[Elecraft] Driving (big) linear amps with the K2?

[Brian Murphy]

Hello Peter,

I have had the same thoughts as you, and using the K2 to drive a grid-driven
tetrode seems the best way to avoid 'daisy chaining' amps to meet the 50-100
watt input requirements.  The other alternative: I have seen several posts
to this reflector on using it with an Alpha producing reduced power (500-700
watts I remember), but I still wanted the capability for 1000+ for all my
trouble and expense.

I had my eye on the QRO brand (I believe) amp with a single tetrode hoping
that I could easily modify the input circuitry of the amp to produce
1000-1500 watts with only 5-10 watts from the stock K2.  That way, I would
preserve the K2 without modifications for QRP and still be able to hook it
up to a single amp at home when needed.

However, I came across a Harris RF110 amp for sale at less money than a used
QRO!  And, it required only 100 mW of drive (yes, that's milliwatts!).

I now have the amp.  It works great with the K2, but I have not used it much
partly since propagation conditions have been so good, partly because it has
taken me some time to build a tuner, transmission lines, and antennas rated
for full power, but mostly because I have been remodeling my house!

You may try to keep you eye out for one of these.  This can be a good
solution if you don't mind trying a 'non-mainstream' solution.  By the way,
there are apparently many of them available, but the 220vac single phase
power supplies are the difficult component to find.

Hope this helps,

Brian  N4YTL