea.. If I make a long-form video about this, it will educate me as well!
PS - I have been quiet recently but been doing a LOT of research about how we can "bend" the 3rd harmonic so it can appear lower down.. Big video coming up and I'll do it all..
@@DXCommanderHQ if you need any help/assistance/encouragement/milk&cookies let me know. I am not one for throwing the question over the wall and just sit and wait until the merchandise comes back over :)
Why high power anyway? Nothing over 5 Watts here for 30+ years.
10m c.w. on Tuesday my 1 Watt got 1500 miles to Bulgaria on an indoor dipole. My report 559 and I gave him 599 with his 100 Watts. Nothing wrong with 559. How much further did my signal actually go?
QRP to QRP is a far greater achievement than running our limit of 400 Watts to do the same thing. I've had some great QRP to QRP contacts.
How much power do you need?
I like my electricity bills the way they are and often run on a solar panel and rechargeable battery.
G4GHB
I'm sure Bill. Some folks like an armchair copy too. Horses for courses.
@@DXCommanderHQ Well, okay, but I'm more impressed with Miles Per Watt than Watts Per Mile.
Great. You enjoy it.
i think an acom 1000 would have done the trick as well. (and keep your principle intact even though - 500w is enough, leave 500w unused and you be fine too)
ft8 is a low power mode (if you cant make it with 60 watts.. dont knock other peoples AGCs down using the nuclear 1000w option)
I dont think winning by supressing others is what you had in mind, that would not match who you are.
And rtty is only done in contests - and 500w is more than enough for that too.
I love the acom amplifiers, but truth to be told - it is not used much. Most of the time i do without, digimodes? i do without.
If you can afford a 2kw, why not - but whether you really need it is a different story. I dont max out my amp ever for anything else than ssb. Ther is no need, no added
benefit... (we all know the 4 x w = 1 S unit = 6db - math, so yeah.. 100 to 400 - that makes a difference... 400 to legal limit ? neglible. no need to max out.)
Anyhow, i love my acom. My girlfriends name is "svetlana"
would not mind to have the bigger one, but i am honest enough to admit :
i dont really need a bigger one. Neither do you mate :)
The Acom 1000 does 1300w on my meter with 90w - and most of the time i reduce it to 700w out or so. (half basically)
Big respect to all the portable guys and qrp guys and magloopers - i love you all, and respect any of you more than someone
who runs the AMP unnecessairly thus shouting farther than he is able to listen. (that is not ment to be a poke at you dxc!.. but you know it happenes)
All good points. I do need the big one else I couldn't test key down at 1,500W for the US market. And running 800W (with 3dB loss on the feeder) is a bit much for most amps.
Maybe people should just buy an RM BLS350 and get it tuned & remapped.
My car would only do 155mph, but after it was tuned and remapped it now does 186mph.
Of course, I only drive it at 140mph so it lasts a lot longer.
Haha :) I only got 180 out my 911 Turbo before the days of mapped engines!
@@DXCommanderHQ LOL all good my friend, great video as always :-))
As much as I like the acom amps, the older alpha 89s are where it’s at. Workhorse
They are also very nice. But I am also led to believe a similar board layout. I seem to remember there was a "floater" designer that had input to both designs.. Can't remember the story now.
Collum…. Let’s see you test that “bugger” at full power, Sir. What would happened to your antennas? Another fire test video? Love these short 5 min (or so) snipit videos! 73 de KD6UYK (Tim).
Well, they do survive. We would need to do another test with a loading coil to get a visible result. The Rapide with it's 13 turn coil did get hot after about 40 seconds on 40m.
I thought for your level of licence the max level is 400w?
It is.
The notion that operators should justify using a large amp is ridiculous. Your signal sounded good the few times I heard your call from NYC so enjoy it and ignore the peanut gallery. I can't afford factory nor artisan but, I like and do build my own and the same nonsense gets directed at Homebrewers too. Use it when you like no guilt.
Ah. good comment!
Why for me is bc my receiver on my ftdx10 works so well with my antenna configuration I can hear all around the world but Tx on 100w just can’t keep up bc other receivers don’t work as well as mine, so most often on the lower bands 160/80/40 you need a little kick 1kw usually works but if I’m trying to get over a bunch of qrm like 3YOJ I kick it to 1750-1800average to give me 1500w pep ☺️
Nice!
Baloney is right. I like & respect Crystal Radio but prefer my electrons Regulated.
