New amplifier bought

[PA5COR]

Retiring the Heathkit SB 1000, just ordered he Acom 500 S, 500 watts 160 to and 4 meter amp, solid state amp.
Why? never used he Heathkit above 5 to 600 watts, and he new amp does 6 and 4 meters as well where i'm quite active.
I now replaced all antenna's and gear for new and hope they outlast me ;)
Cost here with cable for Yaesu FTdx 10, 2800 euro, pricy but beter buy good first time 3 year warranty as well.
All antenna's are witthing 1 : 1.7 most far below 1 1;5, homebrew 6 and 4 meter are 1:1.0.

[NQ6U]

Congrats, Cor!

IMHO, 500 watts is the sweet spot for amps on a dollars-to-dB basis.

[PA5COR]

`Just a tad over 6 dB, or 1 S point, but reliable and fool proof ;)
For the next 6 dB you need 2000 watts...

[NQ6U]

`Just a tad over 6 dB, or 1 S point, but reliable and fool proof ;)
For the next 6 dB you need 2000 watts...

Not to mention a significant number of extra dollars/Euros, which is why I think that 500W is the amplifier sweet spot.

[WZ7U]

Smashing that like button!

[PA5COR]

No difficult choice most antenna's here can handle 1500 watt SSB, are on or below 1:5 SWR, so no tuner needed bar the vertical for 160 that has the MFJ 998 legal limit tuner feeding it at the base, used from 160 to 17 meter.
For 6 and 4 meter i use the home made cat whisker dual vertical dipole swr 1:1
or for 6 meter the Fritzel FD-4 off center fed dipole of 130 + feet.
We'll see what happens even with the Heahkit SB 1000 i mostly ran 500 to 700 watts.
Ease of use, amplifier follows the FTdx 10 in band change, so much more user friendly.

[PA5COR]

Got word amplifier will be delivered from factory in Bulgaria to dealer next week, so week later it will be here.

[PA5COR]

arrived and installed, FTdx 10 only needs 8 watt drive for 200 watt out, or 20 watt for 500 watt out.
Quiet fan, you can hear it spin up though on full power, mostly i am on 6 or 4 meter running 200 watts.
I am surrounded by LCD screens now....:mrgreen: