Kevin,

Sounds like a neat toy.  Good luck and lot's of DX with it.

73, Steve KW3A

On 4/1/2011 12:21 PM, Kevin Nathan wrote:
> 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
>
>
>