[Elecraft] Unbelievable!

Mon Jan 23 11:15:55 EST 2012

On KPA500 fan...

My fan will only kick on after a somewhat sustained signal.  This occurs at about the
one minute mark for SSB and maybe about the same for CW but my CW transmissions
do not always cause the fan to switch on.  I monitor the temperature too and it seems
to run cool.

Note that the efficiency of heat removal has a lot to do with not just external
air temperature but also the density of the air which of course is affected by
humidity too.  And of course, the availability of surrounding air currents that
help to cool without the fan.  My KPA500 is in a fairly open room where the
average air temperature is about 68 degrees.

phil, K7PEH

On Jan 22, 2012, at 11:58 PM, Barry Simpson wrote:

> Hi Brian
> 
> My experience with the KPA500 exactly mirrors yours. After some fairly long
> overs, my fan begins to sound a bit like a vacuum cleaner although nowhere
> near as loud as my former linear, a Yaesu FL7000. I do not find any cause
> for complaint. It is simply a fact of life.
> 
> I am also bewildered by people who say they never hear the fan in their K3.
> Mine comes on almost from the start and I can always hear it, even with my
> headphones on.
> 
> 73
> 
> Barry Simpson  VK2BJ
> 
> On 22 January 2012 11:40, Brian Alsop <alsopb at nc.rr.com> wrote:
> 
>> Like all things too good to be true, this posting about the KPA500 is a
>> bit unbelievable.  Like cars, YMMV.
>> 
>> My experience with the KPA500 is much different.  I suspect Jack only
>> operates SSB.
>> 
>> On CW expect the fan to come on after a few transmissions in under 30
>> seconds.  Levels 1, 2 and sometimes 3 are often heard when doing some
>> rag chewing at 500 W.  The temperature stays below 70C as it should.
>> RTTY is about the same with contest type operation.   Expect the fan to
>> operate as designed for these modes.
>> 
>> It is not an absolutely quiet fan. I doubt Muffin type fans can be more
>> quiet that what is used on the KPA500.  One would have to go to a
>> centrifugal fan like used on some of the really silent big amps to have
>> it "pin drop" quiet.
>> 
>> 73 de Brian/K3KO
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> On 1/21/2012 23:19, Jack Berry wrote:
>> 
>>> I'm with you Fred. I wish Elecraft made cars. They would read our minds,
>> last for 20 years and get 300 mpg!
>>> 
>>> On Jan 21, 2012, at 4:03 PM, Fredric Serota<fserota at msn.com>  wrote:
>>> 
>>>> I don't usually say much on these lists. But I have just finished
>> building
>>>> my KPA500, and I have to say that in my almost 50 years of hamming,
>> this is
>>>> the most incredible piece of equipment I have ever had. Now, I am not
>>>> related to Elecraft in any way. They don't even know who I am. But I am
>> so
>>>> impressed with the quality of components and the engineering and thought
>>>> that went in to this little package that I may sell my other amp (name
>>>> starts with the first letter of the Greek alphabet) and buy another. My
>>>> other amp is so noisy, the fan runs so loud and the "QSK" relays
>>>> clickity-clack" when sending CW. The KPA500 is as silent as can be,
>>>> generates over 600 watts without any noise at all. The only time I can
>> hear
>>>> the fan is when I shut down the amplifier, it turns on to bleed the high
>>>> voltage to make it safe if you want to poke inside. No other piece of
>>>> equipment I have ever had does that. It follows the K3 without
>> blinking. And
>>>> the software gives you all the measurements, including temperature,
>> that you
>>>> would ever want to know. And the satisfaction of breaking a pile up with
>>>> half the power I usually run, puts the fun back in operating.
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> And all you guys can say is you don't like the color of the buttons.
>>>> Unbelievable!
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> 
>>>> Fred Serota, K3BHX
>>>> 
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>> 
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