Today at the 2011 Ten-Tec Hamfest, Ten-Tec announced two new products in development: the Model 539 QRP transceiver and the companion Model 418 100 Watt amplifier.
Being a QRPer, I typically have no use for amplifiers, but this one, I must admit, will make for a perfect in-the-field companion to the (future) Model 539 or any QRP transceiver.
The Model 418 can sense the incoming RF and will automatically switch bands accordingly.
Best of all, though, is that the standby current will be as low as 150mA!
Ten-Tec Model 418 Features:
- 100 Watts
- All HF Bands + 6 Meters
- MOSFET Amplifier
- Standby current as low as 150mA
- DC input voltage 10V – 16V
- Selectable input attenuation, Delay
- 2 selectable antenna connections
- Dedicated 6M antenna connection
- Band switching
- Manual OR Auto – RF Sensed
- Seamless connection to PC
- Seamless connection to Ten-Tec Model 539 QRP Transceiver
So why would a QRP guy want a 100 watt amplifier? Doesn’t that make U a QRO guy then?
Life is to short for QRP…………….
We in the QRP community have ben waiting a long time for a commercial 100 watt amplifier to become available for use with our “5 watters”.
Accolades to Ten-Tec for hearing our voices.
I for one, can’t wait to acquire the new 418 amplifier. While the unit seems a bit pricy at 600+ dollars, I for one, will definitely look forward to its availability.
Hurry, Hurry! We can’t wait for it
73
We in the QRP community have ben waiting a long time for a commercial 100 watt amplifier to become available for use with our “5 watters”.
Accolades to Ten-Tec for hearing our voices.
I for one, can’t wait to acquire the new 418 amplifier. While the unit seems a bit pricy at 600+ dollars, I for one, will definitely look forward to its availability.
Hurry, Hurry! We can’t wait for it
73
and
We in the QRP community have ben waiting a long time for a commercial 100 watt amplifier to become available for use with our “5 watters”.
Accolades to Ten-Tec for hearing our voices.
I for one, can’t wait to acquire the new 418 amplifier. While the unit seems a bit pricy at 600+ dollars, I for one, will definitely look forward to its availability.
Hurry, Hurry! We can’t wait for it
73
Any price rumors yet?
Yes–actually a solid price of: $785. They started taking orders at Dayton and shipping at the end of June.
Ron–I completely agree with you, OB!
Eight hundred bucks will buy you a good used, multimode HF rig with a CW filter, built in keyer, antenna, 100 Watts out, and a six-pack of Guiness.
Gary –> I agree that $800 can get you a pretty good 100W rig… but at times, it’s more fun investing in little pieces to make a bigger one. People who buy this amp for their 5W rigs don’t care about what’s available as a used rig 😉
I have a FLEX-1500 but I bought the “HLA-150 Plus” amp. It’s not high quality and if you are not a good ham, you will wipe out the band with splatter. By “good ham” I mean someone who know how to not overdrive this monster 😉 I don;t go over 90-100W although it can crank out 150W… with tons of junk. I make sure my MIC LEVEL doesn’t go over the 100% and the amp works just fine.
The TenTec amp is in a different category. It’s designed for hams and passed FCC certs. The HLA-150 Plus is an Italian amp designed for… “out-banders” (LOL) and very little has been made to prevent it from splattering everywhere.