[Elecraft] KPA500 kit

[Andrew Faber]

Just to whet everyone's appetites further, here's a one week report on my 
new KPA500 (ser. 077, almost matches my K3, ser. 076), built as a Field Test 
kit.
  The assembly was very straightforward, easier than the K3.  It was speeded 
up by the fact that the parts inventory was missing from the preliminary kit 
manual, so no time was spent checking for completeness -- I just kept 
building, waiting to see if anything crucial had been omitted (nothing was). 
There was a pre-production glitch with a ribbon cable, but that was quickly 
remedied by Bob Wolbert, K6XX, the project manager, and the finished kit 
works great.
  Although this may not bear management's approval, I gave it several hours 
of workout in the All Asian contest this weekend, running JA's at a steady 
600 watts on my wattmeter.  Nary a problem, and the temperature readout 
never went above 60 degrees C. (it's rated for 90 degrees C.).
  The integration with the K3 is delightful.  The amp and radio follow each 
other's band changes, and the K3 remembers two power levels, the standby and 
operate levels, and switches automatically.  The KPA500 also comes on when 
you turn on the K3 (provided the main power switch on the back of the amp is 
on), so it's just like having a more powerful radio.  All in all, operation 
is really seamless with the K3.  I imagine it would be almost as good with 
any other radio, as the amp, when not connected to the K3, switches bands 
with the first dit due to rf sampling.
  Anyway, I'm one happy camper with the KPA500, and wanted to share my 
experience.
  73, andy ae6y