[Elecraft] Is it possible to connect a amp to the K2

[Dale Boresz]

I've been using my K2/100 to drive my Ameritron AL-811H for a couple of 
years, and it works great.

Initially, before I had the KPA100, I used the K2 to drive the amp to 
about 200 watts or so, and built up the simple single transistor keying 
circuit described in the Elecraft archives, to key the amplifier. That 
worked fine.

Later, when I built the KPA100, I used the high voltage output keying 
line to drive the amp, and that worked fine as well.

Still later, after getting tired of listening to the clanking of the 
relay in the AL-811H, I bought the Ameritron QSK-5 QSK-T/R unit, and 
that was the best solution of all. Not only is there no noise from the 
relay in the amplifier, but the tubes in the amplifier are cut-off so no 
plate current flows until just a couple of milliseconds before the rf is 
delivered, and it returns to cutoff within a couple of milliseconds 
after the rf has finished. So, the amp runs cooler, and is absolutely 
quiet except for the almost inaudible 'tick' of the reed relay inside 
the QSK-5 unit.

Having said all that, I don't really use the amplifier very often, but 
when I do, the combination works great.

73, Dale WA8SRA