I agree! I would rather have a larger, more expensive box with a big heatsink than a fan. The only fan I have ever heard that was silent was one with the blades and motor removed and destroyed. :-)
Most people don't seem to notice the noise so I guess we just have to endure it as we seem to be very much the minority and manufacturers just won't spend the extra money to eliminate the fan. I have a Yaesu FT-8900R in my truck mounted enclosed in the centre console. Even with road noise at freeway speeds, I notice when its fan cuts in. Most people do not find the fan in this radio offensive and consider it quiet. I suppose I just have a high sensitivity to fan noise. From my work in the audio industry I have come to the conclusion that sound is very subjective. Each person seems to have their own idea of what sounds good and bad. I think that people get used to a certain colouration or lack of colouration and that becomes the standard to which they judge. That is why some people will praise a particular loudspeaker and others will find it offensive. My work with broadcast radio stations in parts of South America, found that the norm was to overmodulate the signals to get the loudest signal on the band. The distorted sound became the norm and people expected other sources like CD's to sound the same. The same phenomena is happening with the new flat screen TV's. They are put in stretch mode to fill the screen and people just don't seem to notice the distorted picture. I was very disappointed to see the big fan on the new KPA500. I have a KPA100 that is still not finished because I keep looking at the fan and wondering why I bought something with a fan. Eric and Wayne, would you consider a larger heatsink as an option to have a fanless KPA500? Darrell VA7TO On 2010.05.23 7:08 AM, Steve Ellington wrote: > Paul....It makes me wonder if they couldn't just put a decent heat sink on > those switchers and virtually eliminate the fan or at least make it very > rare to ever turn on. I realize they want to keep them small and lightweight > and I guess fans are cheap and light but I sure do hate the racket they > make! > > Steve > N4LQ -- Darrell Bellerive Amateur Radio Station VA7TO Grand Forks BC Canada ______________________________________________________________ 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
