[Elecraft] KPA500 shutting down

[Michael Walker]

I wanted to say thanks to Jack for spending time after hours analyzing my
KPA500 log and providing some detailed analysis.

While I haven't solved the problem yet, I have enough clues that possibly
support my theory of a bad AC supply line.

I will likely get to my remote base over the weekend, so I should have the
next clue on why it fails by then.

It is thanks to the support of Elecraft that I buy their product.  In fact,
when it comes to HF, I only use US manufactures for radios and supporting
products.  That is because they all provide amazing service!

Mike va3mw


On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 2:04 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV <k2av.guy at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Perhaps outdoors you have had a ground go bad, or a connector go bad, to
> all of a sudden have RF in the shack. Connection work loose, that kind of
> thing. These could happen without your seeing SWR on the line you are
> transmitting on.
>
> 73, Guy K2AV
>
> On Tue, Nov 22, 2016 at 8:53 AM, Michael Walker <va3mw at portcredit.net>
> wrote:
>
>> I run a remote base with a KPA500.  The Amp is a 3 hour drive away.
>>
>> I can control just about everything remotely without effort.  The
>> installation has been rock solid for years (Flex 6300 / KPA500)  and lots
>> of chokes everwhere.
>>
>> Last week the unit worked fine.  Today the KPA500 appears to shut down
>> based on the Remote GUI.
>>
>> I will be on SSB, and then I see the bar at the bottom go to PWR OFF,
>> reset
>> and go back to Powering ON/ Amp On.  This is when the amp is only
>> producing
>> about 300 watts peak (about 24 watts drive).
>>
>> There are no error messages displayed at all and the only thing I suspect
>> it might be is low AC voltage into the amp.
>>
>> RF could be the problem, however in 2 years running contests, this is the
>> first time I have seen a shutdown like this.  I run many Mix 43 chokes on
>> all coax and signal lines.
>>
>> Are there other messages I can see by monitoring the Serial port at all?
>> Any thing else I can do remotely?
>>
>> I can recreate this on 160/80/40m.  Those antennas are at least 150 ft
>> from
>> the station.
>>
>> Also, at times, the GUI will seem to freeze.  The buttons work, but the
>> bar
>> graphs are stuck frozen in time at a peak reading.  Yet, I can power off
>> the amp when this happens.
>>
>> Currently, the amp is about 34F ambient temp.  In the past, I have used it
>> well below that (-25F) without issue (last winter).
>>
>> My question is to the Elecraft guru's.  Any thoughts?  I am trying to
>> retrieve more data from the KPA500 remotely.
>>
>> Mike va3mw
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>
>