[Elecraft] Considering a KPA-500

[Wes (N7WS)]

I seem to have missed the original post. My 2-cents:

I used a Drake L-4B (2 X 3-500Z) for years.  It worked fine, was robust, 
instant-on and would tune the WARC bands and was a pretty good antenna tuner as 
well.  What it didn't do was cover 160-meters.  I don't contest, but am an avid 
DXer, albeit one with a fairly modest station antenna wise.  Since I'm up in 
years and still three away from the top of the DXCC Honor Roll, with no prospect 
of ever getting there, (except for VK0 later this year and ARRL coming to their 
senses and deleting Mt. Athos) I decided that I would chase (HF) 9-band DXCC.  
Thus I needed something that covers 160.

I considered another tube amp but most of interest have a warm up time.  After 
running an 8877 on two-meter EME, years ago I remember the seeming interminable 
waiting time and didn't want to go through that again.  After a whole lot of 
agony and consideration of the alternatives, I rationalized that I could make up 
for the drop in power with antenna and transmission line improvements.  In my 
case this is possible, if you're already there, then the power drop might be a 
deal breaker.

So, I have a new KPA500 and KAT500.  Against all of my principles, I actually 
bought a tri-band beam to replace the HB 20-meter monobander and wire dipoles. I 
have some other antennas in work and 7/8" Heliax replaced the RG8.  Hopefully, 
the KAT500 is a stopgap and can be removed later. So I'm looking for fractions 
of a dB here and there to add up to the power difference. In addition, the 
convenience factor is wonderful.  No regrets here.

Wes  N7WS