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The guy making this amplifier is responding to market incentives, just like anyone else building a product to sell. The incentive is to show the highest wattmeter reading with the lowest-possible production cost. Any feature or function that doesn't serve to push the wattmeter reading higher is wasted expense. Harmonic filtering, power-line filtering, SSB-bias regulation, all wasted money.

How long it lasts is not part of the picture, whether from stressing transistors to double their ratings, or rubbing through the insulation on a fat power wire. If it burns down your car or truck it's your fault for using a fuse that was too large.

I really don't see anything so terribly different from other amplifiers built just this way. Got used to lumping them together as "DFX", as in Dave, Fat, X-force. I remember a CB customer leafing through a copy of QST one day. Spotted a MFJ ad listing the price of their 600-Watt mobile linear. Exclaimed "I can get that many Watts for one-third that much!". I explained that to make the signal legal and sound okay on sideband takes three times as many parts as his CB bandit "competition" box. Never mind how much longer it will last. Same wattmeter reading, different objective.

73

<blockquote data-quote="nomadradio" data-source="post: 848483" data-attributes="member: 22">The guy making this amplifier is responding to market incentives, just like anyone else building a product to sell. The incentive is to show the highest wattmeter reading with the lowest-possible production cost. Any feature or function that doesn&#039;t serve to push the wattmeter reading higher is wasted expense. Harmonic filtering, power-line filtering, SSB-bias regulation, all wasted money. How long it lasts is not part of the picture, whether from stressing transistors to double their ratings, or rubbing through the insulation on a fat power wire. If it burns down your car or truck it&#039;s your fault for using a fuse that was too large. I really don&#039;t see anything so terribly different from other amplifiers built just this way. Got used to lumping them together as &quot;DFX&quot;, as in Dave, Fat, X-force. I remember a CB customer leafing through a copy of QST one day. Spotted a MFJ ad listing the price of their 600-Watt mobile linear. Exclaimed &quot;I can get that many Watts for one-third that much!&quot;. I explained that to make the signal legal and sound okay on sideband takes three times as many parts as his CB bandit &quot;competition&quot; box. Never mind how much longer it will last.&nbsp; Same wattmeter reading, different objective. 73</blockquote>

[QUOTE="nomadradio, post: 848483, member: 22"] The guy making this amplifier is responding to market incentives, just like anyone else building a product to sell. The incentive is to show the highest wattmeter reading with the lowest-possible production cost. Any feature or function that doesn't serve to push the wattmeter reading higher is wasted expense. Harmonic filtering, power-line filtering, SSB-bias regulation, all wasted money. How long it lasts is not part of the picture, whether from stressing transistors to double their ratings, or rubbing through the insulation on a fat power wire. If it burns down your car or truck it's your fault for using a fuse that was too large. I really don't see anything so terribly different from other amplifiers built just this way. Got used to lumping them together as "DFX", as in Dave, Fat, X-force. I remember a CB customer leafing through a copy of QST one day. Spotted a MFJ ad listing the price of their 600-Watt mobile linear. Exclaimed "I can get that many Watts for one-third that much!". I explained that to make the signal legal and sound okay on sideband takes three times as many parts as his CB bandit "competition" box. Never mind how much longer it will last. Same wattmeter reading, different objective. 73 [/QUOTE]

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