[OKDXA] ELECRAFT KPA1500

Thu May 26 11:46:54 EDT 2022

HI ROGER, 
THANKS FOR THE INFORMATION,  I EVEN BLEW A FINAL ON 6M WITH ONLY 200W OUT OF THE ALS1306, SO I SOLD IT.  I AM USING MY ALPHA 89, AND IT JUST COASTS ALONG.  HAS SOME WEAK TUBES IN IT THAT I BOUGHT OFF INTERNET BUT STILL GET KW OUT.  STILL HAVE ORIGINAL TUBES SO WHEN THESE GET BAD WILL PUT ORIGINAL ONES BACK IN.
I SENT EMAIL TO ELECRAFT AND THEY WERE SAYING IT HOLDS UP WELL ON RTTY ETC BUT I HAVE MY DOUBTS ABOUT FT8 MODE HI.  BEEN THINKING OF GETTING AN ACOM FOR SPARE, BUT THE ALPHA HAS BEEN GREAT FOR ABOUT 25 YRS ARE SO, BOUGHT IT USED FROM ALPHA IN COLORADO.   I WOULD BUY ANOTHER ALPHA 89 IF SAW ONE CLOSE SO COULD PICK IT UP.
GOOD LUCK WITH THE DX, GLAD THE ACOM 2100 DOING GOOD JOB FOR YOU, AND THANKS FOR INFO ON KPA1500.
73
GARY- WQ5R

On Thu, 26 May 2022 09:58:38 -0500, Roger Simpson <rksimpson1 at cox.net> wrote:

Gary: I have an Amertiron 1306 aslo. I have had a similar problem to yours with the 1306. Namely it will just NOT support FT8 at the high duty cycles that FT8 uses. In my case I did NOT burn up the the amp . But the amp was not suitable for FT8 since it would shut down on its own after a few minutes of running FT8 at a power level of about 300W.

I bought an ACOM A2100, which uses a vacuum tube final. The ACOM uses a 4CX1000. I have been using the ACOM now for about six months. It is holding up OK on FT8. FT8 has a much higher duty cycle than CW or SSB or RTTY. With FT8 you are running “full power” solid for 15 seconds half of the time. You only get 15 seconds of rest for the linear to cool down.

I think the Ameritron 1306 needs better cooling such as a bigger fan with more air circulating. I personally don’t know if there is a solid state amp that is suitable for FT8 or not. I don’t know about the Elecraft amp.

I notice that big contest super-stations, such as K3LR, are using vacuum tube amps. In K3LRs case they are homebrew amps. Vacuum tube amps have to warm up, they use semi-obsolete parts, and they may have loud fans, but they hold up with high “brick on key” duty cycles.

73 Roger K5RKS

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Sent from Mail for Windows

From: garylm at kiamichiwb.org
Sent: Wednesday, May 25, 2022 9:05 PM
To: OKDXA at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [OKDXA] ELECRAFT KPA1500

HAS ANYONE HAD ANY  DEALINGS WITH AN ELECRAFT KPA1500 SOLID STATE AMP?
HOW THEY HOLD UP USING DIGITAL MODES,  I HAVE HAD AN AMERITRON ALS1306 AND IT WOULD NOT HOLD UP TO WORKING FT8 KEPT LOOSING FINALS.
WONDERING IF THE KPA1500 HAD THE SAME PROBLEMS.
BOB AT ELECRAFT THANKS THEY WILL HOLD UP USING DIGITAL MODES,  WOULD LIKE TO HEAR FROM SOMEONE WHO HAS USED THEM  WORKING STATIONS DAILY.
THANKS
GARY
WQ5R

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