DL4KA DIY599.com PA500, Instruction Manual, Page: 4 / 16

4
getting started
Before using the PA500, you’ll need to connect a power source with a sufficient power. We recommend
to use a power source (a battery or an AC/DC power supply) which can provide 12 to 16V and up to
10A of continuous current.
there is no reverse polarity protection, incorrect wiring will destroy the device.
The PA500 need to be connected to a transceiver. In the simplest case, a connection of the PTT signal
from the transceiver is sufficient to control the PA. In this specific case, the frequency band to be used
need to be set manually in PA-Mode (no bypass) on the PA500 (TAP the BAND Button).
Some transceivers provide an “analog band signal” to configure external devices like a PA. Another
possibility is to obtain information from the transceiver via a digital interface (CAT). All of these three
interface options are generally supported by the PA500. A list of the supported transceivers which
provide a form of automatic frequency band reference will be find in the chapter "compatible
transceivers".
powering up
After reading these brief instructions, you will be able to put the PA500 into operation.
1. Make sure that the transceiver with its RF-Out is connected to the RF-In connector of the
PA500 using a suitable 50 Ohm antenna coax cable. A suitable antenna must be connected to
the RF-Out connector of the PA500.
2. Connect your transceiver and the PA500 with the appropriate control cable. This control cable
is necessary, so that the PA500 can be switched accordingly by the transceiver during a
transmission. If no special transceiver selection is made, the PA500 is in manual mode as well
as in the bypass mode. A correct baud rate must be configured in the transceiver if the
automatic band selection via the CAT interface is used.
The new version of the PA500 supports
RF-VOX-PTT, so no control cable needed between transceiver and amplifier.
3. Please make sure that the Transceiver RF-Output-power is set to the correct level. See also
section: ‘operating mode and drive power’.
4. Switch on your transceiver and the PA500. To Power on the PA500, TAP and HOLD the 'BAND'
and 'BYPASS' button simultaneously for about 2 seconds . After powering on, the white LED
will light up. You can turn off the PA500 in the same way.
5. As mention before, the PA is always in the BYPASS mode after powering on . Tap the BYPASS
Button once, the internal PA will be activated. You can switch back to ‘BYPASS’ in the same
way.
6. If you are in the PA-mode (no bypass), select your Band to operate on the PA500 by tapping
the ‘Band’ button. The new version of the PA supports automatic Band selection . You can
configure the PA into manual mode to set the band to operate manually.
7. Choose the antenna-tuner tuning-mode. You have the choice between “full - automatic” and
“semi - automatic”. Start with ‘full - automatic’, tap the ‘ AUTO ’ Button, the green light indicates
the ‘full - automatic’ mode is switches on. The Antenna-Tuner will only work in PA-Mode.
8. Before you start to operate, tune your antenna, this should be done with an active PA (no
BYPASS). It is recommended to switch to AM to tune the antenna with a steady carrier signal.