[Elecraft] KPA500 with K3 in TUNE mode?

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

In keeping with Bob's final comment...

My dad, RIP, used to talk about cars with all the new features, and
proposed a new model to his Ford dealership cousin, that included
among a hilarous list, an automatic *ss wiper, and an automatic **rt
filter.  The later would be engaged any time an odor appeared and had
to be strong enough to drive axle deep through a garbage dump, or
shred a skunk in the radiator fan, and not smell anything on the
inside. An automatic version of the former, alas, could not be
trusted, and was invoked with the only button on the dashboard, all
else being automatic, including a mind-reading radio, which would come
on with the door opening and tune to a station matching your mood, or
if in a funk, remain off.

He bought a new '54 Chevy (to spite his cousin), without a heater in
it, and liked it that way.  Said if he wanted to be warm outside the
house, he'd wear a coat.

Good thing he's not still alive, a ham, and reading this reflector.
Eric would have to ban him for all the names he'd drape on certain of
the readership.

73, Guy.

On Wed, May 11, 2011 at 9:01 AM, Bob Naumann <W5OV at w5ov.com> wrote:
>
> While automating this (disable PTT to the amp for the first transmission
> after a band change - just like Tokyo Hy-Power does) should be part of the
> eventual Elecraft tuner /amp implementation, and not just when in tune mode,
> I'm surprised that pressing the "OPER/STBY" button on the front panel of the
> KPA500 constitutes "a lot of ergonomic overhead"?
>
> I think of what was "normal" with something like a Drake C-line, MN2000
> tuner and L4B amplifier. Now, there's some ergonomic overhead!
>
> Times and perspectives certainly have changed.
>
> 73,
>
> Bob W5OV
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Randy Farmer
> Sent: Tuesday, May 10, 2011 9:49 PM
> To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> Subject: [Elecraft] KPA500 with K3 in TUNE mode?
>
> 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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