ELECRAFT KPA500 Owner's Manual
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ELECRAFT KPA500 Owner's Manual

1500-watt
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E
KPA1500
LECRAFT
1500-W
A
ATT
MPLIFIER
O
'
M
WNER
S
ANUAL
Revision A1 (Draft), August 9, 2017
E740301
Copyright © 2017, Elecraft, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

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Summary of Contents for ELECRAFT KPA500

  • Page 1 KPA1500  LECRAFT 1500-W MPLIFIER ’ WNER ANUAL Revision A1 (Draft), August 9, 2017 E740301 Copyright © 2017, Elecraft, Inc. All Rights Reserved...
  • Page 2 WARNING Dangerous Voltages Inside the KPA1500 Before opening the KPA1500 RF Deck or Power Supply enclosures: 1. Turn off the KPA1500 by tapping the front panel ON switch and wait until the fan stops. (The fan drains the power supply to a safe voltage.) 2.
  • Page 3 Introduction On behalf of our entire design team, we’d like to thank you for choosing the Elecraft KPA1500 amplifier. The KPA1500 offers a unique combination of features. It’s one of the smallest 1500-W amplifiers available. The power supply is in a separate enclosure for ease of station layout.
  • Page 4 – Connect the equipment into an outlet on a circuit different from that to which the receiver is connected. – Consult the dealer or an experienced radio/TV technician for help. Regarding the computer interface: changes or modifications not expressly approved by Elecraft could void the user's authority to operate this equipment. Elecraft Inc.

  • Page 5: Installation

    Enables the KPA1500 by a short to ground. 5 Vdc open circuit inhibits the KPA1500 . When grounded the source must sink 1mA to enable the KPA1500. For interconnecting cable to fully integrate the KPA1500 with an Elecraft K3 or K3 for enhance mode operation.

  • Page 6: Positioning The Kpa1500 Rf Deck And Power Supply

    Always turn the KPA1500 off before attaching or removing cables. The KPA1500 may be used with the Elecraft K3, K2 or any HF/6 meter transmitter and that has a KEY IN output meeting the requirements shown under note 4 below. Interconnections with the transceiver are shown in Figure 2.
  • Page 7 Attach the to the output of your driving transceiver or transmitter using a 50 ohm coaxial RF INPUT cable with a PL-259 male connector on the KPA1500 end. Attach the to a suitable load with an SWR of less than 1.5:1. A dummy load is strongly RF OUTPUT recommended for initial testing.
  • Page 8 Figure 3. K3 Enhanced Cabling Using KPAK3AUX Cable.
  • Page 9 Figure 4. K3 Enhanced Cabling Using KPAK3AUX Cable and Separate Key Line.

  • Page 10: Operation

    Operation IMPORTANT When the KPA1500 is turned off using the front-panel switch, part of the control circuitry remains on as long as mains power is applied to the Power Supply. Keeping the control circuitry energized allows the KPA1500 to be turned on and off remotely as well as from the front-panel switch..

  • Page 11: Band Switching

    Band Switching Automatic Band Switching: The KPA1500 automatically measures the frequency of the RF drive and selects the proper band. The input must be connected to the driving transmitter. KEY IN Manual Band Switching: Tap any of the front-panel BAND switches to select that band. Coordinated K3 and KPA1500 Band Switching: When the optional AUX cable (pg 6) is connected between the KPA1500 and the K3 or K3 ...

  • Page 12: Using Alc

    This is normal. It does not indicate that the amplifier is being overly stressed. 5. When driving the KPA1500 with an Elecraft K3 or K3 , use the K3 or K3 per-band power control to set the amplifier output just below the desired peak output on each band.

  • Page 13: Automatic Antenna Tuner (Atu)

    USB port. A basic remote operating capability is built into the KPA1500 Utility program (see pg 17). For those who may wish to develop their own software, a Command Reference Manual is available on the Elecraft web site. (www.elecraft.com).

  • Page 14: Fault Conditions

    RF path that reduces the output to protect the KPA1500. When an attenuator fault occurs, the FAULT blinks and the cause is displayed on the LCD for about 1 second. The KPA500 tests the condition at intervals and will return to normal operation automatically after the cause of the fault is removed. The interval between tests is set with the menu (pg 15).
  • Page 15 WARC bands, but KPA1500 frequency sensing will switch the KPA1500 to the correct band upon transmit. SERIAL: Kenwood/Elecraft compatible interface using TBD? RS232X port. If transceiver is in split mode, the transmit frequency will select proper band at KPA1500.
  • Page 16 SER NUM Displays the unit serial number. ON: Enables KPA1500 polling of the transceiver for frequency band via RS232X port (e.g. for Kenwood/Elecraft compatible interface). Note: RADIO menu entry must be SER POLL set to SERIAL. OFF: Other device (PC, etc.) polls transceiver for frequency band.

  • Page 17: Firmware Updates

    2. Download the new file from the Elecraft web site manually and place it in a local folder, then click on to locate the folder on your computer. This is the way to access the latest Beta firmware Browse…...

  • Page 18: Wattmeter Calibration Procedure

    Wattmeter Calibration Procedure The KPA1500 wattmeter is factory-calibrated. However, if you have a wattmeter that you feel is more accurate, you can adjust the KPA1500 wattmeter to match its readings as follows. The calibration is done per-band so you can make adjustments for individual bands without affecting the others. In addition to your wattmeter, you will need a good dummy load capable of handling 1500 watts.

  • Page 19: Specifications

    Specifications Frequency Range All Amateur Bands from 1.8 to 29.7 MHz and 50 to 54 MHz Supply Voltage and 195 to 250 VAC, 50/60 Hz Current Weight 26 lbs (12 kilograms) Size Enclosure only, 4.5 x 13.5 x 11.5 in., HWD (11.5 x 34 x 29 cm). Power Output 1500 watts PEP CW/SSB/Data Duty Cycle at 1500 Watts...

  • Page 20: Customer Service And Support

    Elecraft products transferred by the purchaser to a third party, either by sale, gift, or other method, who is not disclosed to Elecraft at the time of original order, are not covered by this warranty. If the Elecraft product is being bought indirectly for a third party, the third party’s name and address must be...

  • Page 21: Theory Of Operation

    Theory of Operation TBD – Update block diagram to show 2 RF out and new power supply voltages. When the KPA1500 is in operating (OPER) mode, RF is routed by the transmit-receive (TR) switch to the power amplifier (PA) module where it is amplified by a pair of dual power MOS FETs. The PA module output is routed to the low pass filter (LPF) bank input.

  • Page 22: Aux Connector Interface

    Do not attach a common VGA cable to the AUX connector. The AUX connector provides an optional interface that more closely integrates the KPA1500 with the driving transceiver. Below are the signals available at the AUX connector. Specific cable connections for Elecraft, Icom and Yaesu equipment follow.

  • Page 23: Elecraft Kpak3Aux Interface Cable

    Elecraft KPAK3AUX Interface Cable This is available direct from Elecraft (pg 20): order KPAK3AUX for the complete set:  KPAK3AUX Cable, 59.5” (1.5 m) long. May be ordered separately. Order E850463.  15 pin Y cable that allows access to the K3 or K3 Aux port for other devices.

  • Page 24: Bcd Interface

    Yaesu Cable Although various models of Yaesu radios use either DIN8/262 or a MiniDIN8 connector, the pin connections are the same. Pins not shown have no connection. KPA1500 YAESU AUX CONN. SIGNAL CONN. PIN Bit 1 3 & 8 GND Note: Yaesu pin 8 must be grounded or TX is inhibited. Bit 2 Bit 0 Bit 3...

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