Hi All,
 
I will warn you up front, this is a fairly long post and you may want to use
your delete key if you aren't interested in linear amps and their
accessibility.
 
I think I mentioned on this list last weekend that I had purchased one of
these imported amps from Italy.  This model is the third revision and is
quite reliable according to reviews and those with whom I have spoken who
use one.  I wanted to share my initial impressions with you concerning its
operation and especially from a blindness perspective.
 
First, let me describe some of its features:
 
1.  Power, 1 KW out on SSB and approximately 900 watts on CW;
 
2.  Built-in automatic antenna tuner;
 
3.  Inputs for two radios;
 
4.  Set up for SO2R contesting out of the box;
 
5.  Instant switching of antennas and inputs depending on the RF signal it
receives;
 
6.  Half power operation available for continuous duty modes such as AM, FM
and RTTY;
 
7.  Two different settings for cooling (normal or contest); and
 
8.  Operation through six meters with 750 out on SSB on 6.
 
INITIAL IMPRESSIONS.  When I first opened the box, I thought I was in
serious trouble.  The entire front panel of the amp is smooth except for the
glass display window.  However, Kathy and I marked the 18 membrane buttons
on the front with tactile locator dots and it became possible for me to
operate it.  A totally blind person such as myself will need sighted
assistance to set it up.  You need to go through the antenna selection for
each band for each radio.  You can assign two different antennas for each
band if you wish or select "no" if you don't have a second antenna.  For
example, I could assign both my quad and my G5RV for 20 meters on each radio
and could switch between them for comparisons if I wanted by pressing the
antenna button on the front of the amp.  Once you have gone through the
antenna menu and assigned antennas, you then must train the tuner memories.
Each band has a starting point and goes up in steps of X kHz depending on
the band.  So, for example, on 160 the start frequency is 1805 steps are 10
kHz, on 80 20 kHz, and so one with the distance between training points
getting larger as the bands move higher in frequency.
 
Once you have done this, operation becomes simple.  You need only set the
frequency on your radio, touch the key, or give a short whistle into the mic
and the input, tuner and amp all move to where you are and you are ready to
rock and roll.  This is accomplished through a built-in frequency counter or
you can actually connect CAT control from your radio.  The individuals I
know have these amps don't even bother with the CAT control most of the
time.  There is also an RS-232 interface to control the amp with a computer.
I have a friend in Portland who controls his entire station, including his
Expert remotely from Baja Mexico while on vacation.
 
I needed to do some reassignment and reconfiguration after initially setting
up the amp to maximize use of my antennas.  The reason is that I had put my
Kenwood TS-590 on input 1 and my Drake station on antenna 2.  When turned
off, the Expert defaults to input 1 and antenna 1.  Since I had my quad on
antenna 1 and since I like to listen to shortwave once in a while, this did
not work well, especially since I like the Drake R4C for SWL activities and
do a lot of listening on 49 meters.  So, I simply put the Drake to input 1
and my G5RV on antenna 1 and now all is well.  I can listen to SW any time I
wish on the Drake with a good, wide band antenna on it when the amp is shut
off.  The beauty of the station now is the frequency agility.  I can be
listening to a net on 75, hear a DX spot come in for that new one I need,
click the frequency in XMLog's DX spotting window and the radio will move
there.  The minute I throw my call out there or even make a small noise into
the mic or touch the keyer, the amp and tuner are both right there too with
no tuning of the antenna tuner or amp.  I love this agility.
 
NEGATIVES.  If you are a control freak, the biggest negative is that you
cannot really monitor operating parameters such as power out, temp of the
amp heat syncs and so on due to the visual nature of the display.  This
weekend I will hook up the computer to it but I think the displays on the
computer screen are visual bar graphs and may not prove to be of much help.
To balance this, SteppIR just up the road in Belleview, WA is the U.S.
distributor and are always willing to entertain questions.  And, since the
amp does not approach legal limit, I don't really need to see these
parameters since alarms sound and protection circuits stop amp operation if
you are endangering the final transistors.
 
The other negative is that the tuner definitely only likes a 3 to 1 SWR or
better.  So, for 80 meters where my G5RV is narrow, I have to keep the old
manual tuner in line after the amp to present a low enough SWR to allow the
amp's tuner to tune the segment of the band I use most often.  However, this
is a minor inconvenience given the overall level of satisfaction I find in
using the amp.
 
I hope this post has been somewhat informative, helpful, or at least
interesting to someone on the list.  Please write with any questions you
might have concerning it.
 
Thanks much for reading and I look forward to seeing some of you this
weekend on our 20 meter net.  Very 73.
 
 
Kevin :)
Amateur Radio:  K7RX