Kenny KM3KM has announced that the upcoming 6-80m Mercury Lite amplifier has received FCC approval and will be available for purchase starting in March for $1986. No idea when pre-orders will begin being accepted. No pre-orders - "Orders will be taken in March and there will be no waiting".
Details of the amp are here and the manual can be downloaded here (1MB pdf).
The Mercury Lite seems to have a lot going for it: low drive level required, built-in ATU, automatic band-switching via RF detection and the ability to be powered from a 48V lithium battery.
That's a feature list that will put many Mercury Lites into the field on POTA and WWFF operations.
One knowledgeable fan has already ordered a 48V 20AH (3.5kg/8lbs, $175) battery. I'm calcuguessing that it will last about 2 hours in the field.
On a related topic, KM3KM offers a -65dB sampler. This would put the Mercury Lite's sampled output at 0.2mW for Pure Signal capable transceivers or, more to my interests, a way to safely look at the amp's output on a tinySA, oscope or other test equipment.
But I'm pretty sure I could make a sampler for quite a bit less dinero than $140.
The Mercury Lite will undoubtedly be compared with Elecraft's KPA-500. The KPA-500 weighs 26 lbs, costs $2900, has QSK and covers 6-160m. But it also has a built-in power supply, unlike the Mercury Lite (which doesn't have QSK).
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I wonder if the amp will provide full output at 5 watts in.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about that too, but I doubt it.
Delete73,
John
Update: Full output with 10W in. An internal attenuator allows either a 5-10 watt input or the full 40w.
Delete600 watts is < 8dB more than 100 watts, just a little over an a typical S-unit. I don't know if the battery weight (additional 48 volt battery,) higher-power capable antenna (& tuner), and potential for more RFI is worth it. IMHO a better antenna might be a more useful investment for portable ops.
ReplyDeleteI have been amazed at what a "barefoot" KX3 can do. I think part of the fun of portable ops is in using QRP, but I have been told I have a sick mind. 73!
8dB is significant. Think of the lengths (and expense) many hams go to just to get a 2 or 3dB improvement on an antenna - now consider that for a portable operation on multiple bands. For years I used a K3 and Flex 6300 barefoot, then bought a KPA-500. The difference was night and day when it came to DXing and contest scores.
Delete73,
John