KPA500 RF output wiring

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KPA500 RF output wiring

Johnny Siu
Hello Group,
 
The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason for such a design?
 
>From reading of the manual, there is no mention of spurious emission and 3rd order distortion (two tone test).  Where can I find these information?
 
Thanks for your help in advance.

TNX & 73,


Johnny VR2XMC
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Re: KPA500 RF output wiring

Don Wilhelm-4
Johnny,

Twisted pair is just as effective as coax, and easier to work with.  I
am not certain that was the reason for that design, but there is no
problem with it.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/8/2011 1:53 AM, Johnny Siu wrote:

> Hello Group,
>  
> The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason for such a design?
>
> > From reading of the manual, there is no mention of spurious emission and 3rd order distortion (two tone test).  Where can I find these information?
>  
> Thanks for your help in advance.
>
> TNX&  73,
>
>
> Johnny VR2XMC
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
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KPA500 RF output wiring

Johnny Siu
Hello Don,
 
Thanks for your reply.  I am just curious because the output socket using twisted wire but the input socket using coaxial jumper.
 
I am still looking for the information about spurious emission and 3rd order distortion of KPA500.

TNX & 73,


Johnny VR2XMC

從︰ Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ Johnny Siu <[hidden email]>
副本(CC)︰ Elecraft <[hidden email]>
傳送日期︰ 2011年09月8日 (週四) 8:52 PM
主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 RF output wiring
 

Johnny,

Twisted pair is just as effective as coax, and easier to work with.  I am not certain that was the reason for that design, but there is no problem with it.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/8/2011 1:53 AM, Johnny Siu wrote:
> Hello Group,
>   The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason for such a design?
>
> From reading of the manual, there is no mention of spurious emission and 3rd order distortion (two tone test).  Where can I find these information?

>   Thanks for your help in advance.
>
> TNX&  73,
>
>
> Johnny VR2XMC
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Re: KPA500 RF output wiring

Jim Brown-10
In reply to this post by Johnny Siu
On 9/7/2011 10:53 PM, Johnny Siu wrote:
> The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason for such a design?

Sure. Twisted pair is a VERY effective transmission line, and that is
what is needed.  In fact, it is a MUCH older form of transmission line
than coax, which was developed in the 1930s. Twisted pair was first used
in telephone transmission, and is still widely used for pro audio, and
for computer data (CAT5, for example). This particular use is entirely
appropriate for several reasons. First, it is physically smaller than
coax that would be suitably rated. Second, it occupies less space.
Third, it costs less.

73, Jim K9YC
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Re: KPA500 RF output wiring

k6dgw
In reply to this post by Johnny Siu
 > On 9/7/2011 10:53 PM, Johnny Siu wrote:
 >> The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair
 >> of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason
 >> for such a design?

Twisted pair is a highly effective transmission line, and easier to work
with than coax in tight quarters.  That TP in the KPA500 is short.  A
suitable size piece of coax would be pretty stiff.  I don't have any
quantitative data [ask Jim, K9YC, I'm sure he does], but I've also found
balanced twisted pair to often be less susceptible to RFI than shielded
cable.

In the early 70's, I was working on a process control system hosted on a
Data General Nova mini-computer.  The boards were about 40cm square. For
unexplainable reasons, the CPU stopped when the FORTRAN compiler
encountered a DO statement [don't ask me how it knew that :-)].  DG
finally brought in the guru, wearing what appeared to be the same
clothes for a week, and he finally said, "cut these two traces in two
places and replace them with a piece of tightly twisted pair."  Problem
solved.  Obviously, he wasn't being paid the big bucks because of his
wardrobe, but twisted pair did the trick.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2011 Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2011
- www.cqp.org
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KPA500 RF output wiring

Johnny Siu
Thanks for all the replies from Don, Jim and Fred and some others

 73,


Johnny VR2XMC

從︰ Fred Jensen <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>
傳送日期︰ 2011年09月8日 (週四) 9:57 PM
主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 RF output wiring

> On 9/7/2011 10:53 PM, Johnny Siu wrote:
>> The connection between the RF deck to the RF SO239 output is a pair
>> of twisted wires instead of a coaxial jumper.  Is there any reason
>> for such a design?

Twisted pair is a highly effective transmission line, and easier to work
with than coax in tight quarters.  That TP in the KPA500 is short.  A
suitable size piece of coax would be pretty stiff.  I don't have any
quantitative data [ask Jim, K9YC, I'm sure he does], but I've also found
balanced twisted pair to often be less susceptible to RFI than shielded
cable.

In the early 70's, I was working on a process control system hosted on a
Data General Nova mini-computer.  The boards were about 40cm square. For
unexplainable reasons, the CPU stopped when the FORTRAN compiler
encountered a DO statement [don't ask me how it knew that :-)].  DG
finally brought in the guru, wearing what appeared to be the same
clothes for a week, and he finally said, "cut these two traces in two
places and replace them with a piece of tightly twisted pair."  Problem
solved.  Obviously, he wasn't being paid the big bucks because of his
wardrobe, but twisted pair did the trick.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2011 Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2011
- www.cqp.org
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Re: KPA500 RF output wiring

Gary Hinson
In reply to this post by Jim Brown-10
> Sure. Twisted pair is a VERY effective transmission line, and that is
> what is needed ...

Hey Jim, what kind of twisted pair could I use to feed my [mostly 50 ohm] HF
antennas?  Coax is expensive in ZL so I'm willing to try alternatives.  I'm
even thinking of homebrew balanced line with baluns at the bottom (a
coax-fed remote antenna switch in my case).

73
Gary  ZL2iFB


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Re: KPA500 RF output wiring

Jim Brown-10
On 9/10/2011 11:05 PM, Gary Hinson wrote:
>> Sure. Twisted pair is a VERY effective transmission line, and that is
>> what is needed ...
> Hey Jim, what kind of twisted pair could I use to feed my [mostly 50 ohm] HF
> antennas?  Coax is expensive in ZL so I'm willing to try alternatives.  I'm
> even thinking of homebrew balanced line with baluns at the bottom (a
> coax-fed remote antenna switch in my case).

Coax is expensive in the US too :)  The key to loss is conductor size
and impedance. The parallel wire cable sold  for use with loudspeakers
would make decent parallel wire antenna line. Twisting has the advantage
of greatly reducing crosstalk and radiation/pickup to/from the line.  
RG8 uses #14-#10 for the center conductor, most copper braid shields are
equivalent to #10 at DC and a much larger conductor on the higher HF
bands (thanks to skin effect).

#12 parallel wires or twisted pair would probably be equivalent in loss
to very good RG8, and in the 50-70 ohm range for impedance.  At HF,
dielectric loss doesn't matter, but the dielectric will affect Vf.

You will need common mode chokes at both ends -- remember, most real
world ham antennas are unbalanced by their surroundings.  It's a mistake
to call cable like this a balanced line. It's a parallel wire line or
twisted pair line.

73, Jim K9YC
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