| W0BKR |
Rating:     |
2018-08-06 | |
| Good Amp! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Have had mine for a while and like that it is "idiot" proof to load up, no peak and dip, just pay attention to the TRI indicator. Mine from the outset never read the output power or drive power correctly, and don't know how to set it. I have to drive it with about 70-75 to get 1K out. Not sure if that is correct, but I usually run it a bit lower. Not real happy some functions (readings) are not to spec but I suppose I can live with it. Quiet amp, and nice to have 160-6 meter capability.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by N9CM on 2014-08-26
Well, have had my amp for a while, the original one I bought was destroyed in shipment and this one was sent in its place. Not sure if this was a production model or returned unit. It is a much lower Serial Number.
Amp is easy to use, hard to make adjustments and the documentation is weak.
Mine never would display certain parameters correctly because, as I found out, the reference voltage used by the uProcessor was way off, either never set by the factory or when it was in for local repair.
Now, the HV and Exhaust air temp read much more correctly in value.
However, to get to the adjustment, you nearly have to disassemble the amp (then again, you shouldn't have to do this adjustment if properly set up). The manual provides no indication of what the nominal values of the amp are during idle, (i.e. what should the HV read, what should the exhaust air temp read, etc.) to provide the user with some indication the amp if functioning properly.
And if not, no troubleshooting section in the manual to tell you that Pin 8 on IC10 should read 2.55VDC. (Mine read 2.34 which caused all the parameters to read way off).
Getting to that adjustment (RP1) isn't easy either, as it requires the front panel removal, removal of harnesses, knobs, covers, etc. An access panel would have been a nice touch, but then again, you shouldn't have to ever adjust this setting if it was properly set at the factory or the authorized repair source(s). Easy to miss as who would think a REFERENCE setting is off.
Anyway, I perk along around 800-1000 watts, I don't push it, as 700-1000 is little difference to the guy on the other end.
Easy to tune, relatively small foot print.
Again, I recommend a stronger manual and easier "do it yourself" abilities with the amp but likely, you will never have to adjust or work on your amp under normal conditions.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by N9CM on 2009-11-30
I have had my ACOM 1000 for some time now and all I can say is "WOW". You can't hurt this thing. Too many idiot proof design blocks in this amp. Talk about easy to use. I run it periodically from 160 to 6 and never a problem in getting full power out (if I want). Runs extremely quiet.
I had one delivered that the delivery service damaged. Sent it back, got a new one, no problem.
I love this amp and for the price, you can't beat it. The beauty of the design, the design features, well, you will have to read an ARRL review on it or pull it up on line. Too many to list here.
The most easy to use, easy to understand, easy to see the parameters without menus, multiple switches, etc. You won't go wrong with this amplifier!! Nothing comes close in this price range. |
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| SA3AYF |
Rating:      |
2018-07-02 | |
| Bullet AND idiot proof...! |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Bought this beauty in september 2017, as I was aiming for the SAC and CQ WW contests.
Knowing I was to be "one-handed" during these two contests due to hand surgery, I was looking for an easy to operate amplifier.
It is a delight to operate (even more so with two hands, Hi!).
The built in protective circuits are absolute bullet and idiot proof!
And I think I have tried them all...
That includes sever mismatch, wrong antenna for the wrong band, no antenna, shorted output connection, open circuit on output, well, name it and I have probably tried it.
All when operating one-handed with right hand packed in plaster and during hectic contest conditions.
Every time the amp has stopped and in plain text told me what I have screwed up on.
Great!
And when operating it normally, it is a delight to use.
Very quick tune up, you can´t go wrong if you look at the display and the TRI-indicator.
The fan is IMHO, compared to my old Ameritron, unbeliveably quiet.
As far as power the amp easily puts out the rated power with lots to spare with only 50W of driving power from my IC-7600.
It can be preassured to give about 1200W pep, but that is pushing the tube and power supply a bit heavy.
Looking at the spectral purity using a R&S spectrum analyzer, the rated 1kW is absolutely clean and exceeds the figures stated by manufacturer.
Very good indeed!
In short; you can´t go wrong with this amp. If you find a tube amp that is easier to use, more reliable and with more "bang for the buck", you must be joking.
They are often a real bargain on the used market and the tube is still very much in production and easy to obtain.
Lots of NOS tubes from the Svetlana plant are also abundant on the market so no worries there for at least one decade.
If you are looking for reliable power, this is the thing !