The car that you have has to be capable of being driven on the Nurburgring without blowing up.
And some do - and crash!
Id like to run one of these but the 8k price tag is way too high. I could order it right now but the thing isnt made of gold. There's no justification to charge that much.
You know how much those tubes cost..? There's half your money. Then the weight.. Transformer at around 40 pounds. And.. and..
I have a Blackstar guitar amp 40watts it can get very warm and its full of SMD components for switching if it brakes down I cannot repair it where as a pure valve design I can it seems to me this amp is trying to be to clever and overcomplicated .
Blackstar appear to be a fine amp company. I knew the product manager. Actually, played in a band with him once. But you are right, it's an extremely "clever" amp and full of SMD!
@@DXCommanderHQ When it gets very warm one of the push button switch on the high gain channel starts to do its own thing.
I do agree with you Laird Callum you need to test your aerials for the rest world I hold USA FCC advanced class licence KG0PL over there I can run 1.5 KW PEP, as well as my full UK amateur Radio licence G0MEJ Your DX Commander Aerials, got stand the power full Data mode full duty cycle. Myself with HF Radio of 100 watts if I am using full cycle data modes I would only run 10 watts PEP output I would my P.A last a long time. It is better to spend money on your aerials systems
Very well said..
I have a Acom 2100, but if I had done over I would have gotten the 2000a
So in short, what you’re saying is, buy a bigger than needed amp and turn it down to save your investment?
Well, I would. If you are an SSB fella and happy with say 100W - no need. But for AM or heavy digital modes, I would.
I oversize many things. I'd rather run a V8 at 75% than a V6 at 100%.
Because you can...
Lol 😂 don’t worry I now use a Ferrari too! But for me I’m just compensating 😂🤣🤪🍺
Have to put that cosworth turbo in the fiat 500…… 😜🇦🇺🥃
HAHA
I have a Henry 8k that drives my main amp.
Pffft... I'm limited to QRP!😄👍
Limited?
What's wrong with QRP?
On Tuesday I got to Bulgaria with 1 Watt c.w. on 10m. How much further did my signal actually go?
G4GHB
I drive it as fast as it will go.✋73's🎙 KD9OAM🎧📻📡
now it would be different if you were a CB er they run what they like LOL i run amplifiers when reading the GB2 RS news simply to save the radios but i never run full watts of what the amplifier will do .G0VVT
Yes.. Good idea.. I run 10-20W into my amp (depends on band - some bands need more fire) so neither have a hard time..
Low power with a lot of vertical antenna
The problem with acom amps if you have a problem you will have a bad day trying to fix it.
I have a bad day trying to fix ANYTHING!
Headroom.
The rumour was probably started from amateurs who don't want to pay £5k for a 2k amp!
You are possibly right!
Gotta call bullshit on that one, as the hobby name indicates the service is "amateur radio" where you are encouraged to actually build stuff not an arms race where you simply throw money at the subject and expect to receive credit for putting out skull crushing signals, built not bought, or in my case cheap and cheerful-ish.
Sell it and ship it to Sweden ??
Make me an offer. Shipping is expensive for Acom 2000 though.
Me max 500 with rm hla modifiched
Super cars are an investment they go up in value and they are marvels of engineering, not sure where went with that reference Cal.
Plus track days
SUper cars are an investment? Yeah, if you are lucky!
Hey... I just watched this.. ruclips.net/video/kOJrJPjomm4/видео.html - I remember buying one of the last air-cooled 911 C4S in Arctic SIlver. Unfortunately, I lost £36k on that one in 18 months! Mind you, had I rented a garage and kept it, I might have eventually recovered my losses! But I had a family to bring up so that "bet" was lost on us..
People push their equipment to the limits. It is nonsense
Terrible..
Regurgitating baloney about almost anything from the internet, is a huge problem nowadays...
Same with typing.
One can have thick fingers...@@DXCommanderHQ
Iv got a CB so i need 2000wats :@)
Good point. You can buy three of these and pahse them together. Seriously, they do that!
Try QRP ???
Hahahaha.
And why not..
Bullocks people just run what you like and keep swr as low as you cane and all of you are buying almost every year a new radio when it is on nr.1 😂 on the list.
I used google translate - but I still can't work you out. Sorry :)
@@DXCommanderHQ ok you don't like the answer, by a sport man
So you are sporty? Nice.. Actually, the last radio I bought was about 10 years ago. Hopefully that will last me another 20 years.