Re: [Elecraft] 160m failure tonight on a kpa1500

Hi Rich, Ouch. I’m about to go to bed here right now. I’ll get back in touch with you tomorrow morning to debug this some more. Feel free to email me via direct email any more info, if you have it, on the f/w load problem or actual fault messages you were seeing. We will get this

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Great info. Thanks, Jim … Grant NQ5T K3 #2091 KX3 #8342 > > I've recently completed a year's worth of extensive lab work that has > convinced me that #43 is NOT a good material for HF chokes. Ditto for the #52 > material that G3TXQ recommended. Two characteristics combine to make it a > poor

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

The underlying reality is that if you analyze the input-output transfer function for a linear amplifier with ALC, the resulting transfer function is not linear. Thus you would expect all sorts of odd behaviors as the function changes order when ALC engages. Simple math. Dr. William J.

[Elecraft] 160m failure tonight on a kpa1500

Well, some bad things have just happened tonight. Most of the day spent on 80m was fine Spent about an hour on 40m. Still fine went down to 160m, apparently blew something (ldmos?) Amp went a bit crazy, kept faulting, powered off then wouldn’t power back till cycled main power then had to do a

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

On 3/9/2019 7:13 PM, Michael Walker wrote: You may want to try choking the feedline at the antenna Always a good thing. and more importantly at the amp end No, the FEEDPOINT is the most important place for the first choke in any antenna system.  The purpose of a second choke on an antenna

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Peter, If your antenna end insulators are covered with ice and snow, it is entirely possible that the ice/snow covering will not show conductivity with low power, but will become conductive at high power. That will make whatever material you are using to support the antenna ends a part of

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

John, I know there were some issues with my old tube amp, but it did load enough to get me 275-odd DXCC entities with 1500W on 80 CW. The KPA has never been used in the past on 80 since I was having antenna trouble (one end was down all winter and it just got fixed today). Everything's snow

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

You may want to try choking the feedline at the antenna and more importantly at the amp end with mix 31 or 43 chokes. The high swr is likely the symptom not the problem. Mike va3mw > On Mar 9, 2019, at 10:05 PM, Peter Dougherty wrote: > > Jim, this is with the internal tuner in either

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Jim, this is with the internal tuner in either mode--bypassed or inline. If I sit on 3504, I'm about 1.65:1 natively. I could run that without a tuner or with. But in either case, it faults out instantly with QRO power applied. The SWR seems to go haywire on the lower frequency ranges of the

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

Jim and all: I have been a ham and avid CW op since 1970. I remember the Drake twins having a wonderful sound on CW, an almost bell-like sound. Has anyone looked at the CW waveform of those old rigs compared to the new generation? -John NI0K Jim Brown

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Peter Dougherty W2IRT wrote: HI guys, I'm still having a serious problem on 80m with my KPA1500. With the amp inline I'm getting high reflected power fault everywhere below about 3675. My antenna (an inverted vee) is resonant at 3550, and the SWR is below 2:1 from 3500 to 3630. Hi Peter, The

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

So above 3.675 it works fine? Weird. When you say it was happening previously, is that also with the KPA1500? First I would try another amp and watch the SWR. I would also try bybassing any lightning protection devices and coax relays so you just have coax and an antenna connected to the amp. GL

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

On 3/9/2019 12:57 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: Yes and some brand(s) of radios are affectionately known as "click generators" being the result of they way they control power. I wouldn't call that affection, but rather disgust. And I wouldn't blame it entirely on how they control power.

