[Elecraft] Elecraft Power Ratings

[Jim Brown]

Those concerned with the design and ruggedness of the new KPA500 might 
take comfort in the behaviour of the K3 in keydown modes like RTTY. For 
years, on the advice of a free-lance engineer who works for Elecraft 
(and is working on the KPA500), I've run my K3s at full power for 100W 
RTTY contests (like NAQP).  That often involves near-continuous CQing 
near the end of a contest, when you've already worked everyone on a band 
that you can hear, or when you're hoping that 10M will open. He was able 
to give me that advice because the K3 is very well protected against 
overheating, and because the power handling devices are conservatively 
rated and run conservatively.

I ran an NAQP RTTY contest yesterday, and after CQing on 20M for a while 
as it was closing, looked at the PA temperature.  It was only 45 degrees 
C, well below the point where fans would turn on and/or speed up to 
provide more cooling.  The K3 is not alone in conservative design -- my 
vintage IC746, which I bought many years ago to use on 6M and 2M,  is 
also rated for 100W in keydown modes, even on 2M.

73, Jim K9YC