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KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

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KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

I have two directional wire antennas for 160-40m that each work quite
well with the KPA1500. I can electrically switch between the two 'for
best signal' - they are on Ant port 1. Ant port 2 is dedicated to a beam
for 20M up. The tuning solution for each is wire antenna is different
enough to cause faults frequently when I switch from one to the other
at higher power. The issue is quite annoying on 160M & 80M. I have
tried erasing the memory & "re-learning" the solution for each antenna
so there would be only two solutions per bin. That did not help much. It
would be a great addition to the amp if a "virtual Antenna port 3" could
be implemented with software to select a portion of the bins for
memorizing tuning solutions for another antenna. A macro could be used
to track the selected section of memory when switching from the "NW ant"
to the "NE ant." Then (hopefully) the amp would switch to the new
solution series before key down. I, for one, would consider this a great
addition for use in contests.

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Ignacy

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

I use MFJ-998 that has two ports attached to 2 crisscrossed dipoles fed by
ladderline. When frequencies are pretuned, recalling tune on ANT1
automatically matches ANT2 so that switching to ANT2 does not need any extra
match.
Ignacy, NO9E

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N4ZR

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list

Gill, you don't mention which firmware you're running on the KPA-1500.
About a month ago the guys at Elecraft released revised firmware to help
me fix what sounds like an identical problem. With the latest firmware
I jump back and forth between very dissimilar antennas on ANT 1 on 40M
(via an external switch), with never a hiccup. At most, the amp is
bypassed for a split second while the machine figures things out, but no
faults.

73, Pete N4ZR
Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
For spots, please use your favorite
"retail" DX cluster.

On 1/17/2020 11:06 AM, Gill via Elecraft wrote:

> I have two directional wire antennas for 160-40m that each work quite
> well with the KPA1500. I can electrically switch between the two 'for
> best signal' - they are on Ant port 1. Ant port 2 is dedicated to a beam
> for 20M up. The tuning solution for each is wire antenna is different
> enough to cause faults frequently when I switch from one to the other
> at higher power. The issue is quite annoying on 160M & 80M. I have
> tried erasing the memory & "re-learning" the solution for each antenna
> so there would be only two solutions per bin. That did not help much. It
> would be a great addition to the amp if a "virtual Antenna port 3" could
> be implemented with software to select a portion of the bins for
> memorizing tuning solutions for another antenna. A macro could be used
> to track the selected section of memory when switching from the "NW ant"
> to the "NE ant." Then (hopefully) the amp would switch to the new
> solution series before key down. I, for one, would consider this a great
> addition for use in contests.
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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Chuck Chandler

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

I'd like to know more about this, as it would solve an issue I have.

I have two stations, with multiple antennas switched between them with an
Array Solutions Six-Pak. On 80 and 40 I have both a vertical and a dipole,
and often one is better than the other. The tuning on them is different
enough to cause a fault when switching unless I put the amp in standby, put
the tuner in Auto, let it tune, then put the tuner in Manual and the amp in
Operate.

My amp is the KPA500, the Six-Pak is connected to Ant 1 on the amp.

If there is a way to have the KPA500 see a high swr and pick from more than
one known solution in less time than it takes to fault, then I could switch
back and forth between two "similar but not identical" antennas to pick the
best one as the signal fades in and out. I'd bet I'm not the only one who
would benefit from this.

If it's possible now, a quick pointer to the correct portion of the
manual... if not, please consider it for an enhancement in the future!

73 de Chuck, WS1L

On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 9:21 PM N4ZR <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Gill, you don't mention which firmware you're running on the KPA-1500.
> About a month ago the guys at Elecraft released revised firmware to help
> me fix what sounds like an identical problem. With the latest firmware
> I jump back and forth between very dissimilar antennas on ANT 1 on 40M
> (via an external switch), with never a hiccup. At most, the amp is
> bypassed for a split second while the machine figures things out, but no
> faults.
>
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network
> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now
> spotting RTTY activity worldwide.
> For spots, please use your favorite
> "retail" DX cluster.
>
> On 1/17/2020 11:06 AM, Gill via Elecraft wrote:
> > I have two directional wire antennas for 160-40m that each work quite
> > well with the KPA1500. I can electrically switch between the two 'for
> > best signal' - they are on Ant port 1. Ant port 2 is dedicated to a beam
> > for 20M up. The tuning solution for each is wire antenna is different
> > enough to cause faults frequently when I switch from one to the other
> > at higher power. The issue is quite annoying on 160M & 80M. I have
> > tried erasing the memory & "re-learning" the solution for each antenna
> > so there would be only two solutions per bin. That did not help much. It
> > would be a great addition to the amp if a "virtual Antenna port 3" could
> > be implemented with software to select a portion of the bins for
> > memorizing tuning solutions for another antenna. A macro could be used
> > to track the selected section of memory when switching from the "NW ant"
> > to the "NE ant." Then (hopefully) the amp would switch to the new
> > solution series before key down. I, for one, would consider this a great
> > addition for use in contests.
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > 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]
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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]

--

===================
Chuck Chandler
[hidden email]
===================
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Chuck Chandler

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list

Sorry, I mis-spoke in my last msg.

The Six-Pak is connected to Ant1 on the KAT500, not the KPA500!

73, WS1L

On Fri, Jan 17, 2020 at 10:07 AM Gill via Elecraft <[hidden email]>
wrote:

Elecraft mailing list

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

Menu:

ATU HiSWR Retune (per band) - default is OFF

Set to ON (per band)

Change antennas, a "dit" will switch to the learned tuning solution, per bin, for the newly selected antenna.

See the manual section: "Multiple Antennas and External Antenna Switches."

73 - Steve WB6RSE
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Chuck Chandler

Re: KPA1500 Antenna Select Suggestion

Thanks to Steve for the menu item, but that doesn't appear in my KAT500
manual and the utility software doesn't show that as an option.

Must be a KPA1500 thing.

73 de Chuck, WS1L

On Sat, Jan 18, 2020 at 11:57 AM Steve Lawrence via Elecraft <
[hidden email]> wrote:

> Menu:
>
> ATU HiSWR Retune (per band) - default is OFF
>
> Set to ON (per band)
>
> Change antennas, a "dit" will switch to the learned tuning solution, per
> bin, for the newly selected antenna.
>
> See the manual section: "Multiple Antennas and External Antenna Switches."
>
> 73 - Steve WB6RSE
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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]
>