PA500 from DIY500

[Ronald Meier]

This is looking very interesting as PA for a HL2. What are the thoughts vs the Hardrock?

http://www.diy599.com/

Specs:

• Up to 60W RF peak Power
  depends on the mode and operating frequency
• max. input drive level: 5W (10W tolerant for 10sec.)
• 80 – 10m HAM bands
• All modes: SSB, CW*, AM*, FM*, DIG*
• current drain up to 1...@13.8V
• Ultra-compact size (HWD):
  30mm X 207mm X 90m (incl. heatsink)
• Weight: 0.9Kg
• Harmonic / Spurious Outputs > 43dB below carrier
• ACC/CAT Interface support
• tuning impedance 25-250 Ohms (e.g.80m)
• 6×5 L-match type tuning network
• FCC certified

[radi...@mail.com]

Hi Ronald

Looks interesting. Around $700. Pity it's not 100W?

Good to work you a few minutes ago, FT8 60m, barefoot HL2 to barefoot HL2! (G4GTP)

73

Max

[Ronald Meier]

Max, Nice contact. Max is 60w but for QRP with IC705 more than enough and also to push a little more power into HL2 to work other continents. Obtained Novice in March and Full in May so all is very new and exciting for me.

I have ordered one so I will see the experience.

73, PH7R Ronald

Op zo 22 aug. 2021 om 00:03 schreef radi...@mail.com <radi...@mail.com>:

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[radi...@mail.com]

Sounds good. I have RM Italy amp HLA150Plus (used) but not got on air with it yet until I get better antenna system up (coming soon). Not the best reputation for spurii when driven hard but I will be very much under-driving it with HL2 so guessing around 80W out, but seems unnecessary for FT8 where I will almost certainly continue to use HL2 with no amp and keep the amp for SSB.

Worked you with 66ft end fed about 2.5m off ground. For some reason seems to work well on 60m!

73

Max

[Ronald Meier]

Almost same antenna set up, working with ITA endfed logwire 66feet for 60mtr and 80mtr. All other 40-10mtr using an indoor magnetic loop from OM0ET.

73 Ronald

Op zo 22 aug. 2021 om 00:33 schreef radi...@mail.com <radi...@mail.com>:

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[Simon]

Thats an awesome amount of $ for 60w

This has cost sub $500.1.5kw

On 21 Aug 2021, at 23:33, radi...@mail.com <radi...@mail.com> wrote:

Sounds good. I have RM Italy amp HLA150Plus (used) but not got on air with it yet until I get better antenna system up (coming soon). Not the best reputation for spurii when driven hard but I will be very much under-driving it with HL2 so guessing around 80W out, but seems unnecessary for FT8 where I will almost certainly continue to use HL2 with no amp and keep the amp for SSB.

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[Pierre Martel]

699$US for a 60 watt amp. 

I don't know in what fantasy world those guys live but for me they are joking.. 

Pierre

VE2PF

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[Tech Minds]

I use this with my HL2 and for me it works just perfect!

https://youtu.be/UD3UcFBtd3w

XIEGU XPA-125B HF Amplifier with ATU HF-6m 100W Output

Matt

M0DQW

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[Ronald Meier]

All is relative and depends on many personal views and circumstances. For example 2,66kg for Xiegu vs 1kg for DIY599. One can argue if 2,66kg is still QRP (vs argument of Watt/USD). 

Or value / performance KX3 vs Xiegu X5105. I have also another hobby and that is doing triathlon. If I see how much I spend on swimming, bike or running gear with relative improving performance (time) or spending on entry fees. Enjoy your sunday, 73.

PH7R

Op zondag 22 augustus 2021 om 04:29:46 UTC+2 schreef mrmpm...@gmail.com:

[radi...@mail.com]

Absolutely agree Ronald. All is relative. Some have plenty of time to experiment and generate awesome kit at the lowest price. Some homebuild kit that costs nearly the same as the commercial item. There is also loads of used kit around where great value can be found if you can be prepared to wait to find it, and some are very short on time and just need a solution more quickly and are happy to pay a premium. Each person to their own preference, which is the wonderful thing about ham radio.

I think the one thing that we can all agree on is that Steve has given us the most tremendous package of performance versus cost in the HL2. For me has totally rekindled my interest in radio and I expect I am not the only one on here for whom that is true. I am always interested to read of what other kit is attached to it to make a station, regardless of what it might be or what it costs, though admittedly I do always look for "value" as for me personally that's part of the fun, hence my RM amp that I picked up for around 100 GBP. Yes, it's not the most perfect technically, but it will give a lot of "bang for buck" when partnered with the HL2!

73

Max

[Ronald Meier]

Fully agree on HL2 and the value for money.

73 Ronald

Op zondag 22 augustus 2021 om 11:18:27 UTC+2 schreef radi...@mail.com:

[Sid Boyce]

BRICKED ... Does not POWER UP., No Help available.
I had a problem with the XPA-125B ordered through Ebay and supplied from
China.
Not long after receiving it it developed a fault.

Shipped it back and several months later it was returned by China
Customs as undelivered.
Lots of emails back and forth and shipping details requested by the
vendors couldn't locate it.

When it was returned it does not power up -- totally dead. Fuse is OK
and power gets to the board.

It was only later I found that Sinotel UK also stocks this amp so I
emailed them and was asked to contact them when I got it back.

Sent off an email in the middle of the pandemic but got no response.

On Xiegu Facebook, another guy reported the same experience as I.

