| K3SRO |
Rating:      |
2007-11-08 | |
| A quality amp for a reasonable price |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| The HL-1.5KFX is a well built amplifier that weighs 44.5 pounds. It is gorgeous to look at and works very well with most modern radios. It has a very small foot print on your ham desk also. I especially enjoy the auto band change feature and the no tune-up operation. As with any solid state amp, there is no warm-up period. The hook-up is straightforward and all the necessary cables are provided by THP with the exception of the ALC cables (RCA phono plugs). The amp is well protected. The output will vary by band, mode and load situation with the typical output being around 800W on CW and 900 to 1 KW on SSB voice peaks. The fan is very quiet in most cases (first fan speed). However, if you are a long winded Rag Chewer like myself, the second fan speed is a little noisy, but not objectionable. I use this amp with my IC-756 PROII, but I also have an IC-7800 which is use with my Emtron DX-1d amp. The amp is very happy as long as your SWR is below 1.8 to 1. If your SWR is not below that with your antenna system, I would strongly advise you to purchase either a manual or automatic antenna tuner that will handle at least 1 KW continuously. BTW, this amp also covers 6 meters with 650 watts of power. Nobuki and THP are great for service, questions etc. One can only imagine how the newest THP amp, the HL-2.5KFX is with full legal output. |
|
| WA6QGH |
Rating:      |
2007-08-06 | |
| Excellant Solid State Amplifier |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
| I purchased the amplifier in June 2007 at HRO. The unit came factory prewired for 240 volts. I purchased the external fan kit which goes on top of amplifier. The external fans on top and and rear fan are very quiet. I really like the automatic band switching feature controlled by Icom IC-756 Pro. I also like the ability to use the amplifier on 6 meters. I mainly use the amplifier on 20 & 40 meters and have gotten good signal reports and audio reports when using the amplifier.. |
|
| K4KAL |
Rating:   |
2007-05-18 | |
| Unit Returned to HRO. |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
After a week of enjoyable QSO's with this Amplifier; I turned it on this morning and the O.Drive LED stayed lit. I turned the unit off and on and it would not reset. I also noticed the band selection LED's were not lighting up when I changed bands with my PROIII. I tried to call the support folks in VA, and did not get any response. I packed the unit back in it's orignal box, and brought it back to HRO for credit since its been less then two weeks old.
I really think this amp will be first class once some of the problems are resolved with it. |
|
| W0MU |
Rating:      |
2007-04-17 | |
| Great Service |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
See below for full story. Sent the amp back to the service center in Virginia. The unit was repaired and back in the UPS truck the same day! That is great service!
They replaced the finals in the amp. I have tested the amp and I am getting normal full output now on all bands. Output is 900 watts or better on all bands.
I suspect that my unit had some issues from the start.
If you purchase this amp make sure you measure the voltage and set the transformer taps appropriately. The amp comes set for 235vac. Many areas around the country will find that their voltage is closer to 240vac or better.
I have hooked up the amp to my FT-2000 and the band switching works great. The amp is small. About 1/2 the size of an Acom 1000. The amp is very quiet and looks great on the shelf above the rig.
The 2.5k model has now been announced which will put out 1.5k. They will be debuting it at Dayton with an automatic antennas tuner and a lower power amp as well.
I expect that this amp will be a part of my shack for many many years. |
|
| VE4EAR |
Rating:      |
2006-10-23 | |
| Could not get any Simpler |
Time Owned: 3 to 6 months. |
First I must echo all the previous sentiments regarding THP and Nobuki. Truly a pleasure to deal with this company and this person. Despite the 15 hour time difference, emails were answered quickly and THP did not hesitate to send via airmail a preliminary manual for inspection prior to committing to the purchase.
The wire transfer of funds was smooth and painless. The hardest part was waiting for producion to start on these units. I was one of the first to order and received a shipment date about 4 weeks in the future. After 5 weeks, the amp was shipped from Japan to Canada via express courier. A tracking number was provided so that I could follow its every movement. Much to my dissapointment, the package sat in Canada Customs for 3 weeks but that was not the fault of THP.
When the packaged finally arrived I was pleased to see how well packaged it. An inspection showed no visible damage and a peak inside confirmed the AC transformer was correctly wired for ur 240 VAC.
Besided the manual, band decoder cables for Yaesu, Icom, and Kenwood were included. Also several RCA jacks for the ALC and PTT lines and spare fuses were included in the box. You will have to put a end on the AC cable to match your local outlets.
As others have stated, this amp is as simple to operate as it gets. Plug it in, connect the PTT lline and the band decoder cable to match your rig, and you are set. You could always choose to operate manually and select the band yourself.
I use an Icom 746Pro and elected to use the ACC2 band decoder output. It works perfectly. I could have chosen to use the C-IV input as well.
As others have noted, the two speed fan operation is very quiet.
TX/RX switching appears fast, no noticeable lag time.
Built in antenna switch, works great from the front panel. Convenient for those with a separate 6m and HF antenna.
Analog Panel metering is easy to read.
Built in protection circuits for Over temp, VSWR, excess drive, etc... If you hit the amp with more than about 95 watts, the Overdrive fault trips. Likewise, a VSWR of more than about 2 - 2.5 will cause a fault. Reseting the fault involves turning the amp off and then on again.
The bad news is after about 6 weeks of sporadic use, 2 of the four PA devices went bad. When THP was notified, Nobuki provide clear instructions on troubleshooting to help narrow the fault. He then offered to send a new PA module to repair the unit. Three days after leaving Japan, I had not only a new PA module in my hand, but also a new low pass filter board (Just in case there was a problem) a new decoder board (to improve noise performance) and a new main Microprocessor chip. A full set of color instructions for installing these devices was also included. The new modules and chips were installed quickly and the amp was back in service. A couple weekend contesst and the amp performs perfectly.
The reason for the fault is unknown. The antenna VSWR was always kept low (A SteppIr vertical), and drive level was nominally 50-55 watts.
Typical performance shows a 1 dB compression point of approximately 800 watts. I try to run it between 700-800 watts just to keep things linear. It will hit 1kw onPEP on voice peaks if you drive it hard enough, but it just doesn't seem right operating that far above the P1dB point.
Overall, the amp is great, no tuning needed, quiet operation. Turn it on when you need it, turn it off the rest of the time. No warm up needed. Outstanding customer service. No it is not the legal limit but do you really need the extra 3dB? |
|
| VR2DS |
Rating:      |
2006-09-18 | |
| Great product. Great company ! |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I am a tube amp lover. THP amps are the only exceptions.
More than 3 years ago I bought a HL-200Bdx amp for temperory use. It exceeded my expectations so I bought the 500w HL-1KFX too. They survived 3 years of dxing and contesting and are still performing like new. I sold my 800w tube amp and thought that I won't need another amp for a long time. However, when I heard of the HL-1.5KFX, the bug bites.
I called THP. Nobuki san is a very nice gentleman and is a pleasure to deal with. He said it was a bit too early. I insisted on buying and indicated that I don't mind getting an "early unit" and wired the money.
The amp came well packaged. Build quality was very high. Nobuki san had kindly included extra band decode cables for Icom and Kenwood other than Yaesu. I immediately tested the amp. Outpower, gain, linearity, QSK, temperature at midpower level keydown, fan noise etc. were all up to or exceeded expectations. Then I tested the auto band decode feature with 7 rigs I can get my hands on. They worked well but I had noise problem in one particular connection.
I reported the problem via email. Responses were quick and effective. Most important of all, I can feel the positive attitude there. Nobuki san also called me twice on the phone to inform me about the progress. In the end, just when I thought everything was about right, Nobuki san said THP will send me a new MPU to update my amp.
Well, he did not. Instead, he had my HL-1.5KFX fully updated in Japan, and THP paid all shippment costs, both ways.
How about the new amplifier? Smooth as silk. I used it for 24 hours in the All Asia phone contest. It was a piece of cake for the amp and it got only slightly warm.
Now I am waiting for the optional auto tuner. If you have ICOM, Yaesu and Kenwood transceivers and is enjoying automatic operation with PW-1, VL-1000 and 922 amplifiers; take a look at the HL-1.5KFX with autotuner. It is far more compact (and cheaper) to have one unit instead of 3.
This is a first class company. I recommend its products with no reservation. |
|
| W5RUM |
Rating:      |
2006-07-22 | |
| A Small 1K Hi Tech Work Horse |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
Normally I do not purchase ham radio equipment from a manufacturer when it is immediately released. Having owned THP equipment in the past, I made an exception to this rule, and ordered the amplifier a few days after it was granted FCC acceptance. I don’t regret it!
First, I would like to comment on the company and its president Nobuki (JA1DJW). You will not find a finer gentleman anywhere, at any company, in any country. It is a pleasure doing business with this man. He always answers my questions and replies to emails quickly (I once got a reply on a Sunday!). He shipped the amp when promised and emailed the tracking number. Please note: THP does not take credit cards due to the high cost of CC fees in Japan. You must either wire the funds to them or send them a Bank Check in Yen. It’s cheaper to pay the $40 wire fee, then pay an extra 6%. Mailing them the check will take an extra week or so. Don’t be concern with the wire transfer. Nobuki is very trust worthy and the transactions are completely traceable. It took only a few hours for the complete verified transaction. Shipping is also extremely quick! He sent the amp on Thursday afternoon via US MAIL GLOBAL EXPRESS. I received it double boxed, at my door in Texas, Monday morning. That’s quicker then a lot of U.S. based companies. Unlike a previous THP reviewer claim, my unit was thoroughly and completely tested. Nobuki burned the unit in for me (2 days) and emailed me if it was OK to delay shipping a week, while his software engineer tweaked the firmware. That’s attention to detail!
