Considering the fact that the Ameritron ALS-600 lists out at $1500 ($1250 street price however), and is NOT QSK (but easily converted to such with the mod by Phis Salas), I think you are dreaming! $1K would be pretty cheap, and Elecraft doesn't make cheap stuff. Personally, I think you would be looking at somewhere close to twice that amount!
But hey folks, let's all take a Valium! Elecraft has been consistently super-cautious about what they produce, and when they produce it. I know they are tinkering with amps, but that's all we really know at this point--they are tinkering. It could be a year or two before anything really starts to look like a possible production piece. Remember, this is a company with two (count 'em, two) principals. It's not Yaesu, or Icom. I think they prefer to not spend 23 hours a day in the lab! Someone mentioned earlier the concept of "return on investment" (ROI), and I would add "allocation of resources". Although they have added a lot of great talent to the mix, it's still two guys primarily calling the shots, and doing the decision making. I think it's a bit unreasonable to expect them to start cranking out all the goodies everyone wants them to offer. In time maybe, but not on anything close to the schedule some folks are wanting. I'm not even sure amps are a really viable product for them to get all that fired up about. There are some very sophisiticated amps out there already, and I don't really know if Elecraft can truly distinguish themselves in that part of the market the way they have in the transceiver market. Seems like any innovation they might come up with would be much more easily copied/added by someone else, and there goes your market advantage. I think the Elecraft name on an amplifier would be significant, but it's high dollar and high risk. Personally, I think half or more of you, who are chomping at the bit to have an Elecraft amplifier, would fall by the wayside when you see what kind of price you would have to pay for one that has all these bells and whistles on it. Dave W7AQK ----- Original Message ----- From: <rfenab...@gmail.com> To: "Elecraft" <Elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Sent: Thursday, February 11, 2010 4:05 PM Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft Amps Craig wrote: OK, I might as well document my personal wish list: 500W is more than enough. I want it physically small and acoustically quiet. Solid state. Auto tune and QSK with K3. AC powered. Kit is fine. No internal tuner, but see options below. Target price $2K. Option: REMOTE/WEATHERPROOF auto tuner. Target price $1K. Then I'll be happy (and quiet). End Snip Me Too!!! 73's Gary VK4FD Sent via BlackBerry® from Telstra ______________________________________________________________ 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
