[Elecraft] how to run multiple antennas with KPA500

[mcduffie at ag0n.net]

On Tue, 18 Nov 2014 09:12:30 -0500, mtnest at hartcom.net wrote:

> How to you guys, using the KPA500, run 2 antennas? The picture of this unit
> doesn’t show any extra antenna ports
.is there an option for that? 

Normally, the output of the amplifier would go to a tuner, like the KAT500, or
whatever flavor your prefer, and then to an antenna switch to select antennas.
Some people only have a couple of antennas and the 3 output connections on the
tuner would suffice, but most serious hams have more than that, plus a dummy
load, multiple radios, etc.  You also need to consider lightning protection,
depending on where in the country you live.

Personally, I have the radio going to the amplifier, which goes to the tuner.
From the tuner, I select either the dummy load or my active antenna, leaving one
output port on the tuner unused.  I have the dummy load on the default (power
off) port, so that the load is on the radio/amp if the power fails.  From the
active antenna port on the tuner, I go to a 5 port arc suppressed antenna
switch, selecting one of 4 antennas (I need more ports).  I left out the
multi-radio switching and other complications in this description.

Gary