| N3DXD |
Rating:      |
2022-10-24 | |
| Excellent |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| It’s great . 73s |
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| VK6WB |
Rating:      |
2022-06-17 | |
| LOVE IT EASY TO TUNE |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
Purchase This NEW MODEL ACOM-1000 , Love it and easy to tune . love the TRI so cool and make it so easy to tune up and so quite 30 watt drive and 550 out. I think that is enough for VK power limit lol .
its the same output to my Kenwood TL-922 and I will keep the Kenwood for time being. cheers |
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| W3HKK |
Rating:     |
2022-01-24 | |
| Summary of issues |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Read nearly 200 posts on this amp, which are glowing. Only three noted hardware issues: 1. my $500 tube (installed + shipping both ways= another $160) died after 1 yr 3 months; 2. another had a relay issue; 3. another paid for a new transformer.
ACOM stictly adheres to their 1 yr tube warranty and 2 years for the rest of the amp. Beyond that, YOU pay. So dont dally if you think you have a problem. Also be prepared to pay for shipping both ways on top of repairs. For an amp, that adds up.
Im not saying the warranty is poor, just that it is strictly adhered to, and it is up to the owner to monitor the condition of your amp and notify ACOM. Out of warranty repairs ( tube or xfo) are gonna cost you around $700.
PS As others have noted, older designed amps last forever. My old Dentron Clipperton L lasted 20+ years with heavy contesting use and two changes of the finals. Not sure that will happen with newer amps. Id be curious how well the OLDEST ACOM 1000's last, and what their usage was. As said, overall other than mine's short lifespan, it is a very good amp.
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Earlier 4-star review posted by W3HKK on 2019-02-11
My prior glowing review has to be dialed back a notch due to the original tube lasting just 14 months before output dropped off dramatically.
In retrospect, it appears the original tube was defective as received, but I didnt act on it until 14 months had passed and the tube out of warranty. (My bad.) I was so happy to receive the amp and not interested in shipping the big heavy thing back, as it put out 1000w on the hf bands, but would only put out 350w on 6m before the overcurrent interlock kicked it off line. Since I did very little 6m work, I didnt worry about it.
Then comes last week when out of the blue the overcurrent interlock shut the amp down immediately upon pressing the Operate button. Twice.
DXE quickly advised it was under warranty and to ship it to their contracted tech in NY, which I did. He promptly called me to advise I had a tube issue, and ACOM had a strict 12 month warranty on the tube, but a 24 month warranty on the rest of the amp. Hence, it would cost me $495 out of pocket to get the tube replaced, plus return shipping.
Considering the rapid decline of the tube and the money already spent shipping the amp in for repairs, it made sense to go ahead with replacement.
The amp IS easy to use, quiet, and will directly tune an antenna with up to 3:1 swr which almost obviates the need for an external high power tuner. But since I have one, I use it when swrs go above 1.5:1 to lengthen the amps life. So much for that theory.
FWIW: my usage is mostly contesting- 95% cw, 5% ssb. No digital. About 3500 qso's per year. The driver is an IC7610.
Moral of the story is: be sure to test your new amp on all bands for full output power. Highest band first. If it fails, then contact your dealer immediately.
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1/24/2022 Nearly three years after having to change my final ( 4cx800a) tube, it is still putting out full power on 160-6m. and has not given me any trouble.
My usage consists of heavy contesting and DXing, including the ARRL and CQWW 160m cw contests, the ARRL and CQWW CW DX contests, the Ohio QSO Party, OSPOTA contest, the CQ and ARRL 6M Contests, and a couple others. Total QSOs since purchasing the ACOM1000 is about 17,000., about 13,000 of which have come with the current final amp.
The positives about this amp remain: its modern look, ability to handle SWRs of 3:1 ( though with my high power TenTec manual tuner I keep SWRs well under 2:1; built-in safety features that will trip it off line when most any issue arises; & being able to read the SWR, Po, Pin, plus easy tune up.