Upon receipt of the amplifier, I immediately removed the top cover, inspecting the interior to insure that all connections and components made the overseas journey safely. It was wired for 240v per my request. Everything was intact, tight and undamaged. The first thing evident to me was the superior quality and technical sophistication of this amplifier. One look inside and it’s apparent that it’s one of the most advanced solid state amplifiers on the market today. The quality is truly built to “aircraft standards”. It contains a microprocessor which controls the various functions of the unit including the warning and protection circuits. THP writes the firmware that controls the microprocessor. Also evident are BNC terminated coax jumpers that connect the various internal boards together. The amp has 5 warning/protection circuits: Drive-Over Heat-Over Voltage-Fuse Blown-Excessive SWR. After eliminating the cause, a simple off-on will reset the applicable circuit. The first knob on the front panel selects the various meter functions – Power Forward--Power Reflected- Voltage – Amperage. Next to the meter function knob is the band select knob. Here the user can select the band switch function to a specific radio manufacturer. There are selections for Icom, Yaseu, Kenwood and a manual mode. If you have a TenTec you need to build or acquire a relay board to mimic the different band switching voltages of an Icom radio. Next to the Band select switch is the up down switches to control the band switching in manual mode. And finally an two antenna buttons to select A or B antenna.
The rear panel contains numerous connectors: two antenna inputs, transceiver input, a din connector for the optional tuner (available late 2006). Also are various connectors for band switching – a din for a Yaseu, a 232 connector for Kenwood, and two connectors for an Icom, a CI-V and a RCA connector. There also is a pot to set the ALC (max output), and two RCA connectors for standby and monitor.
Operation is seamless and effortless. The instant on feature is great. Output was observed to a full 1k on all bands, except 6 meters, which is 650 watts. I set the ALC to limit power on my amp to around 850 watts on HF. This amp is a tank and a real work horse. It has a very small foot print and is advertised as the smallest 1K Solid State amp on the market. It’s smaller than my Astron 60 amp power supply. Outstanding, considering the amp has a built in power supply. The amplifier is silent at the low fan speed and very quite when the fan is on high. The fan pulls the hot air from the heat sink opening on top of the unit through the fan which is mounted on the rear of the unit. Shortly THP will have an optional fan available (mounts on top of the heat sink opening), that will allow 100% continuous duty for modes such as RTTY. More importantly, in the 4Q of 2006, THP will release an 1.5K auto-tuner that plugs directly into the rear accessory jack. THP is also releasing a 1.5 K output amplifier, which will debut at the Tokyo Ham Show in August 2006. THP is also planning a US located service center.
If you want a high quality, a technically sophisticated amplifier, with turn it on and forget it features…this amplifier is for YOU! The amplifier, nor will THP, disappoint. Highly recommended.
Feel free to contact me with any questions.
Tom W5RUM at arrl.net |
|
| W6OP |
Rating:      |
2006-07-15 | |
| Very nice amp |
Time Owned: 0 to 3 months. |
I have only had this amp a couple of weeks but since it has just been released for sale in the USA I thought I would provide a quick review and then update it after I have used it for awhile. It is FCC certified now.
THP always gave quick responses to my questions and even sent a manual for me to look at before I bought. I received the amp about 4 days after payment so that was quick. They also have a reputation for excellent service.
The amp is very solidly built. Workmanship inside looks very good. All the switches and knobs feel really smooth and solid. This is my first amp so I can't really compare it to others. However, the auto bandswitching is real nice. It also has two antenna outputs and remembers which one goes with which band. The fan is adjustable speed and is very quiet at idle. When pushed you can hear it speed up but is still pretty quiet. The protection circuits seem to work well, before I got the band switching hooked up I sometimes forgot to switch bands. It is pretty sensitive to swr, also. I am used to the auto tuner in my rig so I had a few problems getting used to the old manual tuner I had. I'll definitely buy an auto tuner to use with this. It also does 6 meters so that is a real plus for me.
I don't do RTTY so I don't know how it will perform there and my cw isn't that good so I don't know how well the QSK performs. Seems to put out the rated power according to the built in meter. I don't have a watt meter that will handle this much power yet. Overall, a solid nice amp. The only thing I would like better is a larger meter but when I buy my new inline meter it won't really matter. |
|