[Elecraft] [K3] Power control sensitivity with KPA500

[Fred Jensen]

Hmmmm ... strange.

Mine isn't at all sensitive and once set, I never really touch it.  One 
thing ... like most Elecraft rigs, the instantaneous power out of the K3 
will adjust on the first couple of dots or dashes [or syllables] to a 
new setting.  If I change the K3 drive setting, even by one watt, the 
KPA500 usually hits 700W on the first dot or dash.  After that, it 
settles back immediately.  The amp is a bit conservatively designed :-), 
I've run mine on RTTY at 550W for a whole contest.  I think it's just 
the internal ALC working.

One thing I would like is instead of the K3 telling me the amp is in 
standby or operate, it tells me the power the K3 is going to deliver 
when I first tap the key after changing the amp status.  The per-band 
tune function has not worked for me on very rare occasions.  I'm sure 
it's pilot error, just don't know what I've done when it happens.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2013 Cal QSO Party 5-6 Oct 2013
- www.cqp.org

On 4/27/2013 7:03 PM, Jim McDonald wrote:
> I've only had my KPA500 for a couple of weeks.  It seems to have so much
> gain that adjusting the K3's power control takes a very fine touch to drive
> the amplifier to the desired 500W without overshooting.  It's too easy for
> me to add 50W of KPA500 output when I really want, say, 10w or 20W, but
> maybe I'm being too finicky.
>
> I normally use the per-band tune menu option so it's only a problem when
> adjusting the drive, of course.
>
> I'd appreciate having a K3 menu item to adjust the sensitivity of the power
> control.