For the K3S, I suggest reading Fred Cady's book, specifically page 170
{9.2 Automatic Level Control - ALC} , page 222 {To ALC or Not to ALC},
and page 291 {EXT ALC} for particulars. In summary, Elecraft does not
advise using ALC from the amp.
Personal opinion, the amp should provide adequate protection for high
SWR and excessive drive. It should not rely on other means for
protection.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On 10/9/2017 6:16 PM, M. George wrote:
I have an SPE 2K-FA I'm using with a K3S... very happy with it. I made a
verbose YouTube <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8Gyl0amRY> video early
on after I received the amp which gets into the details of making the
interface cable. (these days guys can pass the Extra Class exam but they
can't make a simple interface cable to an amplifier... ;) ) All of the
details would apply to the 1K-FA.
As others have stated, don't use ALC on the K3 to control the output of
your SPE amp, however it is viable as a safety measure to let the amp drop
the K3 output if it's software deems necessary. (despite what you will read
in the SPE manual where it says just crank the power output on your exciter
all the way up and let the amp control the output via ALC) I get into the
details around this in the video several times. You can fast forward and
find the areas you are interested in related to the cable interface to the
K3.
Here is the link to the video again... I hope you find something helpful...
related to your 1K-FA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ku8Gyl0amRY
Max NG7M
On Mon, Oct 9, 2017 at 4:05 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX <rmcg...@blomand.net>
wrote:
I agree with Jim, K9YC on the ALC points.
With older radios, namely tube types which required the exciter PA to be
loaded correctly to be linear, this power level would overdrive many
amplifiers. Hence ALC from the amp to the transceiver/transmitter was
required to control the drive power.
Today's radios have much more accurate power control methods. These
methods are far superior to those found in most amps. Most solid state
amps have adequate protection with regard to overdrive, again ALC from the
amp to the radio is not needed. And as Jim indicated, if one chooses to use
ALC from the amp to the transceiver and it is not properly adjusted, one
can expect signal report issues and unfriendly neighbors on the radio
spectrum.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On 10/9/2017 4:50 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
On 10/9/2017 12:48 PM, Clay Autery wrote:
I'm being given an SPE 1K-FA for use with my fully current K3s.
I'm being told that the K3s and SPE don't play well together using "ALC".
A conflicting report is telling me that Elecraft addressed the ALC issue.
I owned one of these amps for a few months, having bought it to get more
power on 6M than the KPA500 did. I didn't like it much. You probably know
that ALC should NEVER be used between a rig and an amp to set the output
power. That's a recipe for creating harmonics, clicks, and splatter. The
right way to do it is to reduce drive power. If you're going to use ALC at
all, set output power by reducing drive and use ALC ONLY to protect the amp
when something goes wrong with an antenna (like the operator connecting the
wrong one). :)
73. Jim K9YC
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