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Reviews For: Palstar LA-1K LDMOS Amplifier

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - HF & HF+6M

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Review Summary For : Palstar LA-1K LDMOS Amplifier
Reviews: 38MSRP: 3795
Description:
The LA-1K is a RF Sensing Dual HF LDMOS 1000 Watt
Amplifier. While the LA-1K will work with a wide variety
of tuners and transceivers, Palstar custom-design the LA-
1K to work as the perfect match for our very popular HF-
AUTO autotuner. Made in the USA
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.palstar.com/en/la1k/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
55384.7
KM4CJ Rating: 2019-09-11
Easy Operation and Simple Integration Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought the Amp and Auto Tuner. I was up in running in about 30 minutes. Installation was simple, no CAT cables to mess with. I was looking for a way to integrate my 3 HF base radios and the auto sense was the perfect solution. I constructed a simple interface box that has a selector switch to provide the PTT source to the selected radio and routes the TX output of the radio to the amp. I did a lot of research and trades and decided on the Palstar. I have had the amp for over 3 months and am very satisfied. I quite often operate digital modes and have not had any issues. Great quality engineering and made in the USA!
N7YJ Rating: 2019-09-05
High Strung Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
When I "reshacked" after being off the air for several years, I took the leap for the LA-1K and the HF-AUTO. I drank the Kool-Aid of "these work together". Well they sorta work together. The amp has much higher sensitivity protection circuits which don't mesh with what the HF-AUTO is doing, or likely aware of. If a blade of grass hits the antenna base, that's enough for the LA-1K to go over 1.7:1 and trip off line. I had a final decide to die at the 6 month point. Apparently it doesn't like QRO at 1.5:1. It was repaired free of course. They added heavier duty grounding straps and other things as well, likely based on what they're having to deal with warranty work. Pleasant group to deal with. Problem is it costs $80 to send it off and I'm on the fence about the amp shouldn't have died in the first place. No question the LDMOS is much more finicky vs.a tetrode solution. Knowing what I do now I'd likely have gone with the Acom 2000A. The Palstar solution isn't as integrated as I expected. Even with the Acom, I'd stick with the HF-AUTO given my current antenna situation.
AE0MO Rating: 2019-08-07
Better than Advertised Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This amp is everything you could ask for and more! And the service Paul and Eva gave me during the ordering process was second to none. When I received it was packaged really good to protect it in shipping. When I unboxed it has really easy to follow instruction manual and had it on the air in 30 min approx. With the screen it tells you everything you need to keep tabs on. The overall craftmanship is second to none! The RF sensing works flawless. I really recommend this amp! My suggestion to any one looking for a amp. Spend a few more dollars on this amp over brand A you wont regret it. I had a brand A amp and have sent it back twice to be worked on covered by warranty. I wish I would of paid the money difference the first time .When you figure the money Im out in shipping and time without the amp. Consider it being a long term investment.
K9ZE Rating: 2019-06-22
Fantastic Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Paul and Eva. THANK YOU! Excellent build and super support. Hooked up to.my HF-Auto tuner from Palstar and it's like a dream team. Run to get one of these. Buy once and have an investment for life. It is incredible how little drive I'm using on my Yaesu 5000 to get 800 out. It can easily do more but I've started out conservatively. I read the review about lack of documentation but the amp is so.easy to setup that I'm not sure what is missing. The quick start brochure will have you up and running in 5 minutes. Great product and I love the fact that you don't have to.go.buy expensive interface cables.
W1DT Rating: 2019-06-18
Excellent Linear Amplifier Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have owned the Palstar LA-1K now for 1½ months and am extremely happy with it for many reasons. The first is quality; it easily meets my high standards. Palstar uses nylon washers on the cabinet screws to prevent the heads from scratching the paint. That level of attention to detail is rare and is a good indicator of the design and build quality throughout. The second is ease of use. Most solid state amps are easier to use than tube amps, but the designers of this unit went the extra mile to make the LA-1K easier to operate than other solid state options. The third is solid performance. In the time I have owned it, the amp has never experienced any faults or unexpected behaviors of any kind.

I expect many operators are like me, very sensitive to ambient noise since we want to hear the audio from the radio without being distracted. The LA-1K does well is this regard. It sits on my bench directly adjacent to my radio, but its fans are not loud enough to disturb me during normal operation. On the rare occasions when I get going in a long QSO, the fans will speed up and become audible. In these cases I turn up the radio volume to compensate. Based on my experience and discussions with other operators on this topic, my assessment is that the LA-1K is a relatively quiet solid state amplifier. I believe part of the reason for this is the design; the fans are internal so the cabinet provides some attenuation. Also notable is that the thermal design does a good job of keeping temperature down; this is important since high temperature is the enemy of electrical components. Thus, the design did not sacrifice cooling capacity to achieve the relatively low noise level.

The LA-1K has the ability to report status and be controlled via the RS-232 interface. I purchased an inexpensive RS-232 to USB converter and verified the interface works exactly as specified by Palstar. I also compared the digital RF power and SWR readings against other calibrated instruments and found the LA-1K to be very accurate. The RS-232 interface is a nice feature since it enables remote monitoring and control of the amp. I’m in the process of developing a simple PIC microcontroller based control box with a 4 line by 20 character display to provide this capability locally. This will enable me to move the amp off of my crowded bench but still operate it with ease.

