[Elecraft] KPA500/KAT500 paired with AL-1500?

[Jim McDonald]

I have a KPA500/KAT500 and an 87A/ATR-30 tuner connected to my K3.  Not
important, but I have an Array Solutions Power Master II wattmeter with two
couplers connected to the amplifiers' outputs.

My approach is pretty low tech.  I have the 87A connected to the K3's ANT2
port and the KPA500 connected to ANT1.  I use an Alpha Delta manual coax
switch to switch my only antenna coax between the two amplifiers.  (I
considered using a spare Daiwa switch but it's not rated at 1500W.)  I
looked up the inter-port isolation for the antenna switch when I connected
it, and it seemed adequate, but I don't remember the specs.  

The only thing that's a bit fancy is a macro I did recently to use in my
K-Pod.  I don't switch amplifiers often so I used two press-and-hold buttons
on the K-Pod.

KPA500    MN058;MP123;MN081;UP;MN255;AN1; 

87A       MN058;MP000;MN081;UP;MN255;AN2;

You can either look through the K3 Programmer's Reference Manual if you want
the mental exercise or read my notes below:

MN058 - menu

MP123 - sets K3's tune power to 15W (just my preference).

MP000 - sets K3 tune power to NOR (not per band)

MN081 - toggles between per band power for the KPA500 or NOR for the 87A. 

MN255 - exits the menu

AN1/AN2 - selects antenna 1 or 2.

73, Jim N7US


-----Original Message-----

I'm considering adding a bigger amp to the shack. I'd like to continue to
use the KPA/KAT combo for quick hits and the bigger amp if/when needed. So
I'd like to make it convenient to switch between them.

The people I've talked to so far actually move coax to make the switch. I'd
like to avoid that.

I'd need to switch the K3s output from the KPA to the AL1500 and obviously
switch the outputs as well.

Obviously I'd also need to set the non-KPA power out of the K3 to the per
band power needed by the AL1500. I seldom run 100w so that wouldn't be a big
deal.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has done this without screwing/unscrewing
UHF connectors.

Extra credit for idiot proofing. ;-)

73

jim ab3cv