[Elecraft] footswitch and amp

[ke4d at att.net]

So, then, this begs a question. I have a K3 with an Ameritron AL-811H. 
I key the K3 with a Heil foot switch connected to a Heil ProSet 5. When 
I tried keying my amp off the red cable on the foot switch, I didn't get 
any amp keying. When I connected an RCA phono cable between the K3's 
key out jack and the amp's relay, everything works fine and dandy. Is 
there some setting on the K3 I missed to allow the amp to key from the 
foot switch instead of from the rig's TX?

Thanks and 73,

Ian Kahn, KM4IK
Roswell, GA


I'm not sure why you want to key the amp instead of the rig.  I ran an 811H for years with my Icom 746 Pro and my K2s with a footswitch to the radio connected to my ProSet 5.. Same way I now run my K2 and my KPA500.  Since I don't have a K3 (yet) I guess I might be missing something but since the amp, whether the 811H or KPA500 doesn't key until the radio does, I wouldn't think this would be an issue.  And, I'm not sure how it would work keying the amp without the radio. Maybe because the KPA500 and K3 are basically symbiotic its not an issue but I certainly wouldn't have been able to use the IC 746 Pro or my K2 by keying the amp.  What am I missing?

John KE4D