ACOM 1000
$$$$·
| Frequency | 1.8-54 MHz: 160 through 6 meters including WARC |
| Bands | 160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 6m |
| TX power | 1000 W (1000 W PEP or continuous carrier - the continuous rating is the tube's argument) |
| Modes | all |
| Weight | 22 kg (48.5 lb) |
| rf in | SO-239 |
| rf out | SO-239 |
| amp keying | RCA phono (relay to ground, solid-state safe) |
| acc | 10-pin mini-DIN (band data for compatible transceivers) |
| ac power | multi-voltage 170-264V AC (taps selectable). Ships with no plug (AOM-1000), or with NEMA 5-15P 120V plug (AOM-1000-120), or NEMA 6-15P 240V plug (AOM-1000-240) |
| power req | 85-132 / 170-264 VAC with taps for 100-240 V nominal, 50-60 Hz single phase; 2200 VA at rated output |
The thinking ham's first kilowatt: one affordable Soviet-pedigree tetrode, a tuning aid that teaches rather than punishes, drive requirements any radio meets, and the tube's legendary tolerance for the mismatches and mistakes every amplifier owner eventually commits. Continuous-carrier rating at full power means digital modes without derating anxiety, and 6 m inclusion future-proofs the purchase.
Manual band-changing and tune-up (its automatic siblings cost double), tube warm-up and eventual retubing are the technology's rent, the single-tube design has no soft-fail redundancy, and at this power the mains, grounding, and RF-in-the-shack homework is yours to do properly.
The default recommendation for a first serious amplifier two decades running: forgiving, clean, continuously rated, and serviced by a company that answers email. Solid-state convenience costs more and forgives less; the 1000 remains the value heavyweight.
The ACOM 1000 has been the 'first real amplifier' recommendation in amateur radio for two decades, and the reasons compound: a full kilowatt - PEP or continuous carrier, the distinction that matters to digital-mode operators - from 160 through 6 meters including the WARC bands, produced by a single 4CX800A ceramic-metal tetrode - historically the Soviet-pedigree GU-74B, and since January 2024 ACOM's own in-house manufacture of the same tube type, the company's quietly impressive answer to sanctions-era supply loss. Fifty to sixty watts drives it to rated output, which means every barefoot transceiver made loafs into it.
Its signature kindness is the tuning aid: ACOM's TRI - True Resistance Indicator, the maker's own name - turns plate tuning - the black art that intimidates every new amplifier owner - into a few seconds of following the display, no RF instruments or folklore required. Behind that kindness sits the tetrode's deeper one: tube finals tolerate the mismatched antennas, accidental hot-switching, and learning-curve abuse that solid-state amplifiers answer with blown FET banks. The cleanliness numbers (intermodulation better than 35 dB down, hum better than 40) hold up its reputation on crowded bands, and the Bulgarian maker's support culture - a Sofia family firm building electronics since 1988, famous for answering email across decades of ownership - completes the value case. The package runs 22 kilograms in a 42-centimeter chassis wanting 2200 VA of well-tapped mains.
The costs are the technology's honest rent: manual band changes and tune-ups (the 2000A flagship automates all of it for roughly double the money), warm-up time, eventual retubing, and the shack-engineering homework - mains capacity, grounding, RF hygiene - that any kilowatt demands. Within the tube-amp field it competes against the classic American value lines; its margin has always been refinement: protection circuitry that actually protects, instrumentation that actually informs, and a tube that shrugs at mistakes. Twenty years of contest seasons say the margin is real.