[Elecraft] KX2 / KPA500

[Michael Walker]

James

What happens if you unplug the PTT lead from the KPA500?  Does your receive
return?

Mike va3mw


On Tue, Apr 28, 2020 at 3:02 PM James Bennett via Elecraft <
elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:

> I’ve run into an interesting situation that has me puzzled. Probably some
> dumb pilot error, but after an hour or so looking through the manuals and
> thinking about it - I gotta call in the experts.
>
> I’ve had a K3 for ten years and the KPA500/KAT500 for maybe four or five
> years. They work great. I also have a KX2 and thought “why not hook it to
> the KPA500 and give it some punch when I need it?”. Since my antenna
> connects through a coax switch between the K3 and the KX2, the output of
> the KX2 has been flowing through the KPA500/KAT500 since day one, although
> never being amplified. I set the KX2 ATU to bypass and do a “tune” on the
> KAT500 - finds a nice 1:1 match. Keying the KX2 with the amp in standby
> gives me 10w out on the KX2.
>
> Now, with a station tuned in that is say, S8 on the KX2, when I put the
> amp into operate mode, the received signal strength drops about six
> S-units. Going back to standby on the amp restores full receive strength. I
> have pressed the proper band switch on the amp. When I have the amp in
> operate mode and transmit, I get about 190 watts out, with an SWR of 1:1.
>
> By the way - the K3 IS connected to the amp as it normally is, but powered
> off.
>
> So, it seems like the amp is not sensing the RF frequency coming out of
> the KX2 - but why?
>
> Jim / W6JHB
>
>
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