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Reviews For: QRP Labs QCX 50 watt amplifier

Category: QRP Radios (5 watts or less)

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Review Summary For : QRP Labs QCX 50 watt amplifier
Reviews: 1MSRP: $29.50 + $16 for the enclosure
Description:
This 50W Power Amplifier kit has no Surface Mount Components (SMD) to solder. A suitable power supply e.g. 20V 5A is required to be able to achieve the full 50W output - refer to the manual. It is designed to be driven by a standard QCX CW transceiver kit (QCX powered by a 12V supply). A key feature of the kit is the solid state fast transmit/receive switching which provides full break-in (QSK) operation (hearing the band between your own dit and dah keying). This amplifier is not intended to be a Linear (for SSB use) - it is designed for single-band CW operation only. The design uses only low-cost, commonly available components such as the pair of IRF510 in push-pull as the power amplifier transistors, and 1N4007 as the PIN diodes for transmit/receive switching. If you damage any components such as the IRF510 transistors, they are easy to source and replace.
Product is in production
More Info: http://shop.qrp-labs.com/50wpa
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
0015
KC7YRA Rating: 2021-04-02
A whole lot of amplifier for dirt cheap Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I bought this amplifier as a companion to my QCX radios. For roughly $50, you get a solid-state amplifier capable of producing 50 watts. And the whole thing is smaller than the QCX+ radio itself.

At 13.6volts, the amp puts out about 25 watts with around a watt of drive. At 20-22 volts, the amp puts out the full rated 50 watts.

Build instructions and assembly are just as great as all of the other QRP Labs kits. Within a couple hours, I was able to get this kit built for my desired band (40 meters) and tuned as per the instructions. All you need is a volt meter.

For the QCX+, the interface is a simple stereo cable. You do have to swap some wires around, but it takes just a couple minutes.

The amp can also interface with other QRP rigs. It requires a 5+ volt switched TX signal. I built a little interface for my FT-818D that works great. I highly recommend this little amp for some CW action where you want to shoot over the QRP limits!