I also emailed Xiegu about 6 months ago for help but got no reply.

No circuit diagrams are available to download either.
73 ... Sid.

On 22/08/2021 03:29, Tech Minds wrote:
> I use this with my HL2 and for me it works just perfect!
>

> https://youtu.be/UD3UcFBtd3w <https://youtu.be/UD3UcFBtd3w>

>
> XIEGU XPA-125B HF Amplifier with ATU HF-6m 100W Output
>
> Matt
> M0DQW
>
>
> On Sun, 22 Aug 2021 at 02:44, Pierre Martel <pete...@gmail.com

> <mailto:pete...@gmail.com>> wrote:
>
> 699$US for a 60 watt amp.Â
>
> I don't know in what fantasy world those guys live but for me
> they are joking..Â
>
> Pierre
> VE2PF
>
>
> Le sam. 21 août 2021 à 04:54, Ronald Meier
> <rpmei...@gmail.com <mailto:rpmei...@gmail.com>> a écrit :

>
> This is looking very interesting as PA for a HL2. What are the
> thoughts vs the Hardrock?
>

> http://www.diy599.com/ <http://www.diy599.com/>
> Specs:
>
> * Up to 60W RF peak Power

> depends on the mode and operating frequency

> * max. input drive level: 5W (10W tolerant for 10sec.)
> * 80 – 10m HAM bands
> * All modes: SSB, CW*, AM*, FM*, DIG*
> * current drain up to 1...@13.8V
> * Ultra-compact size (H/W/D):

> 30mm X 207mm X 90m (incl. heatsink)

> * Weight: 0.9Kg
> * Harmonic / Spurious Outputs > 43dB below carrier
> * ACC/CAT Interface support
> * tuning impedance 25-250 Ohms (e.g.80m)
> * 6×5 L-match type tuning network
> * FCC certified

>
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> it, send an email to hermes-lite...@googlegroups.com

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Sid Boyce ... Hamradio License G3VBV, Licensed Private Pilot
Emeritus IBM/Amdahl Mainframes and Sun/Fujitsu Servers Tech Support
Senior Staff Specialist, Cricket Coach
Microsoft Windows Free Zone - Linux used for all Computing Tasks

[WA2EUJ]

Let's see,

The Hardrock-50 covers 160-6M vs. 80-10M.

The Hardrock's tuner covers 5-500 ohms and is a 7X7 L match. vs 25-250, 6X5. That's 32000 possibilities vs. 4000

The HR50 displays FWD power, peak and average, RFL power, voltage, temp and SWR vs. nothing.

Since the HR50 has a proper sized heatsink, it can run CW, AM, FM and Digital modes at full power.

Both amps are about the same width, the HR50 is a little less deep and considerably taller.

The HR50 is about 1.5X the weight.

Both due to the fact that the HR50 has a decent heatsink.

Current draw is bout the same. 

You can get QSK, diode switching for the HR50.

The HR50+ATU is $120 less. But we've seen some pretty nasty production cost increases so the price will be increasing with the next production run.

For comparison, the 100W Elecraft KXPA100 with ATU is a whopping $1400. The 500W Hardrock-500+ATU is $2200

The HR50 doesn't have any trouble making 60W on many bands if you really feel that 60W will do something that 50W won't.

[Tom Moll]

I have one of the early days HR-50 amps, and it has been a real workhorse for me. I have been completely satisfied with it.

I did have a cap failure in the LPF a while back, probably due to a high SWR situation (my bad), but I was able to diagnose,

find, and fix it myself with little effort. Also, I know that if I have a question or need help, Jim is only an email away and

he never fails to answer.

I do have a question about this statement however:

"Since the HR50 has a proper sized heatsink, it can run CW, AM, FM and Digital modes at full power."

I want to make sure I understand "full power" correctly - this seems to imply one can run AM or digital modes

at 50 watts - is this true? A 50watt AM carrier would be 200 watts on 100% modulation peaks! I always figured that 10 watts or so was probably

the safe limit on AM, but I'd love to turn it up a bit more if that's really possible. On digital modes, I usually keep the output

down around 20 or 25 watts, which is a reasonable level for FT8 anyway IMO. I hate that FT8 has become a high power game these days.

Could you clarify the "official" rating / capability of the HR-50 on these modes? What would a safe operating temperature be?

Thanks, Tom N0BS

[WA2EUJ]

Hi Tom,

You are correct, there's no magic here. The Hardrock amp is 50W CW and/or 50W PEP. So if you want to run AM @ 100% modulation, you need to limit the AM carrier to 12.5W. You'd probably be safe at 15W. It's not a limitation of the average power or heating of the amp, it's a limitation of the PEP. I don't know why the PA500 page listed AM among the modes that need limited power, it seems to me that a 60W amp could only make a 15W carrier with 100% AM modulation and that wouldn't be a particularly high heat dissipating mode. Maybe it's an oversight, maybe someone cranked the carrier to 60W and tried some AM and cooked it.

Heat is a very tricky thing in an amplifier and depends on many factors that the amplifier designer has no control over; ambient temp, air flow, input voltage, SWR. The best thing to do is to monitor the temp and shut the amp off if it gets too high. The HR50 is safe up to 160°F heatsink temp, it will no longer key at 170°F. It's easy to add a small fan if the operating/environmental conditions are too much for convection. 

It seems a little disingenuous to call an amp a 60W amp then list almost every mode as needing 'reduced power'.

73,

Jim WA2EUJ