but not for a SS amp, IMHO.
73,
Bill
K9YEQ
-Original Message-
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dave Cole (NK7Z)
Sent: Thursday, December 21, 2017 2:43 PM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] ALC and the K3
Don, et
As I understand and was taught, the amplifier ALC came about as the
result of exciters having the ability to excessively overdrive the
linear amp. Case and point, the Collins 32S1 transmitter would produce
about 150 watts output when correctly tuned and loaded. That was about
twice the
Sometime back around 1970, I built an amplifier for my college radio
club. I spent many, many hours trying to get ALC to work, and failed
completely. Fortunately, the exciter really couldn't overdrive a pair
of 3-500Z's, so we ended up running it just as Elecraft recommends,
using only the
Don, et al.,
I did a bit more reading on the Ameritron site, and on other forms, it
seems the 1306 only uses ALC for overpower, which the K3 can contain
with the adjustments you mentioned, so no need for the ALC cable!!
Thanks for letting me know about the menu sets for this. I had not run
Don,
Thank you for the information here... My amp, (the ALS-1306, solid
state), I believe does use the ALC to shut things down in the event of a
failure of some sort...
Here is a cut from the ALS-1306 blurb page:
"Output power is automatically reduced to prevent amplifier damage by
On 12/21/2017 2:34 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:
> Just tune and load the amp for maximum output and then reduce drive
> power from the K3 to attain the level of power you desire to operate.
This assumes one has a (tube) amplifier with Tune/Load controls.
If it is linear at 1500 watts, then
That's a great feature. The problem I have is going from running without amp at
100W to driving amp and forgetting to reset levels. So human error (at least in
my case) is easy and requires some protection. I also run 2 different 6m amps,
one for terrestrial and another for EME, with different
The problem I've had in the past using ALC in that manner is that it was
transparent to me that ALC was limiting output power. So unless I happened to
notice, or someone local pointed out my wicked key clicks, I was unaware. Using
TX inhibit, I get the same result of protecting the amp, but it
As a rule ALC is not needed and is not recommended by Elecraft. The K3
power management system with the internal ALC is far superior to the
derived voltage from most all amps. And, unlike many radios which when
operated with reduced power, they do have a propensity to overshoot, the
K3
Dave,
The K3 does not overshoot due to the way output power is controlled (it
is different than other amateur transceivers in that regard.
So unless the amplifier contains protective circuits which activate the
ALC for excessive SWR or other amplifier faults, there is no need to
connect the
Thank you for the information, however I just want to reduce the
possibility of excessive voice peaks via ALC, not to do compression via
ALC.
We all make errors, and I would like to reduce the possibility of
hitting the amp too hard on voice peaks in the event I miss adjust the
K3 output
It creates garbage in your transmitted signal when ALC wiggles. If you keep
drive power set low enough that ALC doesn't activate, it's okay.
Better option is to use the K3's xmit inhibit line if your amp supports it.
73
Josh W6XU
Sent from my mobile device
> On Dec 21, 2017, at 9:45 AM,
I want to run ALC for my amp if for no other reason to protect the amp
from overpower events. I understand Elecraft does not recommend the use
of ALC...
Exactly why is that?
--
73s and thanks,
Dave
NK7Z
http://www.nk7z.net
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