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

[CRAIG W BEHRENS]

I also ran dedicated lines and am glad I did.
Besides the dedicated 240V line, I decided to run to dedicated 120V lines. I also had a small, in the in-wall mounted breaker box installed so I could remove all equipment power without losing the existing power. This allows me to use the room for other things.
All this cost me less than $300 for materials since a friend who was a Master Electrician before he got his current electronics job volunteered to help me out.
I was worried about having the breaker box installed in the room, looks, etc. But I feel really good about it now, because Electrical Inspections require that you have good access to breaker boxes and that they are not installed in busy closets and such.
Later, I discovered that the wall power I had been using was wired into the GFI breaker in the guest bathroom. This thing has kicked out from non-radio activity things and I could just see this happening in the heat of a contest, etc.
72/73 & DX,
Craig W. Behrens -- NM4T

> From: john at ae5x.com
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Date: Wed, 10 Aug 2011 12:39:08 -0500
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 - 500W out on 120VAC?
> 
> 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
> 
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> 
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html