[Elecraft] kpa1500?

[Edward R Cole]

I did not have 240vac into my shack, either, but needed it to run my 
2m-8877 at 1500w, so.... I ran a 35-foot run of No.-8 3-conductor 
plus No. 12 ground which I bought at HomeDepot.  I also bought a 
60amp service box and a 240v 30A twist-lock receptacle and plug (for 
my 8877 HVPS connection).  I threw the master breaker at the meter to 
wire it in on the hot side of my home load box.  I broke out two 120v 
20A ckts to supply my shack along with 240v 20A to the amplifier.

Now maybe many of you are adverse to working on your own or concerned 
about IBEW suing you?  I just did it.  Of course I had a full summer 
working as electrician's helper when I was in college, working with 
as high as 440v 500a service in industrial settings, so I knew 
roughly what to do.

In the same vein I installed my cut-over switch for my 6500w Honda 
Generator using the same No. 8 cable in a conduit.  I did have the 
power company shut down my service for an hour to do the cut over wiring.

Re: solid-state QRO, the Freescale LDMOS device is rated at 1200w and 
is nearly indestructable.  Many are being built for up to 1296 mostly 
for eme.  M2 has one for sale on 2m.  W6PQL has a line in 
production.  Communications-Concepts sells a HF amp rated to 
1200w.  All require 50v at 50amps (which is 2500VA and requires 240v 
as primary).

I would suggest that Elecraft determined that they would not be 
competitive in that market along with all the other players.  I think 
Ameritron just announced an entry in that category and pretty sure 
Alpha has one.

I have two amplifier kits I bought from Comm-Concepts: 300w and 140w 
and spent about $500 on each.  Works well for me.  Someday it would 
be nice to have the KPA500 for all its bells and whistles.  But not 
high on my list.

73, Ed - KL7UW

------------
Message: 12
Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 18:19:53 -0800
From: Phil Wheeler <w7ox at socal.rr.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] kpa1500?
Message-ID: <548BA249.7010009 at socal.rr.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=windows-1252; format=flowed

Other issues, too. For example, not all of us have
240 VAC available in our shacks -- at least I
don't. And I suspect such an amp would want the
higher line voltage.

Phil W7OX


73, Ed - KL7UW
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