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| WU7X |
Rating:      |
2022-01-24 | |
| Superior performance and support |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
1/22/2022 - Nine band WAS FT8 2-1/2 years. I honestly believe that this amp is what helped me complete this in such a short time. I don't think I ever ran it over 300 watts due to the 50/50 duty cycle while on FT8. But that is all I needed. Also worked a lot of 160, 80, 40, etc. DX on FT8 using this incredible instrument. Now it is on to WAS on CW and SSB and increasing my DXCC numbers on all modes. Acom I salute you!
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12/14/2020 - I'm just about to complete my 8 band WAS on FT8. Two more on 15 M and less than 15 on 10 M. I've driven this amp for hours on end over the past three years, typically at 100-200 w. These old Russian tubes are like T34 tanks. They just keep plowing ahead. On CW I run ~600W and the amp is just loafing along. I've not had it on SSB much but when needed it did the job. Setup here is a IC7600 putting out 25-50W into the Acom 1000, then into a Palstar AT2K. I just picked up a LP-100A to make sure the SWR is at 1.0:1 or very close, and the output is where I want it. I still believe this is the best $$ one can spend on an amp. The antennas used for 160 through 6 M are a MyAntennas EFHW 8010 1KW in an inverted L configuration, and a Mosley TA63N.
This is an update to my 8/28/2017 review. Within six months of acquiring the amp it fizzled out on me. Several emails to DXE with no response. So I emailed the factory in Bulgaria directly. Within 24 I was in contact with one of their techs. Working with him via email it took less than a day to diagnose the problem (bad tube and primary board). Replacements were sent to me immediately along with excellent written instructions, with clear color pictures, describing how to replace both and then how to neutralize the tube. The only expense was to ship the broken parts back to them. Since then I have made literally thousands of digital contacts using the amp without a hiccup. This means running it for hours at a time on a 50% duty cycle with 200-300 watts output. It doesn't get hot, it just keeps going. The protection built into it has saved me several times from my stupid late night errors. I don't think a manual tuner can get any better than this. It is staying on my desk for the foreseeable future. Dare I say perfection? Thank you ACOM support! |
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| K0DXV |
Rating:      |
2022-01-23 | |
| Excellent in every way |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I got pretty tired of solid state amps. Always finicky about SWR so you wend up using a tuner. When I first discovered Acom, I was impressed. It can handle 3:1 no problem. I bought the 1010 because that was what was available. Loved it. 700 out with maybe 10 seconds of tuning. I really wanted the 1000 When It became available, I just grabbed it. It's incredibly quiet. The SS amps were all very loud. The 1010 wasn't bad but the fan has a very irritating mechanical whine, but the 1000 is amazing Tuning is so simple because of the tuning aid. After a bit of use, you pretty much know were each antenna will tune on each band. Some people have created charts and can preset without even using the tuning indicator. I find it so easy - I just tune it. Typically, just takes a few seconds. Power output is easily 1KW. Pushing it a little with 70 watts input I can see 1100 watts. Build quality is excellent. It's layout is elegant and simple. One thing I would consider a great improvement would be to add veneer tuning like Ameritron amps have. Load tuning is rather critical. Getting it just right with the Load control on the indicator can be tricky.
