FW: [Elecraft] Running an ICOM PW-1 Amp with the K3

Igor Sokolov ua9cdc at gmail.com
Fri Dec 26 12:45:30 EST 2008 

John, get yourself Micro keyer II from Microham and you will be able to 
automate most of your switching. MKII has auxillary CI-V output. It 
communicates with K3 on the virtual serial port and converts freq data to 
CI-V for PW1. This way you will make PW1 follow K3 freq

73, Igor UA9CDC

> Hi Tom, Mike, and All,
>
> Yup, I forgot to mention that I synchronize the band switching between the
> K3 and the PW1 manually_ sorry about that.  Obviously, it's very important.
> The amp might be able to protect itself from a mismatch of bands, or
> over-driving for that matter, but I don't want to test it.
>
> It's not too hard for me to remember to change the amp's band switch 
> though,
> because these days of no sunspots I operate on 20 meters 90% of the time
> anyway.  When I occasionally go to another band, I either run barefoot at
> 100 watts, or am careful to switch the amp.  Of course, when I go back to 
> 20
> meters QRO, I need to remember to turn down the drive from the K3 to 20
> watts (or 25 watts maximum, which gives me 800 watts out from the PW1).
>
> I wish I had a way of automating the band switching and control of the K3
> drive via alc, but it is over my head to figure out how to hook it up.  If
> anyone out there has accomplished that, I'd be glad to hear how they did 
> it.
>
> Again, I'm not recommending anything, but just sharing my own experiences
> FWIW.
>
> 73,  John
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Tom Hammond [mailto:n0ss at embarqmail.com]
> Sent: Thursday, December 25, 2008 10:59 AM
> To: John E. Reiser
> Subject: Re: FW: [Elecraft] Running an ICOM PW-1 Amp with the K3
>
>
> Season's Greetings John:
>
> Y'know, when we were originally beating this around, I failed to ask about
> auto-band switching. Since there's no mention of using the CV-I interface,
> I'm assuming you're merely manually changing the PW-1 from band to band
> rather than attempting to use the K3's serial band output data?
>
> Several of us have been discussing this (band switching) problem directly
> amongst ourselves, with not a lot of what we considered to be 'suitable'
> solutions... without having to add additional interfacing circuitry.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> 73,
>
> Tom   N0SS
>
>
>
> At 09:32 12/25/2008, you wrote:
>>Hi Mike, W4UM,
>>
>>See below.
>>
>>Merry Christmas!
>>
>>John, W2GW
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: John E. Reiser [mailto:reiserj at optonline.net]
>>Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 4:20 PM
>>To: Tom Hammond; elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>Cc: Jerry Liley K0GUG
>>Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Running an ICOM PW-1 Amp with the K3
>>
>>
>>Hi Tom,
>>
>>I have been driving my Icom PW-1 with my K3 for nine months now without any
>>problems.  I use it for CW, SSB and digital modes.
>>
>>I simply have a coax jumper between ANT1 on the K3 and Input 2 on the PW-1,
>>of course.  And PTT is accomplished by means of a shielded cable from Radio
>>Shack that has RCA plugs on each end.  I don't use any connection for ALC
>>with the K3.  However, I am very careful not to overdrive the amp.
>>
>>Let me explain.  My "other" radio is an Icom 756 Pro 2.  It gets very
> little
>>use anymore, but I left it connected to Input 1 on the amp.  Besides a coax
>>jumper, the Pro 2 is connected to the amp with a special cable provided by
>>Icom.  The cable provides for PTT and ALC.  When one first sets up the amp,
>>one is instructed by the manual to calibrate the ALC.  This is accomplished
>>by means of a screwdriver adjustable potentiometer on the back of the amp.
>>The meter on the front panel of the amp has a switch-selectable ALC scale
>>with a red line mark at mid-scale.  The ALC is calibrated by adjusting the
>>pot such that the needle does not go past the red mark.
>>
>>Two identical sets of input jacks and ALC-calibration-pots are provided on
>>the amp, for Input 1 and Input 2, respectively.  Before I connected the K3,
>>I calibrated the ALC on the Input 2 side using my Pro 2.  My thinking was
>>(correctly or not) that as long as I controlled the drive from the K3 so
>>that the ALC meter on the amp stayed below the calibrated red mark, all was
>>well.
>>
>>Now, when I use the amp, I set the output of the K3 to 20 watts.  That
> gives
>>me about 600 watts out, as measured on my LP-100A watt meter.  The ALC
> meter
>>on the amp stays within the lower (leftmost) third of the scale.  The
>>overdrive-protection circuits in the amp have never activated.  The
>>difference between 600 and 1000 watts out is negligible at the receiving
>>end, of course.
>>
>>With the Pro 2 I used to set the drive to just give me 1K out, although I
>>could have pushed it to 1100 or 1200 on some bands.  It took about 25 to 30
>>watts of drive.  Of course, with the ALC connected, the ALC never went past
>>the red mark on the meter.
>>
>>So, bottom line, I am able to use the PW-1 with my K3 but, without ALC, I
>>have to be careful.  In writing this note, I'm merely sharing my own
>>experience, in case it can help someone.  Others may have a better
> solution,
>>perhaps using the negative-going ALC mod to the K3.
>>
>>73,
>>
>>John, W2GW
>>
>>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: elecraf at mailman.qth.net
>>[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net]On Behalf Of Tom Hammond
>>Sent: Monday, December 01, 2008 11:00 AM
>>To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>Cc: Jerry Liley K0GUG
>>Subject: [Elecraft] Running an ICOM PW-1 Amp with the K3
>>
>>
>>I'm about to loan my K3 to another local ham who currently has an IC-7800
>>and PW-1 amplifier.
>>
>>His IC-7800 has been sent in for service so it's temporarily out of
>>the
>>picture. However the PW-1 is still in play and this local is gonna want
>>to use it with the K3.
>>
>>Is anyone running a PW-1 with their K3?  If so, please contact me a.s.a.p.
>>so I can exchange some info with you.  Specifically I need to know what it
>>took to interface the two devices and to get them to function without any
>>hiccups.
>>
>>Appreciated.
>>
>>73,
>>
>>Tom Hammond   N0SS
>>
>>
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