I view the quality of the design and the quality of the manufacturing
process for Elecraft product is at least equal, and in many cases,
better than most other ham equipment companies. I for one did beta
testing, both hardware and firmware, for several models for another ham
radio company. Plus, I spent the last 15 years of my professional
career in electronics manufacturing for a large Japanese company as a
Tech Support manager and Quality Compliance manager. Thus I believe I
have slightly more than a lay persons knowledge of the processes.
The fact you had issues with your KPA500 and KAT500, and I own both of
those, is unfortunate. Yet you say your SB-220 was never opened for
repairs. Likewise, the model A Flathead Ford engine had the spark plugs
clearly visible on the head. And with today's Ford's, you'd be lucky to
find the spark plugs. I really don't think one can fairly nor
accurately compare a KPA500 to a SB-220. I've assembled and owned one of
those as well. Try to get the SB-220 on 160M or 6M as well as the band
between.
Rule #1 - If man designed it and man built it......it will fail at some
point and will need service. Having operated a radio repair business,
repairing ICOM, Yaesu, Kenwood, and other radios, both ham and public
service, I can tell you many of the repairs required were due to
operator induced errors.
I've always proclaimed.......Just because it is new, this is no
assurance it is a good working product. All companies have an expected
"out of the box" failure rate on new products. That is usually X
number per 1000 units. That expected failure rate is therefore never zero.
Bob, K4TAX
On 1/14/2022 12:26 PM, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote:
Message: 1
Date: Thu, 13 Jan 2022 22:29:33 +0000
From: Tim C<xyz...@live.com>
To:"elecraft@mailman.qth.net" <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft -- tarnished, bent and broken crown
Message-ID:
<ch2pr13mb4523abf95e043ef513c185bce1...@ch2pr13mb4523.namprd13.prod.outlook.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Elecraft - Tarnished, bent and broken crown. For many years I believed
Elecraft was king. Now I'm not so sure. I purchased a KPA500 and KAT500. I
assumed with all the trouble, protective, and shutdown circuits they would last
a long time and probably never need service.
The Elecraft service tech erroneously advise me to ship it to Calif when it
would not transmit which cost $71. Turn out to be an interface cable and not
the amp. The amp didn't need to be shipped. I had to pay $67 for another
cable which should have been warranted.
Some months past and the amp wouldn't transmit again. An Elecraft services
tech advised me to ship it back to calif since it was under warrantee. This
time the shipper charged $140 because the nursing home where I live was
required to ship it commercial and insured. The tech could have suggest the
obviously burned resister be replaced.
I have been a ham for over 50 years. I had a SB-220 for over 40 years and
never had to disassemble it for repairs. I've owned Yaesu's, Icom's and
Alinco's, all new, and never had ship any of them for repairs or even repair
them after years of use.
I have always heard only praise for Elecraft product. There are less costly
tuners and amps on the market but I believed Elecraft would be the most durable
and reliable.
Before I purchase another Elecraft product I will do even more research and
comparisons.
73, Tim WB8HRO
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