When the original poster referred to SO2R capability, I think he meant one amplifier being able to handle transmission from both radios. At 100W having a separate amp as part of each radio is no big deal, but at the price of a KPA1500, one really wants to pay for only one, given that SO2R means only one radio can be transmitting at a given time.
I am just a beginner at SO2R, but I have already spent a lot of time thinking about various aspects of the subject. First there is the "SO2R controller" issue. There seem to be a lot of different designs out there, and they don't necessarily try to solve the same problem. Rather, different users seem to form personal opinions of what functions are to be implemented, and available implementations reflect that. Issues that may or may not be addressed in depth include routing of radio inputs, radio outputs, and radio controls, including interlocks to ensure that only one radio can transmit at a time. Second, there is the configuration of the radio boxes. Normally the two radios operate on different bands. With 5 or 6 bands used in a HF contest, there will be many combinations of band choices for two transceivers. One can set each radio manually to the proper band, but sometimes one might want to use a central control to select a combination of bands rather than individual bands. When amplifiers are added to the picture, the situation becomes more complex. I have one KPA500, on the main K3. That works well if that radio is on say 40 and the second radio is on 15, since power is often needed on the lower bands, while 15 often doesn't need much power if open. Now suppose 15 closes and I want to go to 80 with the second radio. 80 might need the amp more than 40, so how do I quickly switch the amp over to the other radio? A similar situation would exist if I had two amp's with different power capabilities. The ability to "share" one amp between both radios would be very attractive. On the other hand, if I did not have that capability, but instead had a second KPA500 in addition to my existing one, I might in a given situation want to combine both for 40 while running barefoot on 15. Clearly, it may be shortsighted to address such individual capabilities individually, and from a manufacturer's standpoint it would make sense to have a generalised scheme of configuration, maybe with GUI software that allows the user to configure things by drawing and storing interconnection schematics. Of course, that is just the control side of it. The physical switching side, with proper isolation may be both complex and expensive. Third, antenna selection. One user may use many feedlines, while another tries to use only one. Antennas themselves may be monobanders or multi. I think most of us have been struggling with how to best utilize the fixed numbers of antenna connectors on different radios and tuners. What seems like ideal features to one user may seem totally wrong to another, even in a single radio scenario. With SO2R, we want to be able to select between several different antennas used by two radios. Isolation must be excellent so that neither radio will be interfered with by the other. The antennas themselves may sabotage the isolation by their proximity and configuration. The ideal station would perhaps have separate antennas widely spaced from each other. The average ham is more likely to use fewer, multiband antennas. A typical switch box has two radio connectors and several antenna connectors, and it should not allow both radios to connect to the same antenna. In any case, the switching hardware operates at high power and is likely to be expensive. Ulitmately, it might be best seen as part of the expensive switching network that configures the radio box interconnections as discussed in the previous paragraph. To summarize, SO2R is a complex subject, and it is currently addressed mostly in a fractured way, using a conglomeration of hardware solutions to solve different pieces of the puzzle. There is such a diversity of user requirements that any "total solution" that would hypothetically be offered by any one manufacturer is likely to seem wrong to many potential customers, unless the archictecture is extremely advanced. Nevertheless, even a manufacturer that offers only pieces of the puzzle should over time gain an edge if its products supports major classes of configuration requirements. I don't know if there is room in this forum to have much discussion of what features would be appropriate in future SO2R-related offerings from Elecraft, but previous posts have started to touch on the subject. Personally I would suggest that hams like myself with limited real estate and going to SO2R are likely to be using multiband antennas but still need antenna switching other than what may exist in radios, amplifiers and tuners. In other words, discussing how many connectors a radio or tuner should have may be a dead end approach. It is interesting to note that HF antenna multiplexers allow two radios to use the same multiband antenna, and that the isolation in such a configuration tends to be much better than what is achieved with closely spaced separate antennas. The multiplexer transforms the multiband antenna's single feedline into separate connections for each band. Thus, a SO2R antenna switch as commonly used by a superstation today, with connections for two radios and several monobanders, is still appropriate for the modest station using a single multiband antenna shared between two radios. Firmware and hardware offered by Elecraft in the future for the purpose of SO2R would do well to anticipate and support such configurations. 73, Erik K7TV -----Original Message----- From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bob Sent: Tuesday, April 25, 2017 8:12 PM To: Bill Frantz <fra...@pwpconsult.com>; Elecraft Reflector <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KPA 1500 - SO2R Hi Bill, No XYL requests involved but in a similar manner I have reduced the feed lines into the shack. I have a remote antenna switch system consisting of an Array Solutions Rat Pack with the Ten Tec interface box. This is under control of an Elecraft KRC2 unit. It saves many feet of coax and reduces the in shack cable clutter. Station is K3, KPA500 and KAT500 and more Elecraft with K2 and KX3. My issue is I'm not getting full value from the KAT500. It is capable of switching 3 antennas. But with a single feed line on position one all else is lost. So my request would be to be able select alternative programmed values by using the KAT 500 antenna switch. Any manually selected antenna would apply tuner values to the antenna position but ANT 1 would remain selected. As it is now it works but requires retuning when manually changing between selected, say, 80 meter antennas and prior values are lost. In hardware I could do it now but don't want to butcher the KAT500. Well beyond my pay grade as I do not know how much reprogramming would be required in the firmware and utility to select this as an option. This option could possibly be done in the KPA1500 too. Certainly be a plus in consideration of the KPA1500 which seems to have less in that there are only 2 antenna selections available. 73, Bob K2TK ex KN2TKR (1956) and K2TKR On 4/25/2017 4:14 PM, Bill Frantz wrote: > My most wonderful and understanding wife has requested that the number > of "wires" coming into the house be minimized. To accommodate her > wishes, I have an external antenna switch. It would be very nice if > all the Elecraft tuners could take an externally provided antenna ID > to use to recall the antenna tuning parameters. A 4 bit "band ID" > would be ideal, but a command over the RS-232 interface would also work. > > 73 Bill AE6JV > > On 4/25/17 at 7:50 AM, n...@elecraft.com (Wayne Burdick) wrote: > >> KPA1500 firmware will be updated to fully support such products as we >> identify them. We oversized the microcontroller memory by a factor of >> about 8 to allow for such expansion. In addition to SO2R, there may >> be other gear such as antenna switches that we can directly control >> from the amp’s antenna and ATU switches, and status can be shown on the >> 32-character LCD. > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Bill Frantz | Airline peanut bag: "Produced | Periwinkle > (408)356-8506 | in a facility that processes | 16345 Englewood Ave > www.pwpconsult.com | peanuts and other nuts." - Duh | Los Gatos, CA > 95032 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ebasil...@cox.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