73//
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Earlier 5-star review posted by SA3AYF on 2017-10-15
To start with, I already have 2 other amps that works well with about the same output.
I picked this one up at a bargain price trough an ad on one of the many popular selling sites.
I knew from other hams that it was supposedly a good amp.
They were wrong, it is a FANTASTIC amp!
I have just finished the SAC SSB contest as a first trial of the amp.
Due to temporarily having my right hand in a cast, the whole operation was done one-handed...
As a result I have mistuned it, keyed it with no antenna, keyed at full power with the wrong antenna, wrong setting of bandswitch and all other abuse I can think of.
As they should, the protective circuits tripped and told me, in plain text, what ever the problem was.
Built as a tank, it seems indestructible at this point.
Tuning wth the TRI-display is a breeze.
You simply cant go wrong!
Ok, so what could be better?
Well the fan IS noisy at full steam, but that can be fixed.
I would recommend this amp to anyone, anywhere.
A keeper in my shack !
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| K3TS |
Rating:      |
2018-06-16 | |
| Great amplifier and easy to tune, |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I got back on the air in 2016 after a long period of inactivity. There were some pieces of equipment on the market that captured my interest right away. One such piece was the ACOM 1000 amplifier. I really liked it, but it was just a bit beyond my budget, so I settled for a used Ameritron AL-80a, which worked just fine and really improved my DX and contesting results. Still, I longed for that ACOM 1000. Sometime after the 2018 ARRL DX contest, a fellow FRC member listed his ACOM 1000 for sale at a really good price. It was about 10 years old but had been lightly used, serving as a backup for his larger ACOM 2000. I just could not pass it up, so I grabbed it, just in time for CQ WPX SSB.
At first I was concerned about switching to an amplifier with a lot of protective circuitry in it. I had visions of it shutting down repeatedly in a major contest every time the VSWR on the antenna rose above 2:1. This turned out not to be a problem. The ACOM 1000 protective circuitry does not disable the amplifier unless something is seriously wrong, or I do something really stupid, like transmitting on the wrong antenna or trying to drive the amplifier with the exciter set to a different band. A 3:1 VSWR is not a problem at all, and the amplifier will just keep plugging along, silently making a kilowatt of clean RF.
Note that i said "silently". This is one of my favorite things about this amplifier. It makes no sound. The fan is almost imperceptible, and there are no noisy T-R relays. In fact, the only indication that it is working is gobs of power on the output display. A red "Transmit" LED would not have been a bad idea, but I am getting along just fine without it. The best thing about this amplifier is how easy it is to tune up. I had forgotten how nice a grid driven tetrode amplifier tunes up during the time I was using a grounded grid 3-500. You only have to tune this one once, thanks to the ingenious TRI system, which takes you to the proper load setting regardless of drive. This is really a great feature.
Another great thing about this amplifier is the input circuit. It is a big 50 ohm resistor. This means that your exciter always sees a perfect match. The value of this design feature is immeasurable. If your radio is always seeing a load that it is happy with, then chances are your amplifier will be happy as well, being driven by a clean signal. Also the tube is a rugged GU-74 type from Russia, which are both affordable and available, something that cannot be said for many other tubes these days. And since it is a single tube amplifier, you will only need one if replacement becomes necessary.
All in all, my ACOM 1000 has become one of my favorite pieces of gear in the shack. I have found that about 60 watts of drive will deliver a nominal kilowatt of output on all HF bands. I have not tried it on 6 meters so I cannot say what the output would be on that band, but the fact that this amplifier covers 160 through 6 meters is just another thing that makes it great.
There is really nothing negative about this amplifier. If I could add anything to it would be the "Transmit" LED, and maybe a set of gear reduction drives for the tune and load controls. But that is about it, other than that, this is a perfect choice for a kilowatt amplifier, and I would recommend it without hesitation. If you are in the market for a manual tune kilowatt amplifier, the ACOM 1000 should be at the top of your list. If you buy this amp you will not regret it.
Tony WA2FZB
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| KB6HRT |
Rating:      |
2018-05-28 | |
| Real Nice |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Am Blessed now to have 3 ACOM amplifiers, the ACOM1000 being the latest.
