The KPA500 has in internal 3 dB attenuator in the drive path that will be switched in automatically by the amp in cases of overdrive.
73, Eric WA6HHQ === On 4/21/2010 10:44 AM, Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604 wrote: > Hm, I wonder if the KPA500 has or can have provision for this. That > amp can be driven to full output by 30 watts or so, IIRC. With the K3 > (or K2), power control could be done automatically by having the amp > tell the radio that it's active over the serial interface, but it's > clear the KPA500 has much provision for being used with radios other > than the K3. > > 73, doug > > From: Alan Bloom<n...@cds1.net> > Date: Wed, 21 Apr 2010 10:32:18 -0700 > > On Wed, 2010-04-21 at 12:23 -0400, Tom W8JI wrote: > > > The correct approach would be an > > attenuator pad so the radio could run at near full power and > > not have a chance of overdriving the amp, ... > > I don't understand why more people don't do that. For example, a 3 dB > attenuator between the transceiver and amplifier ensures that a 100W > exciter won't overdrive an amplifier that requires 50W of drive. The 3 > dB loss on receive is hardly ever an issue but if you're worried about > it, just put the attenuator inside the amplifier, after the T/R relay. > > Seems like a simple, foolproof solution. > > ______________________________________________________________ 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
