I follow the SPE Expert list and I never understood their reasoning for running 100 watt radios at full power and relying on ALC to control the output. I never use ALC. I thought relying it can cause splatter. There are a lot of failed LDMOS posts on the SPE list.
If the SPE amp watt meter is before the tuner it would make sense to use an external meter. I am a big fan of the TelePost LP-100A. 73, John KK9A Bill Frantz AE6JV wrote: After reading all the comments on this thread, I think that Skip, K6DWG and Bob, K4TAX have the best theory of what happened. Careful reading of the SPE 1.3K manual indicates that the power output of the amp is sampled between the amp and the internal tuner and that the recommended tune power is 30W. So the idea that the tuner could have gotten into a state where it ate the output power is at least credible. I would expect a KW dissipated in the tuner to have damaged it, but fortunately that does not seem to have happened. The manual strongly recommends setting the exciter radio (my K3) to maximum power output and trusting the ALC to set the correct drive power. Many here, including me, will disagree. However, as a result of this recommendation, the manuel doesn't really address the drive power issue. Please note that the antenna is driven through coax and not open wire or ladder line, so theories based on those feed lines don't apply. Thanks to everyone who replied. This list is a wonderful resource. 73 Bill AE6JV ______________________________________________________________ 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]
