Lew, Except for issues related to physical size, most of your rationale for not producing a 2KW amp seems equally applicable to a 500W amp.
The K3, from a marketing perspective, played into a vacant market niche. The Japanese companies had focused on low-end, how cheap can we make it radios or over-priced bloated barges for the money is no object crowd. There is still nothing out there that is competitive with the K3 on a price/performance basis. The amp market on the other hand doesn't seem to have any vacant niches, MFJ has the low end and mid-range covered and there are a herd of companies duking it out over the high end market. There also doesn't seem to be much technical performance differentiation between the low, mid, and high end amps on the market today. The dollars/watt number for any particular brand seems to be mostly driven by how fancy a box the amp is packaged in. So, I'm thinking that if Elecraft is determined to get into the amp market the KPA500 will hit most of the product differentiators available. It matches the K3 appearance and size, maintains the high portability factor, and can claim some technical innovation for the built-in PS. Considering that the principal product differentiators are only germane to K3 owners maybe the intended market is primarily "existing K3 owners", rather than the general amp market. No doubt that will be where the Lion's share of the sales go in any case. Maybe the next Elecraft amp will be something more powerful with an external PS but still in the K3 box, that would be interesting. 73 Jack KZ5A On 9/10/2010 8:57 AM, Lew Phelps K6LMP wrote: > I think some of the folks who are calling for gigawatt amplifiers (ok, full > legal limit...) are losing focus on one key fact: Elecraft has prospered by > making products that SOME hams want that NOBODY else makes. The K3 is a > perfect example: an exquisite transceiver, quite arguably the best available > at any price if you're not a fan of big boxes with big buttons. It's > portable, can be expanded incrementally with modules to meet any operator's > specific needs, and it's 'way up in the upper right hand corner of the value > scatter graph (price on one axis, performance on the other). > > So, what could Elecraft bring to the 2KW amplifier market that would (a) > differentiate it from the others and (b)stay within the general confines of > the K3 "style", which means compact, efficient, modular expandability, and > (probably) fit within the K3 form factor. > > You cannot build a 2KW amplifier that meets those criteria. Modular? Yes; you > could make the power supply and an auto-tuner modular add-ons. Efficient? > Yes. Compact? No. K3 form factor? Not a chance. For example, the Alpha 2KW > amplifier measures 17.5w x 78.5h x 19.75d. It weighs well over 50 lbs. It > costs $5000. There is no way to build a large-output amp that will fit > within the K3 form factor. the physical size of components needed to handle > that power makes it impossible. > > So, some on this list essentially are asking Elecraft to step outside its > well-defined and highly successful approach to the market and build a "me > too" legal limit amplifier that Elecraft could not meaningfully distinguish > from the competition, except for the nameplate. Amplifiers are not that > complex, compared to the K3. That lack of complexity is exactly why this is > not a market in which Elecraft could compete successfully. There's no way to > meaningfully differentiate its 2KW amp from others, except for the nameplate. > Yes, they would "include" their superb customer support as a product feature. > But I don't think they could bring enough differentiation from the Alpha, > Tokyo Hygain, and other high end amplifiers already on the market to break > into that market at a volume that would support design and production costs. > > The folks in Aptos DO understand the market. They are listening, and watching > this dialogue. We can keep that process productive by not asking Elecraft to > come out with a product that breaks the laws of physics. It's a small > company, with limited design resources. Let's all encourage them to focus on > new products that realistically fit within the Elecraft market niche. > > my 3 cents worth (inflation, you know...) > > Lew K6LMP > > > > > > > On Sep 9, 2010, at 10:33 PM, Wes Stewart wrote: > >> Right, 500W is hardly worthwhile. Make it at least 2KW PEP. Got to make up >> for the tuner and coax losses and to live on RTTY. >> >> --- On Thu, 9/9/10, Greg<n...@cableone.net> wrote: >> >>> Free market feedback...bring back the >>> 1500 watt amp! 73 de Greg-N4CC >> >> >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
