Gave the KPA500 a real workout in the CQ WW CW contest this weekend. First time I heard the fan come on during CW operation. I actually beat my personal best QSO/Hour rate in a contest. It was 42/hr previously and twice this morning I sustained 57/hr (according to the N3FJP software) for over 15 minutes. The KPA500's fan actually sped up near the end of that run! The only other time I've even heard the fan was when I got long winded in an RTTY contact on 20 meters with an old German friend of mine just after I got the amp.
Total operating time in the contest for me was about16 hours and I made 425 contacts with most of those coming Saturday and Sunday mornings. The latest I operated was 9:30 on Friday evening and only 9 p.m. Saturday, but I did operate most of the day Saturday and other than lunch and a short nap, I operated all day today. I usually operate in the 100 watt, low power division but I figured that since I wasn't really in it to win it, I'd run in the high power division and see how the KPA500 fared.
The P3 was a real asset for digging the weaker (and rarer) ones out from under the guys with the crappy, clicky signals (no I didn't have the NB or preamp on either). There were a bunch of them. Sure glad the K3 has a nice clean keying envelope and the KPA500 punched right through many a pileup too. Only a couple of times did I have to call more than twice to grab one on 20 or 15 meters (I didn't run the amp on 10 as it was absolutely not needed).
I've never really been a contester, but with the "K" line on the desk, I can actually see me becoming one. At my age (almost 70) it WAS on the bucket list, LOL.
W0EB
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