20
Coordinated K3
S
or K3 and KPA1500 Band Switching:
When the optional AUX cable (page 14) is
connected between the KPA1500 and the K3
S
or K3:
•
The KPA1500 will follow the band selected on a K3
S
or K3 transceiver without the need
to transmit.
•
Tapping a
B A N D
switch on the KPA1500 will cause the K3
S
or K3 to change bands
accordingly.
The KPA1500 can automatically follow band selection from certain non-Elecraft transceivers such as Flex
Radio, Icom, Kenwood and Yaesu (BCD) without transmitting when the appropriate control cable is used. This
is called Enhanced Mode operation. However, control is one-way: The KPA1500 cannot command the
transceiver to change bands as it does when connected to a K3
S
or K3 with the optional AUX cable.
See “Interfacing to Other Transceivers,” page 43.
Antenna Selection
Tap
ANTENNA
to select the desired rear panel antenna connector. Either
ANT 1
or
ANT 2
LED illuminates to
indicate the selection.
You may designate either
ANT1
or
ANT2
on a per-band basis. By default, the KPA1500 will return to the last
used choice when returning to that band.
You can also disable one of the antenna outputs for selected bands. See
ANTENNA
ENABLE
and
ANTENNA
PREFER
menu items on page 30.
The menu selection applies only to the current band. The
KPA1500 Utility
makes it easy to configure this menu
function for several bands.
•
If an
ANT
connector is disabled on any band, tapping the
ANT
button blinks the
ANT
LED, but
will not change to the disabled antenna.
When the KPA1500 is turned off, the Input port is connected directly to the
ANT1
port, even if
ANT1 is disabled.
Transmitting: Initial Steps
The
POWER (W)
and standing wave ratio (
SWR)
bar graphs are functional when the amplifier is in
STBY
. Twenty five watts from the driving transceiver will illuminate the first
POWER
LED. You may run
up to 200 watts through the KPA1500 in
STBY.
Even if the antenna connected to the amplifier is resonant (low SWR), the KPA1500 ATU
must be “trained” for optimum performance. See “Initiating a Full Search Tune,” page 24.
•
If you attempt to drive the KPA1500 on a frequency range of 26 to 28 MHz, the KPA1500
automatically switches to
STBY
, the red
FAULT
LED lights and a tone emits from the
speaker.
•
Correct the condition and tap the
RESET
switch to restore normal operation.
•
The tone can be turned off using the Menu entry
ALARM TONE
. The default setting is
ON
.
1.
Be sure you have an antenna or dummy load connected to the active antenna output (see
Antenna
Selection
above) and your driving transceiver is on a frequency within an Amateur band.