Why ACOM because they work well in a lot of ways for me. First they put out rated output easily, second tuning is easy an repeatable, tuch up is easy if needed, they run very quite, an when there is a long keyup on my end, an unkey Its still quite in the room an I hear ever word of the incoming signal, I Rag Chew in the early morning these days, an the ACOM 1000 fits the bill in spades. An as I am getting older, think there safety devices in there amplifiers may come into play more, an I maybe able to stay on the air much longer.....................73s.........kb6hrt |
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| M1KMC |
Rating:      |
2017-10-13 | |
| Fantastic |
Time Owned: 6 to 12 months. |
Previous Amp was the Kenwood TL-922, it was ok but a few problems you associate with an older piece of kit, A small windfall resulted in a new Acom 1000 facelift model, and wow its so much more than an amp, great on tuning with the TRI indicator, and also more importantly it has so many fail safe protection functions in it, recently a trap on my MA5B went faulty and the Amp shut down sensing the fault before I had even noticed...As someone else mentioned do not dither about just go for it...
If I had one moan it is that it does not have more than one Ant socket, unlike the 1500,2100, etc |
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| WB5THT |
Rating:      |
2017-09-09 | |
| Great amp! |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
I agonized over buying a solid state amp or a tube amp for quite a while and as you have figured out, I chose a tube amp. Tube finals are very forgiving of high SWR or other issues where silicon isn't. One worry I had with a tube amp was tube availability but I bought a spare GU74B that was new old Russian stock.
Connecting the radio to the amp is dirt simple - hook up coax and and a key line. That's it.
Tuning the amp is really easy using the guide on the display. Other - the blower is very quiet. I drive it from my K3s with about 55 watts for 900+ watts out on 75 meters.
I've owned this amp for about two years and would buy another Acom amp in a heartbeat. |
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| G8RBW |
Rating:      |
2017-08-18 | |
| It's Heavy Dude! |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
I'm wary of describing anything as 'built like a tank' because a friend of mine worked on a famous British tank and liked to point out that tanks need a LOT of servicing and a team of mechanics and technicians to keep them running. My secondhand 2009 ACOM 1000 is, therefore, better than the average tank as it just sits there and works, no fuss, no bother.
As other people have pointed out the tune and load knobs have not been fitted with slow motion drives, so a bit of care is required to tune it up but practise makes perfect, as they say. I run it at the British legal limit of 400 watts and it is just ticking over. Truly a Rolls-Royce of Linears. |
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| K4IIE |
Rating:      |
2017-04-17 | |
| 5th year evaluation |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Been using this amp for 5 years now and it has performed beyond expectations.Still get 1kw out with 45w drive.Tried a couple of 600w solid-state amps and both failed.I'll stick with tubes.This is the finest linear I've used.As others have said "bulletproof".
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K4IIE on 2015-08-01
Have used this amp daily for 3 years.Accidentally ran it into an open and shorted antenna.Forgot to turn the 200w FT1000D down to 45w,just shuts down every time.Have a spare GU74B which I'll probably never need.Will keep for many years.A superb product!
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Earlier 5-star review posted by K4IIE on 2012-08-12
Have had them all since been a ham for 52 years.This is the best amp I've ever owned.Recently got it after hearing W4WTX on his and it sounded great.It's easy to set up and use.Getting a KW with only 45w of drive.Can't hear the fan or switching.Basically foolproof design.QSK is superb.Wish I had bought one years ago.Highly recommended. |
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| M0KZX |
Rating:      |
2017-04-17 | |
| Built like a tank, easy to use an amp for life |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I've owned my Acom 1000 just over a month now and have found it to be an excellent amplifier.
It's a piece of cake to tune up using ACOM's simple but clever system. Reports are all of very clear audio with nothing nasty going on around the edges.
Runs nice and cool at 400 watts and the fan noise is very acceptable.
My one and only grumble is that the tune and load capacitors have not been fitted with slow motion drives. It would have been a nice touch and something I would have been happy to pay a little more for.
If you are looking for a new amp this is the one to buy. You will not be disappointed. |
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| NC3Z |
Rating:      |
2017-02-22 | |
| Love this amp |
Time Owned: more than 12 months. |
Tuning is so easy and very repeatable. Easily runs it's rated output and then some! Takes inadvertent abuse with grace.
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Earlier 5-star review posted by NC3Z on 2015-09-12
Great looking, very quiet, and tunes into antenna loads without a tuner. Plus it loafs along at 1000W.
It is amazing how quiet this am is, it is front and center on my operating desk and very unobtrusive.
I bought this back in May from DX Engineering and also found 2 sealed tubes locally for $125 each, if I ever need them. |
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