[Elecraft] KPA1500

[Wayne Burdick]

> ROBERT MUELLER <k8rgm at comcast.net> wrote:
> 
> Why don't we tell Wayne it is time to stop tweaking.


You guessed it, Bob; you can blame me for the final tweaks. I do most of my operating with small radios that have no fans, so I’ve been obsessing over the KPA1500’s acoustics. 

As mentioned in the last update, we made changes to the power supply fans that dramatically reduced their sound level (by about 15 dB). Then, last week, we applied the same technique to the RF deck, with excellent results. In a 20-minute brick-on-key test on 40 meters, the fans cycled between speeds 2 and 3. Previously it had been speeds 4 and 5. I feel that these changes, which required ordering some different components, are well worth the trouble.

Seriously, you guys are going to love this amp. I’m a QRP guy at heart, but even I have to admit that hitting the key at 1500 W is a bit of a rush, especially on an amp that keys silently, like our smaller radios. And thanks to the latest changes, hunt-and-pounce ops, like me, will almost never hear a fan come on.

73,
Wayne
N6KR