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

his is my post of Nov, 15 2011: This is what I found as the source of the birdie's in the amp. with the LCD BRT set anywhere from 1 to 8 the birdies are there. with the LCD BRT set to DAY the birds are gone.. I have been working all day with Dale @ Elecraft with this and just sent him a

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500: birdies on 6m from LCD backlight

his is my post of Nov, 15 2011: This is what I found as the source of the birdie's in the amp. with the LCD BRT set anywhere from 1 to 8 the birdies are there. with the LCD BRT set to DAY the birds are gone.. I have been working all day with Dale @ Elecraft with this and just sent him a

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

On 3/9/2019 3:36 AM, Gary NC3Z wrote: It puts out strong spurs on 20-6M with 10M being the worst. In addition to the possibility of a coax cable with a bad shield connection, another thought -- is your station properly bonded? Every chassis should be bonded together with short, fat copper,

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

On 3/9/2019 9:59 AM, KENT TRIMBLE wrote: As a friend of mine puts it, the ALC controversy borders on being a religious issue. No, it does not. It is science. ALC should NEVER be used to set the output power of a power amplifier, because doing so produces lots of distortion (splatter,

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Yes. 73, Jim K9YC On 3/9/2019 8:09 AM, David Cutter via Elecraft wrote: A pound to a pinch of salt it's a poor connector. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help:

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Yes all are checked. Today I undid the front panel and as I move it away from the rest of the KPA500 the spurs drop, so it is coming from the front panel. The spurs also change pattern when I set the different levels of brightness. But more interesting, when I searched the archives using

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

All PL-259 connectors here that I assembled are Amphenol 83-SP1. Female conenctors are whatever the device came with. The only female connectors in the line are on the amp, the HF-Auto Tuner, antenna switch and the balun. The only one that's not common to all my other antennas is the balun, and

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Don’t overlook any F-F connector’s in the system. The first time I hit my Hexbeam with the legal limit, the F-F connector joining my feed line to the antenna connection stub arced over. It had always been fine at low power, but was a fester find that turned out not to be a bargain. It was

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Any cheap bulkhead connectors in the feed? I just got burnt by one on my radial plate Sent from my Verizon Motorola Smartphone On Mar 9, 2019 2:04 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: > > Peter, > > Isolate the problem to the amplifier.  Get a high power dummy load if > you do not already have one. 

Re: [Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

Peter, Isolate the problem to the amplifier. Get a high power dummy load if you do not already have one. Run the amp at 1000 watts or more into the dummy load. If the amp behaves the same as it does with the antenna, then the problem is in the amplifier. But if the amp behaves into the

Re: [Elecraft] Great SSB receive audio from your K3 or KX3

I agree, the CM500 is not much for listening to music, but they do quite nicely for frequencies used for communications - and I can use them without removing my hearing aids - others may have different results. 73, Don W3FPR On 3/9/2019 1:39 PM, Walter Underwood wrote: I’m not surprised that

[Elecraft] 80m KPA1500 High reflected power problems

HI guys, I'm still having a serious problem on 80m with my KPA1500. With the amp inline I'm getting high reflected power fault everywhere below about 3675. My antenna (an inverted vee) is resonant at 3550, and the SWR is below 2:1 from 3500 to 3630. This was happening in the past as well,

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

As an example of how we feel about ALC with the K3 and KPA500, neither of my custom-made AUX-IO cables has the ALC pin (pin 15) connected. It is just not needed. If the KPA500 needs to protect itself, it will. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 9, 2019, at 10:23 AM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: > > I would

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

On 2019-03-09 12:59 PM, KENT TRIMBLE wrote: Some brands require a one-time ALC calibration procedure prior to use. Once properly configured, they are usually free of the distortion Don rightfully talks about. Regardless of "calibration" most non-Elecraft transceivers have significant ALC

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Gary; By now I am sure you have checked all the ribbon cable connections and are sure they are plugged in properly. This sounds like a problem that needs to be addressed by the tech support guys. Be sure to give them a call on Monday. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 9, 2019, at 9:14 AM, Gary NC3Z

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Should have asked this one too - Does switching between OPER and STBY change the amplitude of the spurs? 73, Andy, k3wyc __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help:

Re: [Elecraft] Great SSB receive audio from your K3 or KX3

I’m not surprised that the Apple EarBuds are better. When my Grado SR60 headphones finally died, I tried using the Yamaha CM500 to listen to music. That lasted about one day before I gave up and switched to the earbuds. I received Bose QC35 II headphones for Christmas and compared them to my

