Elecraft

Equipment placement

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David Bunte

Equipment placement

I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but was
a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
atop the KPA500.

I borrowed a KAT500 from a friend and placed it on top of my KPA500 because
I was just testing it and knew that would not be a long term arrangement.
I now own a KAT500 and my KPA500 sits on top of the tuner. PERHAPS the
cooling of the amp is not too severely impeded by placing the tuner on top
of the amp, but I did not want to take any chances.... and Elecraft clearly
states that the tuner is designed to be able to support the weight of the
amp.

Regardless of where it sits, the combination sure works nicely. My shack is
small, and I don't have other gear to accomodate, so my station layout was
very straightforward.

Dave - K9FN
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Phil Hystad-3

Re: Equipment placement

I thought I remember either Wayne or Eric of Elecraft saying that the KAT500 could easily sit on top, or under, the KAP500. Either way is OK.

73, phil, K7PEH

> On Sep 17, 2015, at 8:49 AM, David Bunte <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but was
> a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
> atop the KPA500.
>
> I borrowed a KAT500 from a friend and placed it on top of my KPA500 because
> I was just testing it and knew that would not be a long term arrangement.
> I now own a KAT500 and my KPA500 sits on top of the tuner. PERHAPS the
> cooling of the amp is not too severely impeded by placing the tuner on top
> of the amp, but I did not want to take any chances.... and Elecraft clearly
> states that the tuner is designed to be able to support the weight of the
> amp.
>
> Regardless of where it sits, the combination sure works nicely. My shack is
> small, and I don't have other gear to accomodate, so my station layout was
> very straightforward.
>
> Dave - K9FN
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: Equipment placement

In reply to this post by David Bunte

Dave,

The KAT500 can be safely placed either above or below the KPA500.
There was much discussion about the placement after the KAT500 was
announced, and if you want to look it up, you should find information in
the archives.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/17/2015 11:49 AM, David Bunte wrote:
> I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but was
> a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
> atop the KPA500.
>
>

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David Bunte

Re: Equipment placement

Thanks for the responses... I guess I only remembered what supported my
approach.

Dave - K9FN
On Sep 17, 2015 12:04 PM, "Don Wilhelm" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Dave,
>
> The KAT500 can be safely placed either above or below the KPA500.
> There was much discussion about the placement after the KAT500 was
> announced, and if you want to look it up, you should find information in
> the archives.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 9/17/2015 11:49 AM, David Bunte wrote:
>
>> I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but
>> was
>> a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
>> atop the KPA500.
>>
>>
>>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

Phil Wheeler-2

Re: Equipment placement

In reply to this post by Phil Hystad-3

The manual I have in my computer (from March 2014)
says on Page 10:

0.

Positioning the Amplifier

Provide at least 2 inches (5 cm) clearance
behind the fan and 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the
amplifier for normal cooling air flow.

Microsoft Word - KPA500 Owner's man Rev D.doc So
if I placed the KAT500 atop the KPA500 I would use
some spacers in each corner area. In fact, I
purchased such spacers at the time, but ended up
with the tuner in a different location.

73, Phil W7OX

On 9/17/15 8:58 AM, Phil Hystad wrote:

> I thought I remember either Wayne or Eric of Elecraft saying that the KAT500 could easily sit on top, or under, the KAP500. Either way is OK.
>
> 73, phil, K7PEH
>
>
>> On Sep 17, 2015, at 8:49 AM, David Bunte <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but was
>> a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
>> atop the KPA500.
>>
>> I borrowed a KAT500 from a friend and placed it on top of my KPA500 because
>> I was just testing it and knew that would not be a long term arrangement.
>> I now own a KAT500 and my KPA500 sits on top of the tuner. PERHAPS the
>> cooling of the amp is not too severely impeded by placing the tuner on top
>> of the amp, but I did not want to take any chances.... and Elecraft clearly
>> states that the tuner is designed to be able to support the weight of the
>> amp.
>>
>> Regardless of where it sits, the combination sure works nicely. My shack is
>> small, and I don't have other gear to accomodate, so my station layout was
>> very straightforward.
>>
>> Dave - K9FN

Bob-270

Re: Equipment placement

For my operating I went with this as an authoritative source from March 2012:

There should be no interaction issues between the KAT500 and the KPA500 when the
KAT is under the amp. We also beefed up the KAT500 cabinet to handle the weight
of the KPA500. Also, placing it on top of the amp does not raise amp PA
transistor temp significantly for most casual duty cycle use, typically raising
it a few degrees. In some cases it will cause the amp's fan to move to a higher
speed during TX. For higher intensity operation, with the ATU on top of the amp,
key down 100% for several minutes the PA temp will raise 5-9 degrees above what
its normal operating temp would be without the ATU on top. The fan will also
operate at a higher speed. In our testing at normal room temps this was still
well below the amp's max temp fault trigger point. But if you plan on RTTY or
other high duty cycle modes with a lot of continuous RX time, especially under
higher ambient temp conditions, we recommend placing the KAT500 to the side or
under the amp. Also, the amp protects itself from over temp situations with its
soft and hard fault triggers. So feel free to try it out on top to see how it
works under your typical operating conditions. 73, Eric

No problems and with my with shack in the basement don't ever recall the fan
even going to a higher speed so never experienced a fault.
.
I do not do the high duty cycle digital modes so once again the answer is "it
all depends" . .

73,
Bob
K2TK ex KN2TKR (1956) & K2TKR

On 9/17/2015 2:32 PM, Phil Wheeler wrote:

> The manual I have in my computer (from March 2014) says on Page 10:
>
> 0.
>
> Positioning the Amplifier
>
> Provide at least 2 inches (5 cm) clearance
> behind the fan and 1 inch (2.5 cm) above the
> amplifier for normal cooling air flow.
>
> Microsoft Word - KPA500 Owner's man Rev D.doc So if I placed the KAT500 atop
> the KPA500 I would use some spacers in each corner area. In fact, I purchased
> such spacers at the time, but ended up with the tuner in a different location.
>
> 73, Phil W7OX
>
> On 9/17/15 8:58 AM, Phil Hystad wrote:
>> I thought I remember either Wayne or Eric of Elecraft saying that the KAT500
>> could easily sit on top, or under, the KAP500. Either way is OK.
>>
>> 73, phil, K7PEH
>>
>>
>>> On Sep 17, 2015, at 8:49 AM, David Bunte <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> I have enjoyed the discussion and pictures of equipment stop etc... but was
>>> a bit surprised by the number of photos I have seen of the KAT500 sitting
>>> atop the KPA500.
>>>
>>> I borrowed a KAT500 from a friend and placed it on top of my KPA500 because
>>> I was just testing it and knew that would not be a long term arrangement.
>>> I now own a KAT500 and my KPA500 sits on top of the tuner. PERHAPS the
>>> cooling of the amp is not too severely impeded by placing the tuner on top
>>> of the amp, but I did not want to take any chances.... and Elecraft clearly
>>> states that the tuner is designed to be able to support the weight of the
>>> amp.
>>>
>>> Regardless of where it sits, the combination sure works nicely. My shack is
>>> small, and I don't have other gear to accomodate, so my station layout was
>>> very straightforward.
>>>
>>> Dave - K9FN
>