[Elecraft] K2- 15W out

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

Peter:

>in some DX- situations I think some dBs more would be helpfull so I would
>like to adjust my K2 (#1864) from 5W to 15W.
>
>The specifikation sheet (in manual REV C) says: power output <0.5W to >10W
>(typ)
>
>The K2-Standard Features (Elecraft homepage) say: 0.1 - 15W
>Can I get any problems with 15W?
>
>For excample: destruction of the termal pads and shoulder washers of the PA-
>transistors due to high temperature or higher spurious products or more 
>harmonics.

The only problem I might even consider would be if you set your POWER 
control to provide more power than YOUR K2 could provide on a certain band. 
There is an opportunity for overdriving the PA.

The way I determine where to set my POWER level is to request 15W on a 
certain band and then to see what I can actually obtain on that band. If I 
can obtain 15W output on a band, I know that I can then set the POWER 
control to 15W (though usually just slightly less, maybe 14.5W), and 
operate without fear of overdriving the PA and causing either key clicks 
(CW) or splatter (SSB).

If I encounter a band where the K2 is unwilling to generate 15W output, I 
set my POWER control to a level about 0.5W lower than the maximum power the 
K2 can generate. This is especially important on 10M, where most K2's will 
be able to obtain only about 12W output. That is why Elecraft includes a 
MENU option to limit Po on 10M to 10W when operating SSB.

The (basic) K2, while in protptype and pre-release testing, has been run 
for LENGTHY periods of time at full output with no damage whatsoever to the 
PAs or the PA insulator pads.

Hope this helps,

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS