[Elecraft] FT-950 and KPA500 Interfacing

[Phil&Debbie]

“The KPA500 manual I downloaded says pin 8 (TX INH) and pin 3 (GND) from the FT-950 must be connected together then connected to pin 5 on the KPA500 AUX connector. I looked at the FT-950 schematic and it appears pin 8 can be left floating.Also, have you had any issues with band selection using the FT-950 linear interface connection?”

Joe – Most Yaesu big radios have a micro-switch in the Band Data connector that opens the transmit inhibit line when an external connector is plugged in.  I know this is the case with the FT-990, FT-1000, and FT-1000MKV and MKV field.  If this is the case, then you do need to ground the TX INH pin.

The FT-950 Band Data output is exactly the same as the K3 output (Yaesu ABCD vs Elecraft 0123).  There are no issues.

Phil – AD5X