[Elecraft] KPA1500 LOW GAIN FAULT

[Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP]

Great, there is nothing that is more fun than an intermittent problem!
But there could have been dirt on one of the pins of the cables, and it 
may never happen again.
Maybe Elecraft engineers can give you some hints.
See you in the CWTs tomorrow!

73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
CWops no. 5
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/

On 30/04/2019 20:55, Ed gilliland wrote:
> Hi Vic, thanks.
> 
> That's the first thing I tried, should have included my checks in the
>  first message.  Here is what I've done so far.
> 
> Put a dummy load on the antenna 1 port
> 
> Confirmed that the amp was on antenna port one
> 
> Checked the SWR between the K3 and the amp 1.1 without the K3 tuner
> 
> Re-seated all the cables on the KPA1500 rear panel
> 
> Tried the amp again and it works.  I have no idea what cable fixed
> the problem.  I am using a back to back cable between the K3 and the
> KPA1500 AUX ports but it's been installed for months and I've
> experienced no problems.  We'll find out in tomorrow's CWT.  I think
> I'll run the amp at 900 watts until I gain confidence.
> 
> WOW! WHAT A RELIEF!
> 
> Ed
> 
> 
> 
> On 4/30/2019 01:21, Vic Rosenthal wrote:
>> The first thing to do with any amplifier failure is to try it with
>> a dummy load. If the problem still occurs, you can rule out SWR or
>> RF feedback problems. It doesn’t seem like any of the above if it
>> occurs on all bands, but it’s easy and a good start to a systematic
>> diagnosis.
>> 
>> Victor 4X6GP
>> 
>>> On 30 Apr 2019, at 5:35, Ed gilliland <w5tm001 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> My KPA1500 is faulting with a low gain alarm ration 6.  This is
>>> with 23 watts input 160-10 meters.  Any advice?
>>> 
>>> Thanks, Ed W5TM