[Elecraft] KPA100 Fan Test

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

John:

>On page 46 at the fan test section,  I found that it would not work 
>properly until I set the power out at greater than 10 watts.  Drove me 
>crazy for a while since there is no mention in the manual of that.  Normal?

If I recall, this is normal.

>Related question.  Page 47 sixth step seems to indicate that fan should 
>run if power is set to 11 watts. My fan does not come on at any setting of=
 
>the power control.  It does however come on after transmitting for a while=
 
>at QRO levels.  Is this normal?

The FAN parameter (p. 50 of the KPA100 Rev A manual) allows you to select 
the action of your fan as below:

Whenever you're editing the PA menu parameter, you can
also tap [DISPLAY] to change the KPA100 fan mode:
· FAN nor - the normal setting (goes to low or high if needed)
· FAN LoH - keeps the fan at low speed, going to high if needed
· FAN Hi - keeps the fan at high-speed at all times in QRO mode

>If so, what is the best way to set the bias?  Add 450 ma instead of 400 ma?

NO! Adjust BIAS when the fan is NOT running. In fact, set the K2 to TEST 
mode in CW, so you cannot actually transmit. This should still allow you to 
'key' the KPA100, but without any RF being present, so you won't raise the 
temp of the heatsink, and the fan won't turn on.

If you have FAN set to either FAN LoH or FAN Hi, set it to FAN nor before 
setting the bias.

Hope this helps.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS