I believe the SPE 1.5K-FA uses one 1800W Mosfet and the KPA1500 uses two 1400W Mosfets. In general, the KPA500 and KPA1500 are more robust than most of the competitors. I've made mistakes a few times with my KPA500 and it is still ticking. Everyone I've talked to with an ALS-600 has blown the finals, sometimes multiple times.
I'm using it with a TS-590 that has the spike fix, but it still is not perfect. 73, Mark W7MLG On Sat, Sep 18, 2021 at 6:47 PM Jerry Kirshenbaum <[email protected]> wrote: > re: it'd pay to review the SPE > > In May 2021 I bought a SPE 1.5K-FA 2nd generator new from the distributor > in Texas. I’ve been using a SunSDR2 DX 100W transceiver while I wait to > receive my K4D. The 1st time the finals blew may have been operator error. > Subsequently, I discovered that the software allows one to limit the power > on each band. So I set the SPE to mid power (it has low, mid, high > settings) and determined the correct output for 700-800W. That left at > least 20% head room. Despite this seem lying failsafe procedure, the > finals blew again. The distributor would not cover this under warranty on > the grounds that my radio has spurious spikes which blew the finals. In > fact, if you run the “wrong” radio with this amp, you don’t have any > warranty because the radio is indicted as the cause of failure sight unseen. > > The amp when it works is wonderful. One case, 24 lbs, very quiet. I had > everything linked together with my SteppIR DB18E through DxLab. > > Two times back to the distributor for repair in 3 months was enough. I > sold it and now have a KPA1500 which is working great. > > BTW, the distributor also says the IC-7300 (my backup) has spurious spikes > as well and presumably is another transceiver not covered under their > warranty. > > 73, Jerry / K0ES > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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] ______________________________________________________________ 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]
