KPA500 vs THP HL-550FX

[fred carvalho]

Hi Roy and all

I own a HL-550FX. At the time I bought it for DXpeditions the KPA-500 had
not been released yet.
Just to make the comparison fair, it does not take 5 minutes do reset
 after an alarm. You will need to turn it on/off  and it will go to normal
state again.
Regarding the input power level, I guess it was pretty much a decision than
a problem. THP inserted a 6dB attenuator in the input to lower the
amplifier's gain. So, even if you run close to 100W, you will be ok. BTW,
the amplifier was not meant to be driven with any specific exciter, so the
choice was probably to make it  match FCC's requirements regarding PA's
gain as well as to allow it to accept anything in the input without
reducing too much  the exciter's power. By bypassing the attenuator,  one
would need much less power to run it and would get more output power too.

There is at least one advantage for those that will cross the world with it
in airplane cabins. The THP weights 22.5Lbs against 26Lbs of the KPA500. It
seems not too much, but after 28 hours  carrying it in flights and
airports, it will make a difference. Some international airlines weights
the hand lugage. So  lighter the better.

I guess both products are in the good quality teams, but t you'll get more
features and power for a $ spent with the KPA500.

Regards

--
Fred - PY2XB

*Other Calls*: PY2FXH, PY2FXH/W2, PY2XB/0, F/PY2XB, ZX2XB, PT7BXB,
PY2XB/PY0F, PQ0F, VP5/PY2XB, PW2IO (SA-071), ZX8W (SA-060), PY2XB/1
(SA-029), 8P9XB, PQ8XB (SA-045), ZX2S (SA-028); W4/PY2XB, 3D2XB

*Team member*: PW2M (SA-071), PX8J (SA-041), T30PY/T30SIX, PT0S
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[Gary Gregory-2]

Fred and all,

My personal opinion is that virtually all manufacturer's, well perhaps all
but two, produce fine products that appear to meet pretty much all of our
requirements. Some of us even place these products in rather extreme
conditions that manufacturers would rather we didn't do.

By and large though, they do the job as designed and it is simply up to the
customer to make a wise choice that will work for them.

It is good to see competition in the market for without that competition we
would all be at a disadvantage in one way or another. Whilst i have no idea
what volume the marketplace provides these manufacturers, my personal
choice has been Elecraft over all others. I don't own everything they make
of course, but I have not been disappointed with any of the products to
date and for that I am thankful.

At the time I was deciding on what amplifier to buy, I heard the KPA500 was
coming soon so I chose to wait and went that route. Prior to that, THP had
been at the top of my list. Do I regret not getting one?.....heck no, but I
think I would have been content with one had I gone down that road.

The integration with the K3 was a big tick for me but was never going to be
a game changer.

I like how the KPA500 integrates with my K3/KPA500, it offers me ease of
use, reliability and a healthy output more than adequate for my style of
operating with a matching appearance being a bonus. Now that the KAT500 has
arrived, my station is complete and once set up everything is 'autogomagic'
for me and with my bumbling fingers, quirky eyesight and downright dreadful
ears (yes, the wheels are wobbly) the K-Line was designed for folks like
me...:-)   (TIC)

Now all I have to do is complete my X3-Line and all will be cool in my
life...:-)

73 and enjoy the hobby

Gary

On 17 February 2013 22:19, Fred Carvalho <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi Roy and all
>
> I own a HL-550FX. At the time I bought it for DXpeditions the KPA-500 had
> not been released yet.
> Just to make the comparison fair, it does not take 5 minutes do reset
>  after an alarm. You will need to turn it on/off  and it will go to normal
> state again.
> Regarding the input power level, I guess it was pretty much a decision than
> a problem. THP inserted a 6dB attenuator in the input to lower the
> amplifier's gain. So, even if you run close to 100W, you will be ok. BTW,
> the amplifier was not meant to be driven with any specific exciter, so the
> choice was probably to make it  match FCC's requirements regarding PA's
> gain as well as to allow it to accept anything in the input without
> reducing too much  the exciter's power. By bypassing the attenuator,  one
> would need much less power to run it and would get more output power too.
>
> There is at least one advantage for those that will cross the world with it
> in airplane cabins. The THP weights 22.5Lbs against 26Lbs of the KPA500. It
> seems not too much, but after 28 hours  carrying it in flights and
> airports, it will make a difference. Some international airlines weights
> the hand lugage. So  lighter the better.
>
> I guess both products are in the good quality teams, but t you'll get more
> features and power for a $ spent with the KPA500.
>
> Regards
>
> --
> Fred - PY2XB
>
> *Other Calls*: PY2FXH, PY2FXH/W2, PY2XB/0, F/PY2XB, ZX2XB, PT7BXB,
> PY2XB/PY0F, PQ0F, VP5/PY2XB, PW2IO (SA-071), ZX8W (SA-060), PY2XB/1
> (SA-029), 8P9XB, PQ8XB (SA-045), ZX2S (SA-028); W4/PY2XB, 3D2XB
>
> *Team member*: PW2M (SA-071), PX8J (SA-041), T30PY/T30SIX, PT0S
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
>

