ARRL:GERMAN RADIO MANUFACTURER HALTS TRANSCEIVER PRODUCTION

[andre kesteloot]

GERMAN RADIO MANUFACTURER HALTS TRANSCEIVER PRODUCTION 

In a surprise move, Hilberling GmbH <http://www.hilberling.com/> has
stopped production on the much anticipated PT-8000 series of HF/VHF
Amateur Radio transceivers. Apparently due to CE marking regulations
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CE_mark>, Hilberling had to make constant
adjustments to the design of the radio and was unable to repeat the
performance of prototypes in production models and was not able to
justify the expense involved with further redesign work. The CE mark
certifies that a product has met European Union health, safety and
environmental requirements, ensuring consumer safety. Array Solutions
<http://www.arraysolutions.com> -- which had been set to be the North
American distributor for the transceiver series -- featured the PT-8000
at its booths at the 2008 Dayton Hamvention.

Hans Hilberling, DK7LG, explained in German on the company's Web site
why the company canceled production of the PT-8000 series:

"Production of the PT-8000 equipment series has been halted. Due to the
persistent challenges we've had to overcome in the process of bringing
the official EU-wide manufacturer's model to fruition, it became
necessary to make more and more adaptations in the design of this
cutting-edge transceiver. The lofty design goals of the PT-8000 could be
attained in some prototypes. We encountered difficulties that we could
not overcome at justifiable expense in guaranteeing, without
reservation, a high standard of mass production involving many
suppliers. We appreciate the great interest this project has attracted
over its entire course."  -- Translation by Rick Lindquist, WW3DE 

The PT-8000 was featured in a 4-page pull-out advertisement in the May
2007 issue of QST. The ad stated that Hilberling had not yet received
approval by the FCC to market the radio in the US. All digital devices
-- including Amateur Radio equipment -- must be approved by the FCC,
meeting the requirements of FCC Part 15 and RSS 210 (Radio Standards
Specifications, Industry Canada) to ensure its compliance as an
unintentional radiator and as a generic receiver. Approval was granted
in May 2008. Testing was done in April and May 2008 by Professional
Testing (EMI) of Round Rock, Texas.

According to the QST ad, the PT-8000 was set to feature:
* An automatically tuned preselector
* Precision matched first and second mixers, designed by Synergy
Microwave, with third intercept points at 40+ dBm
* Three roofing filters at 2.7, 6 and 12 kHz
* Six hybrid amplifiers from LF to VHF with third intercept points at
50+ dBm
* Seven 16-pole ladder filters working in combination with DSP filters
in the 10.7 MHz second IFs of each filter
* 13.8 V HF MOSFETs (metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistor)
in the 100 W power amplifier; high efficiency (70 percent) SD3933 HF
MOSFETs in the 600 W final amplifier
* Three additional 70.7 MHz roofing filters in the transmitter stages
for clean output
* Designed with UHF and microwave transverters in mind, 1 Hz frequency
resolution with the ability to connect transverters to both receivers
simultaneously
* Taps at the first and second IFs for analysis, monitoring and
experimentation
* Easily updatable firmware

The price for a 10 W PT-8000 started at $12,000, going up to $16,000 for
the 600 W model. Commercial and military grades were priced at an
additional $10,000.