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

500-watt amplifier
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E
KPA500
LECRAFT
500-W
A
ATT
MPLIFIER
O
'
M
WNER
S
ANUAL
Revision D1, February 27, 2015
Copyright © 2015, Elecraft, Inc.
All Rights Reserved

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  • Page 1  KPA500 LECRAFT 500-W MPLIFIER ’ WNER ANUAL Revision D1, February 27, 2015 Copyright © 2015, Elecraft, Inc. All Rights Reserved...

  • Page 2: Table Of Contents

      Theory of Operation ..........................25   AUX Connector Interface ........................26   KPA500 AUX Connector Pinout (DE-15 Male) ....................26  Elecraft KPAK3AUX K3 Cable ........................27  Icom Cable ................................ 27  Yaesu Cable ..............................28  BCD Interface ............................28  ...
  • Page 3 Dangerous Voltages Inside the KPA500 Before opening the KPA500 enclosure: 1. Turn off the KPA500 by tapping the front panel ON switch and wait until the fan stops. (The fan drains the power supply to a safe voltage.) 2. Place the rear panel rocker switch in off (O) position and disconnect mains power from the rear panel.

  • Page 4: Introduction

    If you use the KPA500 with both the K3 transceiver and P3 panadapter – our new “K-Line” – you’ll enjoy a high degree of operating convenience, along with world-class performance and the power to get the job done.

  • Page 5: Installation

     Positioning the KPA500 to provide for proper cooling (page 10).  Cabling the KPA500 to your other station equipment (page 10). The KPA500 rear panel is shown in Figure 1. The connectors and controls are described following the figure. Figure 1. KPA 500 Rear Panel SO-239 RF connector to your external antenna tuning unit (ATU), antenna or dummy load.

  • Page 6: Mains Voltage Settings

    Mains Voltage Settings Your KPA500 is supplied with the power cable you ordered; either one using the 115VAC connector common in the USA or one with the common European (Schuko) plug for 200 VAC. CAUTION Do not connect mains power to your KPA500 or attempt to turn it on before setting the fuse block switch and internal jumpers to match your supply voltage as described below;...
  • Page 7  Replace the fuse block so that the correct mains voltage appears in the window in the cover. The orientation of the fuse holder sets the proper connections to the power transformer for each mains voltage range. When replacing the fuse block in the holder squeeze the fuses against the spring contact so they will slide into the holder.
  • Page 8 If you are setting up your just received factory-built KPA500 or a just assembled kit, the transformer tap is already set for either 116 to 126V or 231 to 250 V. Go directly to Power Supply Voltage Test on pg 10 to determine whether you need to adjust the tap as described below.
  • Page 9 Three taps are provided via red, green and yellow wires. Choose the tap according to the actual mains voltage at the outlet you plan to use for the KPA500. If you cannot measure your mains voltage, use the yellow tap.

  • Page 10: Positioning The Amplifier

    Figure 5) will light when you tap the switch to protect your KPA500 if the power supply voltage is too far above the upper limit. Use a power transformer tap lower on the above table and retry the test.

  • Page 11: Connections To The Amplifier

    The KPA500 may be used with the Elecraft K3, K2 or any HF/6 meter transmitter that has a PA Key output meeting the requirements shown under note 4.below. In interconnections the transceiver are shown in Figure 2.
  • Page 12 Figure 2. Basic Cabling Diagram for Any Transceiver.
  • Page 13 Figure 3. K3 Enhanced Cabling Using KPAK3AUX Cable.
  • Page 14 Figure 4. K3 Enhanced Cabling Using KPAK3AUX Cable and Separate Key Line.

  • Page 15: Operation

    This is done to bleed off the 60V power supply voltage. The fan stops when the voltage reaches a safe level so, if you are preparing to open the KPA500 cabinet for any reason, be sure to allow the fan to run until it stops before switching off power with the rear panel rocker switch or unplugging the KPA500 from mains power.

  • Page 16: Band Switching

    RF output power. Never exceed 40 watts of drive to the KPA500 in mode. The KPA500 will not amplify without the PA KEY signal. Note that an asterisk will appear on the left side of the LCD display confirming that a valid PA KEY signal is being received from the driving transceiver.

  • Page 17: Using Alc

    500 watts. 4. When driving the KPA500 with an Elecraft K3, use the K3’s per-band power control to set the amplifier output just below the desired peak output on each band. Do not rely on ALC to control Per Band the power output (see Using ALC, pg 17).

  • Page 18: Monitoring

    (pg 3). Repeat the tap or hold action to return the LCD to the band display.  displays the PA voltage on the LCD. Must be between 65 and 85 V when the KPA500 is in STBY.

  • Page 19: Fault Conditions

    RF path that reduces the output to protect the KPA500. When an attenuator fault occurs, the 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...

  • Page 20: Menu

    K3: Allows use of Auxbus interface which allows the KPA500 band switches to change bands on the K3; sends KPA500 mode to the K3 so the K3 can automatically select correct drive power when the KPA500 is in OPER (see 16); reports KPA500 faults to K3.

  • Page 21: Firmware Updates

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

  • Page 22: Wattmeter Calibration Procedure

    The KPA500 wattmeter is factory-calibrated. However, if you have a wattmeter that you feel is more accurate, you can adjust the KPA500 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.

  • Page 23: Specifications

    Specifications Frequency Range All Amateur Bands from 1.8 to 29.7 MHz and 50 to 54 MHz Supply Voltage and 100 to 125 VAC or 200 to 250 VAC, 50/60 Hz, approx. 1000 VA Current Weight 26 lbs (11.8 kilograms) Size Enclosure only, 4.0 x 10.8 x 10.0 in., HWD (10.2 x 27.4 x 25.4 cm).

  • Page 24: 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 provided at time of order to ensure...

  • Page 25: Theory Of Operation

    The output of the LPF bank is routed to the RF output via the TR switch. During receive or when the KPA500 is in Standby (STBY), the TR switch routes the RF input directly to the RF output, bypassing both the PA module and the low pass filter bank.

  • Page 26: 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 KPA500 with the driving transceiver. Below are the signals available at the AUX connector. Specific cable connections for Elecraft, Icom and Yaesu equipment follow.

  • Page 27: Elecraft Kpak3Aux K3 Cable

    Elecraft KPAK3AUX K3 Cable This is available direct from Elecraft (pg 24): 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 Aux port for other devices. May be ordered separately.

  • Page 28: Yaesu Cable

    CONN. PIN Bit 1 3 & 8 GND Note: Yaesu pin 8 must be grounded or TX is inhibited. Bit 2 Bit 0 Bit 3 BCD Interface The following are the band codes used by the KPA500: Band (Meters) BCD Code...

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