--
*Gary - VK1ZZ
Skype: Gary.VK1ZZ
Motorhome Portable
The Shack*
*Elecraft K3
P3 Panadapter
KPA500FT
KAT500FT**
KX3-K
*
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[N0AZZ]

Hi Fred

I agree lots of good amps and I have owned several 6 different ones they
have ran from worked to excellent. My last 3 IMHO have been standouts the
first a Yaesu VL-1000 used it with 3 Yaesu radios from FT-2000 (2) of them
to a FTDX-5000MP and my K3 that amp was 4 yrs old when I sold it not a
single problem.

Sold the 5000 and VL-1000 bought second K3 and a Alpha auto tune amp but
only HF. A month later bought the KPA500 for the second K3 in the SO2R setup
so I had a 6m amp again. When I bought the KAT500 if turned the K3 into a
500w radio like my Yaesu's and VL-1000 a kw radio. An amp designed for a
radio can't be beat by a generic amp simple but the KPA500 does a good job
with my other radios very well on my Icom and other radios.

The Alpha will work with anything you hang on it, I do understand the weight
factor.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Fred Carvalho
Sent: Sunday, February 17, 2013 5:20 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] KPA500 vs THP HL-550FX

Hi Roy and all

I own a HL-550FX. At the time I bought it for DXpeditions the KPA-500 had
not been released yet.
Just to make the comparison fair, it does not take 5 minutes do reset
 after an alarm. You will need to turn it on/off  and it will go to normal
state again.
Regarding the input power level, I guess it was pretty much a decision than
a problem. THP inserted a 6dB attenuator in the input to lower the
amplifier's gain. So, even if you run close to 100W, you will be ok. BTW,
the amplifier was not meant to be driven with any specific exciter, so the
choice was probably to make it  match FCC's requirements regarding PA's
gain as well as to allow it to accept anything in the input without
reducing too much  the exciter's power. By bypassing the attenuator,  one
would need much less power to run it and would get more output power too.

There is at least one advantage for those that will cross the world with it
in airplane cabins. The THP weights 22.5Lbs against 26Lbs of the KPA500. It
seems not too much, but after 28 hours  carrying it in flights and
airports, it will make a difference. Some international airlines weights
the hand lugage. So  lighter the better.

I guess both products are in the good quality teams, but t you'll get more
features and power for a $ spent with the KPA500.

Regards

--
Fred - PY2XB

*Other Calls*: PY2FXH, PY2FXH/W2, PY2XB/0, F/PY2XB, ZX2XB, PT7BXB,
PY2XB/PY0F, PQ0F, VP5/PY2XB, PW2IO (SA-071), ZX8W (SA-060), PY2XB/1
(SA-029), 8P9XB, PQ8XB (SA-045), ZX2S (SA-028); W4/PY2XB, 3D2XB

*Team member*: PW2M (SA-071), PX8J (SA-041), T30PY/T30SIX, PT0S
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[w7aqk]

Hi All,

A nice comparison of the KPA500 and the THP amp.  Pros and cons for either
I'm sure.  However, the question of weight makes me curious.  As a KPA500
owner I know that there isn't much inside the KPA500 that adds a lot of
weight other than that nice, husky transformer.  Erroneously, perhaps, I've
always thought that bigger was better when it came to transformers--more or
less.  So, does this suggest the transformer in the THP might be less
substantial?  Not necessarily inadequate, but less substantial??  Just
curious.

Dave W7AQK


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[Bruce Beford-2]

Dave-

The THP amp uses a switching power supply, the KPA500 uses a linear supply.
There's the major difference in weight. You don't need the heavy transformer
in a switcher, but it's harder to make the power supply "radio quiet"
without detectable birdies in the ham bands.

 

73,

Bruce, N1RX

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