[Elecraft] KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

[Chuck Chandler]

I'd like to know more about this, as it would solve an issue I have.

I have two stations, with multiple antennas switched between them with an
Array Solutions Six-Pak.  On 80 and 40 I have both a vertical and a dipole,
and often one is better than the other.  The tuning on them is different
enough to cause a fault when switching unless I put the amp in standby, put
the tuner in Auto, let it tune, then put the tuner in Manual and the amp in
Operate.

My amp is the KPA500, the Six-Pak is connected to Ant 1 on the amp.

If there is a way to have the KPA500 see a high swr and pick from more than
one known solution in less time than it takes to fault, then I could switch
back and forth between two "similar but not identical" antennas to pick the
best one as the signal fades in and out.  I'd bet I'm not the only one who
would benefit from this.

If it's possible now, a quick pointer to the correct portion of the
manual... if not, please consider it for an enhancement in the future!

73 de Chuck, WS1L

On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:21 PM N4ZR <n4zr at comcast.net> wrote:

> Gill, you don't mention which firmware you're running on the KPA-1500.
> About a month ago the guys at Elecraft released revised firmware to help
> me fix what sounds like an identical problem.  With the latest firmware
> I jump back and forth between very dissimilar antennas on ANT 1 on 40M
> (via an external switch), with never a hiccup. At most, the amp is
> bypassed for a split second while the machine figures things out, but no
> faults.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
> spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
> For spots, please use your favorite
> "retail" DX cluster.
>
> On 1/17/2020 11:06 AM, Gill via Elecraft wrote:
> > I have two directional wire antennas for 160-40m that each work quite
> > well with the KPA1500. I can electrically switch between the two 'for
> > best signal' - they are on Ant port 1. Ant port 2 is dedicated to a beam
> > for 20M up. The tuning solution for each is wire antenna is different
> > enough to cause faults frequently when I switch from one to  the other
> > at higher power.  The issue is quite annoying on 160M & 80M. I have
> > tried erasing the memory & "re-learning" the solution for each antenna
> > so there would be only two solutions per bin. That did not help much. It
> > would be a great addition to the amp if a "virtual Antenna port 3" could
> > be implemented with software to select a portion of the bins for
> > memorizing tuning solutions for another antenna. A macro could be used
> > to track the selected section of memory when switching from the "NW ant"
> > to the "NE ant." Then (hopefully) the amp would switch to the new
> > solution series before key down. I, for one, would consider this a great
> > addition for use in contests.
> >
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-- 


===================
Chuck Chandler
chandlerusm at gmail.com
===================