[Elecraft] KPA500 question

[Jeff Cathrow]

Slava; There is no tuner inside the KPA500---that's why the KAT500 came about; it is optional to the amp.
 
As for it being a must have I would say that depends on your antennas and operating habits.  If you have resonant antennas on the bands you operate you can easily get by without the KAT500.  I have a K3, P3 and KPA500 and when I was operating my antenna farm in Hawaii the setup was great for all but one of my antennas that had an SWR of more than 1.7>1.  It would have been nice to have the autotuner but wasn't particularly necessary for me.
 
I liked the concept of a 600-650 watt solid state automatic band-switching amp so much (and the same size as the K3) that I dumped my 1200-watt Commander 6 meter amp that I had cherished since new so that I could buy the KPA and have half the power (3db less) on six meters but about 7 or 8db more power on HF as well.  Seemed like a very acceptable tradeoff to me and I don't look back having done so.   Mine consistently cranks out 600-650 watts PEP on most of the bands without a problem and is also very quiet---silent, in fact, 95% of the time.  The fan settings are adjustable in the menu, too.  Nice.
 
Building the KPA500 was even easier than the K3 and every bit as much fun.  I can recommend one wholeheartedly.
 
As far as I know; the potential for a KPA-1500 is about the same as for a K4; practically nil!



73,
 
Jeff, NH7RO  EL18 Texas Gulf Coast
 
 
 
 
 

cathrowinternational at hotmail.com