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

I would emphasize with the K3S and KPA500, if one follows the set-up EXACTLY as described in the KPA500 manual page 16 & 17, and in the K3S manual page 29 & 59,  all will be well with the EXT ALC engaged.    Anything else will be a PICNIC problem. I suggest the set-up be done with a 50 ohm

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

"Connecting the RX directly to the antenna and the spurs are not there,.." That seems to suggest that the signal is coupling through the T/R switch. What happens if you key the KPA500 by grounding the key line input but leave the transceiver in RX mode? (Need to be in OPER mode). Look for

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

Along with this, it should be noted (especially for new Amateurs) that . . . Don is correct (always is) concerning the non-employment of ALC with respect to Elecraft transceivers which produce power differently from other brands.  On this reflector, the recommendation not to use ALC pertains

[Elecraft] Subject: Re: Hub4Com

If it's just a need for one bit of software, to send the same command to two devices at the same time.  Just parallel wire some connectors together. One Serial OUTPUT, will usually drive two INPUT's without issue.   All you need is the TXD wired to two RXD's, and the corresponding ground/common

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Connecting the RX directly to the antenna and the spurs are not there, the spurs are coming from the KPA500, and only when the KPA500 is connected to a radio (happens on all my radios connected to the KPA). Have tried the amp on 220 and 120, same issue. The KPA500 can be connected to a dummy

Re: [Elecraft] Split receiving and 2 ears

Glad it's working well for you, Chuck. I'm pretty sure that's how mine was setup initially when I first got my K3s, but I've played around with various settings myself over the years, and A-Ab has been fantastic. Of course you can reverse it too, if you prefer to lock the DX into the right

Re: [Elecraft] ALC control of W6PQL amp from my K3

Bob, It is important to understand that ALC does not control the amplifier, it is an attempt by the amplifier to control the transceiver. ALC is sent FROM the amplifier in an attempt to control the power of the transceiver. Used indiscriminately, that will cause distortion in the driving

[Elecraft] Split receiving and 2 ears

Saw this excellent suggestion the other day, and waited a few days to try it out before commenting.  I've had the sub Rx in my K3 for a couple of years now, and always had it setup for a-b.  I was frequently turning off the sub Rx to hear the DX in both ears.  The a-ab setting helps a lot--

[Elecraft] K3s computer sound card and CAT control (MacLoggerDX config)

No Problem, thanks for putting the time into this. I contacted the MacLoggerDx tech support and they helped me out pretty quick. Just have to remember to completely quit the program after making changes to radio prefs. These are the working parms…

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

A pound to a pinch of salt it's a poor connector. David G3UNA -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Andy Durbin Sent: 09 March 2019 14:45 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new

[Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Nothing heard or seen on 10 m with my kit built KPA500. I'd suggest disconnecting the RX from the KPA500 and connecting it directly to the antenna. Does the problem go away? If not, connect the RX directly to the dummy load. Does the problem go away? If not, disconnect everything else from

[Elecraft] Great SSB receive audio from your K3 or KX3

I use the Elecraft SP3, Bose QC25, Yamaha CM-500, HyperX Cloud Pro and Apple earbuds. I have found the Apple earbuds to produce the most articulate SSB reception. I am 75 years old and wear hearing aids. With the SP3 and all of the closed earmuff headsets, wearing my hearing aids makes a

Re: [Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

Gary: Nothing heard on my K3S that is being produced by my KPA500 {s/n 3519} on 10M and nothing seen on my P3. I would go back through each step of the assembly process and make sure all is correct and all hardware is tight. I do see spikes from other sources on 10M but these are in the

[Elecraft] Nasty spurs on RX with new KPA500

SN 3759 just received 2 days ago (kit form) and put in operational the station. TX is fine, issue is on RX. It puts out strong spurs on 20-6M with 10M being the worst. Tested on live antennas and dummy loads, grounds on and off, all ancillary connectors removed, etc. So far this is making the