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Reviews For: QRO HF2500DX

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

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Review Summary For : QRO HF2500DX
Reviews: 59MSRP: 4095.
Description:
Please go to http://www.qrotec.com/specs25.html
Product is not in production
More Info: http://www.qrotec.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
00594.7
WX4TM Rating: 2002-11-11
Very Satisfied Customer Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
RTTY is tough on any amp. RTTY contesting is as tough as it gets. I've had my HF2500DX for almost a year. Had to return it after about 30 days. Turned out to be a bad tube. Was back to me in less than a week. As reported by others, Ray Connin at QRO is the greatest to work with. Since then, I have used it in most (24 & 48HR) RTTY contests this year running 1KW with only 12-15 watts in from my FT990 with absolutely no problems except for an ocassional 'no damage done' 'dumb' operator error!. I haven't own many amps so it's somewhat difficult to compare. I bought it after considering the Commander and AL1500. My decision was based on specs, reputation and discussion with lots of 'Old Pros'. I wanted high output with minimum input. Another selling point, for me, was that its front panel ALC control allows it to run at only 150-200 Watts for some of the 'low power' category contests. It does get a bit warm - never too hot to touch. Even so, I use an external fan to help pull the heat away. Bottom line: it does what I want it to do when I want it to do it. Its relatively quite and super dependable. The manual is of exceptionally quality, well written and clearly undestandable. Warranty and factory support are fantastic. I routinely get great signal reports and seldom hear "AGN AGN" or "RPT RPT". I'm a very VERY satisfied customer!
N4AY Rating: 2002-08-15
Outstanding Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Have had the amp about 30 days. Performs as advertised. Only caveat, be sure your operating position can handle the weight, and your back is in good shape to lift the amp into position after the plate transformer is installed! Beautiful construction, excellent owners manual and fantastic support from the factory! I'd buy another if I ever need another amp.

73,
de N4AY
W5ZNN Rating: 2002-03-29
GREAT AMP Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
I HAVE HAD AMP FOR ABOUT ONE YEAR. NEVER HAD A PROBLEM. WORKS GREAT LOAFS ALONG AT 1KW OUT ON RTTY AND SSTV. I MAY PURCHASE ANOTHER ONE OF THEIR AMPS TO LEAVE ON 10 METERS.
W4TH Rating: 2001-08-03
Low Drive=High Power, Dependable, Easy to Tune Time Owned: more than 12 months.
My QRO 2500 is as good as they come. 35 watts in = 1500 out on all bands! No problems, and QUITE!!!! Ray is a super nice person to do business with. GET ONE! You WILL NOT REGRET IT!
K5YY Rating: 2001-03-26
some problems Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have a used HF2500DX and got it for the advertised features and after reading some feedback here. I could not get the idle plate current down below 800ma and manual tells you this is from loss of grid bias. Well, it was NOT in my case. After spending 3 hours in coming up with no diagnosis, called Ray at factory and he said to install more cathode resistance, that the usual is 15 ohms or such, but mine had a 5 ohm cathode resistor and it WAS factory installed. So the amp had to always have run at 800ma idle plate current! The screen voltage is too high also for the the 2 tube model. When you pull up the 4CX800 parameters, the screen V is too high for 2 tubes and the screens dissipate more power than they should. I installed a 20 ohm in series with the small amounts already in each tube's cathode circuit and still only brings idle to about 450ma. Ray says 400 ma is OK and it's in the manual too!! I am a bit skeptical of this much idling plate current. Would seem to be easier to put a VARIABLE grid bias pot in line, rather than lessen tube gain by unbolting and resoldering another cathode resistor. The way it is now, a new set of tubes with different gain factors might have to have the cathode change redone. It is not really simple to do this. A grid bias variable pot wud be better. And the screen voltage can be brought into normal range by not using the voltage doubler circuit. Output is great with very little drive, but the screen voltage used and the still high idling plate current despite increasing the cathode resistance is a big problem with me. And knowing that the wrong resistor was factory installed I felt QRO should have sent me a correct resistor, even though it was out of warranty. Some design changes are needed and I told Ray this when I sent him my check for the parts. I had to buy a 10 and a 20 ohm resistor to "try one then the other" method. Linear is sorta nice looking inside otherwise... San K5YY
W8UL Rating: 2001-03-24
Well Built/Great Amp Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
Since I live in Ohio, I was able to pick up my amp at Ray Connin's facility in Bryan. He had my amp (#5520) open and ready for a demo when I arrived. I marveled at the quality of components used, especially the massive 3KVA Dahl plate transformer, positive detent giant RadioSwitch 86 bandswitch, the QSK vacuum relay, and the 50 cfm variable speed blower. The cabling and clean layout inside of the cabinet was reassuring. My amp has performed flawlessly on all bands from 10 through 160 meters with excellent quality reports in both bandwidth and signal strength. The amp produces full legal amateur output with 40 watts of drive power on 160 through 17 meters and 30 watts on 15, 12 and 10 meters. I have finally found what I had long been looking for (ease of tuneup, low drive power, emission quality) in an amp after long using others made by Central Electronics, Heath, Drake, Collins, and Henry. I will never ever need another amplifier.
WC4X Rating: 2001-01-21
Well Built/Great Service Time Owned: 6 to 12 months.
Purchased used and sent to QRO for latest upgrades. Ray is a pleasure to deal with. My questions always cheerfully answered via e mail, even on weekends! This amp is easy to tune and easy to operate.
KA3MEN Rating: 2000-04-25
Great amp Time Owned: more than 12 months.
I bought my QRO2500DX in late 97, Ray was very helpfull in answering all my questions. I run RTTY and the amp just purrs along at 1500 watts with just 20 watts input. No problems with the amp. The manual is written to be understood by non-engineering type hams. I recommend anyone looking for am amp, consider QRO.
W6LAR Rating: 2000-02-14
Outstanding performer even on WARC Time Owned: unknown months.
Owned my HF-2500 for over three years and have had no problems other than its hard to keep the drive down for legal output. It does not take a lot of power in for 1500W out. Lucky most users probably have a newer driver with adjustable power level. I do run an older Heathkit HW-101 at times but thru a 6 dB pad to drive the HF-2500. As mentioned before, QRO could have added an internal wattmeter to make tuning and monitoring easier. It also takes up a LOT of desk space! But overall its been a quality product with good customer support. I would also have liked the feet on the front end to be higher or a bail of some sort to raise the front. I added my own and suggested to QRO to do this also. I run a Cushcraft A3WS yagi on WARC and this amp tunes up easily even though it does not have band positions just for the WARC bands. A far as I am concerned its the last amp I will ever need.