[Elecraft] KPA500 - 500W out on 120VAC?

[John Harper]

My own experience is that there is a lot of variation from one home to another, depending on the age of the house and the distance from the service entrance to the ham shack. Also relevent is how many other gadgets are operating from the 120V circuit used for your amp.

It's easy enough to determine the "health" of your own service - measure the voltage drop at an outlet as you operate something else plugged into that same circuit.

The outlet nearest my service entrance/breaker panel had a 2V drop when I turned on a 1000W hair dryer plugged into the same outlet. The same measurement on an outlet in the hamshack (80' away) had a 9V drop. I'm not sure if this is typical or not.

I spent $300 for an electrician to run 240V to the shack and consider it money well-spent.

John AE5X
http://www.ae5x.com/blog