I build, therefore I am.

I build, therefore I am.

By Matt Erickson, KK5DR

Why do I build amplifiers? It would be much easier and cost effective to just buy them. I have given a good amount of thought on this topic. This article is an attempt to explain this question.

In the beginning the question was “could I?” not so much “should I?” I wanted to try it, just to see if I could do it. I surveyed all the commercially built amplifiers, and in each I saw room for improvements, no one model was “perfect” in my eyes. I wanted to build a unit that took the best of many amps and combined all into a single piece. I quickly found that perfection is a totally unattainable goal. Later, I came to realize that perfection was only in the eye of the beholder. It was even later that I changed my approach to building. Instead of trying to attain perfection in a single unit, I would set out a design mission that was particular to the unit I planned to build. A set of design features that are unique to a single unit. This makes each unit I build a completely a one of a kind amplifier, and I like it that way.

Now, I build each unit as a test bed, to try new ways of doing old things. I fly in the face of convention in the designs I use, going places where other builders have thought little of going.

Perhaps I am looking into the future after I’m long gone, these amps will likely still be operating, leaving my mark on ham radio, such as it is.

I do not sell my home-brew amps, they are much too special to me for that. Each is like my child, when I’m gone they will be set free to roam the earth.

You could say that I build them to prove that I existed…

73 de Matt KK5DR