My main radio is an IC-756Pro and there is no way to adjust the Tx delay. Icom also does not specify it in any of the manuals, so I made the appropriate measurements. The delay from PTT going low to start of RF output (Tx Delay) is 10msec. The delay from when RF power stops to when PTT goes high again is also 10msec. Since the Tx delay is greater than the 6msec required by the LA-1K when set to the “DIRECT KEYING” mode, I operate that way to ensure no stress to the amp. I also can’t and don’t get the small SWR spike mentioned in an earlier review.

I did a lot of research on the available solid state amps before buying the LA-1K and it paid off; I am extremely happy with my LA-1K. Part of this involved many questions for Palstar and they answered all of them in a timely and comprehensive manner – thanks Mark! Technical support is very important when buying a large ticket item so this was another factor that lead me to the LA-1K. Another outcome of my research is that the LA-1K offers excellent value. This was further reinforced after I received my unit and observed the super quality first hand.

I highly recommend the LA-1K to anyone in the market for a solid state 1KW class linear amplifier.
N9CHM Rating: 2019-05-21
EXCELLENT amp, very pleased Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The amp is beautifully engineered, and works exceedingly well. It gives me a KW radio wherever I go from 160M to 6M (well...950W on 160M, a KW everywhere else). I get unsolicited reports of how clean my audio is at 1KW (both audio reports and looking at my signal spread on a panadapter). I switch between my IC-7300 and the FLEX 6500 with a coax switch, just ran a Y-connector for the RCA phono relay to the amp and I can run both radios into the Palstar and I don't need specific band data cables for either radio due to the RF sensing capabilities of the amp, just a quick mic click and it's ready...simplifies my operation and allows for rapid band switching without retuning like I had to do with my ACOM 1500 (loved the ACOM, it is still my choice for a legal limit tube amp). The small size and weight of the Palstar is another plus factor when moving things around the desk, when needed. And finally, my conversations (before purchase) with Eva at Palstar were very helpful, and much appreciated. Fine people to do business with in support of equipment made, and serviced, in the USA.
AI9F Rating: 2019-05-19
Great Buy new purchase Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I just purchased one at the 2019 Dayton now Xenia HamVention, it is a fantastic Amp. no tuning auto sensing of frequency, very easy and simple to use. I was using an older Yaesu FL2100F with 2 572Bs, could hardly pick it up, you could fry an egg on it! This is wonderful technology. So far this is a great addition to the shack. I also use the Palstar AT2KD and have used the Palstar AT500 tuner all worked great never have had any problem.
W9DZ Rating: 2019-03-13
Very Impressive Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I have been using a Acom 1000, an excellent amplifier, for over 4 years. I have never had an issue with it but I wanted to try a no-tune solid state amp as it better suites my type of operation. I like to do search and pounce type operation during contests with frequent frequency changes moving from one end of a band to the other. This required frequent re-tuning of the Acom, especially on 80 and 40M. I have had the Palstar for a little over two weeks and used it during the recent ARRL DX contest. I have teamed it up with a MFJ-998 autotuner. Operation was so smooth, moving up and down the bands without doing anything other than twisting the VFO knob.

An earlier review here on eHam mentioned an issue with the SWR seen by the transceiver on initial key up, especially on CW and data modes. When operated in the normal or default mode there is a 20.5 msec delay before all T/R switching is complete. Increasing the TX delay on your radio to 25 msec is the easiest solution. Total T/R switching time can be reduced to 6 msec by adding a band data cable between the radio and the amp and choosing the direct keying mode in the amplifier menu. I have done this with my IC-7300 and set my TX delay to 15 msec.

I would not hesitate to recommend this attractive and well built amplifier, made in the USA, to anyone considering no tune operation.
K4MJO Rating: 2018-09-29
My Dream Setup Finally. Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Get the LA-1K amp to have your own DREAM to watch. Thats all you do. Set the freq, Click the mic and then key up and talk. NOTHING else to do, setup, change, check or even watch. It is a dream. If you live near me, Come see it operate.
Job well done Palstar. I love watching the work this thing does so well. It is unreal. It will give me over 1200 watts at 55 watts in so I run it at 50 watts in, I love this system. I bought a al-80 to use with my new Kenwood 590 SG but saw the Palstar had been released and bought it. This system is the answer. Place it on the HF-AUTO Tuner and the Dream gets way better. Sammy, K4MJO
K3QYE Rating: 2018-07-30
Excellent Light weight, conservitively rated, easy to use. Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have a HF-Auto tuner, and have been using an AL-1500 boat anchor. Had to rearange the shack and the AL-1500 is just to heavy for these old bones. Picked up the LA-1K from HRO. Read the directions, and had it up and running with my Yaesu FTdx-3000 in 20 minutes. Touch screen makes it simple to use. While only rated for a KW I have to turn the input down to 30 watts to keep it under 1200 watts. Great engineering job and highly recommend this amp.