Well Rick, your assessment was exactly what I was look for. I had plan to call SPE over the holidays to ask the questions that you provided the answers too. “How is it Amp truly handing the antennas during transmit”?
Well I guess our desire for a true SO2R 2KW solid state amp is still in future …. many Santa will develop one for us. Maybe I’ll just transition to the SPE 1.3KW to get the extra power first and what for the true SO2R Amp. Thanks for taking the time to provide your assessment to me and the reflector I’m sure others were interested as well. 73 Bill W4RM Please use <mailto:[email protected]> [email protected] as my primary account From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Rick Tavan Sent: Wednesday, December 23, 2015 9:16 PM To: Bill OMara <[email protected]> Cc: Elecraft Reflector <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 integration with SPE Expert 2K-FA I've not used the SPE amps. Basic interfacing should be like any third-party amplifier. For full integration, a la KPA500, check the manual to see if it will decode band data or do RF-sensed band switching. If not, you'll have to switch amplifier bands manually. Maybe another responder will know. You ask about SO2R and on that I do have some feedback on the SPE amps and it's important. I looked into SPE's claim to support SO2R with a single amp, something I've always fancied but never achieved. IMHO, the implementation is brain dead. The amps have two rig connection, six antenna connections, and a Rig 1/2 toggle input, which looks great on first glance. But the switching connects the non-transmit rig to a special, dedicated, receive-only antenna port labeled, ingenuously, "SO2R!" That means you can't receive on any antenna that is ever to be used to transmit. You effectively need a separate antenna for all reception on whichever radio is not transmitting and if it's not an all-band antenna, you need external switching among multiple, dedicated, receive antennas. Example: six monoband antennas connected to Ports 1-6 on the amp. You can transmit on Rig 1 or Rig 2 and the amp will automatically select the band-appropriate antenna and connect it to the transmitting rig. But it simultaneously and irrevocably connects the OTHER rig to the separate "SO2R" antenna port. Maybe you want to do all such receiving on an all-band vertical? I couldn't believe this when I read it so I called the importer and they confirmed that cockamamie design. Of course, TWO Expert amps will work fine in SO2R like any other amps, one connected to each rig. Use external antenna switching via something like a Six Pak connected to the two amps' ANT1 connectors. Pity, all that internal switching going unused. GL & 73, /Rick N6XI On Wed, Dec 23, 2015 at 3:18 PM, Bill OMara via Elecraft <[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > wrote: I looking for input on how well the K3 will integrate with the SPE expert 2K-FA? I currently have the K3 integrated with the KPA-500 and the KAT-500 and I'm very happy with how they work together but I'm not happy with the limited 500W output of the KPA-500. So, I looking to understand how the K3 will integrate with the 2K-FA in a single station set-up and in a SO2R set-up with two K3? Thanks for your help. 73 Bill W4RM Please use [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> <mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> > as my primary account ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> -- Rick Tavan Truckee, CA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
