[Elecraft] KPA500 with K3 in TUNE mode?

[n5ge at n5ge.com]

Hello Randy,

You should put the Amplifier in standby and let the tuner tune from the K3's
Tune power.  That applies to all amplifiers.  It doesn't make any difference
what brand of amplifier or what type of tuner you have you have. 

The safe way to tune a tuner before applying amplifier power is what I described
above, no matter what it's final output will be.

73,
Tom
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE


On Tue, 10 May 2011 21:49:05 -0500, Randy Farmer <w8fn at tx.rr.com> wrote:

>I'm busily preparing for my new KPA500 and working out all the station 
>interface details. One of my antennas uses an SGC SG-235 remote tuner, 
>which will support the amp's 500W output but must be tuned at lower 
>power. I currently just hold the K3's TUNE button to generate about 20W 
>to tune the SG-235. Once the tuner has found and memorized a match at a 
>given frequency, it only takes a very short burst of low power RF to 
>reset on QSY, but it really needs to be done at 100W or less. This is no 
>problem with the barefoot K3 -- I can recall the tune setup with a 
>couple of dashes from the keyer.  This technique would be disastrous 
>once the KPA500 is online, so I'm clearly going to need a way to 
>initially transmit at lower power after a band change to wake the tuner 
>up. I realize I could select the menu option to drop the amp offline 
>after every band change, but since I need to turn the amp off only with 
>one of several antennas, this is a lot of ergonomic overhead.
>
>With the K3 and KPA500 integrated and talking via the AUXBUS will the 
>firmware keep the amp  offline when the K3 is in TUNE mode? This would 
>be really useful for my particular setup, and for anyone who uses a 
>remote tuner. I've looked over the manual for the KPA500 and it says 
>nothing about the behavior in this case.
>
>If the amp stays live in TUNE, perhaps a future revision of the firmware 
>could present a menu item to let the user choose whether or not the amp 
>will be enabled in TUNE mode.
>
>73...
>Randy, W8FN
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