Bottom line this amplifier is worth the price in every way. It's attractive, reasonable in size and weight, and incredibly quiet. It puts out one KW and easily handles up to 3:1 SWR. I don't know how you could make a more perfect amplifier in the 1KW range. I've owned many amplifiers over the past 60 years. This is the4 best. |
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| WG9O |
Rating:      |
2021-11-20 | |
| Best 1KW amp on the market |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
| I have owned and used many linear amplifiersw in my 50+ years as a HAM and the AMCON 1000 is the best amplifier I have ever owned. The amp. is built like a tank and is the easiest tuning amp. i have ever tuned. Tuning may take 10 seconds if that long. I have received nothing but 10 over 9 reports with great audio. The amp. loafs along with 60 watts of exciter drive and 1KW of output. |
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| VA3VVV |
Rating:  |
2021-10-12 | |
| Transformer went leaky after 6 months...New amplifier. |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
| Transformer went leaky after 6 months...New amplifier...Stiffed me on the labor to replace it...Seems they have a quality issue with their high voltage transformers...They knew what it was right away...Now I'm worried the replacement transformer will fail the same way...I doubt they will help me if it does...They are ignoring my emails now...$3500+tax down the drain...Don't take a chance. |
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| W4WHQ |
Rating:      |
2021-08-30 | |
| Very easy amp to tune. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have two other amps, and ACOM 1010 and an OM Power 2000+. They are all three great amps, with the ACOM1000 being the easiest to tune of the lot. The easiest to tune is the ACOM1010, which has been in service for ten years with no problems or repairs. As easy as the 1010 is to tune, the 1000 with its tuning feature using 6db of attenuation tunes up even faster, and it can be tuned without having to reduce drive power from your transceiver. The ACOM 1000 has the same tube as the 1010, but it can run at 1000w SSB without getting too warm. The cooling system in the 1000 is superior to the 1010 and if you spend a lot of time on CW or Digital, you can add an additional cooling fan.
This is also the quietest amp of the three. The ACOM 1010 is not noisy, but it is louder than the 1000. The OM Power 2000+ is louder than the other two, but it is still quieter than most amps that I have heard.
My experience with support from ACOM is excellent. They are quick to answer questions, even on amps that are way out of warranty. Support from OM Power is excellent too.
The ACOM 1000 comes with protection circuitry that makes it just about impossible to damage the amp by just about anything that you could do to it, short of taking a hammer to it.
The amp is able to handle up to an SWR of 3.0:1. Which means that if your antennas follow below that, you don't need an antenna tuner.
If you are looking for a great, easy to use, amp, you can't go wrong with the ACOM 1000. DXEngineering had the best price and they shipped fast. |
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| UNCLEIKE |
Rating:  |
2021-08-06 | |
| Major failure. |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
| Three sets of finals in the 600S and I switched to the Acom 1000. I personally know four hams with multiple blown solid state amps from different manufacturers. I just don't think high power solid state is here yet. This Acom 1000 is built like a tank, protects itself beautifully, performs flawlessly every time, on every band. It is a short learning curve to retune with band changes. I have gladly traded rugged reliability for 21st century solid state promises. Less than two years, tube fail, bias board damaged and power transformer failure. $1,700 repair. Two weeks after repair, error codes and another failure, service center offered no help at all. Done with Acom. |
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| WW7Q |
Rating:      |
2021-03-20 | |
| Impressive . . . |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
One word best describes this amplifier: impressive. Once the decision was made to purchase an ACOM, it was just a matter of choosing the model best suited to fit my needs which included price, performance and user friendliness. The ACOM 1000 amplifier (120V option) became my choice and after one month of new ownership I could not be happier with my selection. The amplifier is extraordinarily easy to tune and is a fail-safe procedure using ACOM’s True Resistance Indicator (TRI) visual tuning aid coupled with its Automatic Protection System which will put your mind at ease should Murphy’s Law be lurking; there are warning indicators on the display giving you advanced notification of which issue needs correcting. If the displayed warning indicator is not responded to in a reasonable amount of time (which depends on the issue), the amplifier will automatically switch into stand-by mode before any harm can result.
A visual scale on the OLED display can have you perfectly tuned with maximum output in under 10 seconds. With 70W of drive I find the output to be approximately 1000W; I generally use 60W of drive to achieve 875-900W output on all bands. Having used an Ameritron AL-80B exclusively for the past 23 years (purchased new in 1998), I am pleasantly pleased with the very quiet fan and virtually non-existent switching noises. I honestly have no complaints, only high-fives for this “bad boy.”
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