Elecraft

SS Amp

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john@kk9a.com

SS Amp

The one piece 10kg lightweight design and a multi-voltage power supply make
the SPE 1.5k-fa very nice for travel. I do not recall reading what
transistor(s) it uses or know how loud it is or what the IMD is. The
Elecraft KPA-1500 is pretty heavy-duty and of course well supported in the
U.S.

John KK9A

Dave n8ag at comcast.net

I'm trying to decide on a SS amp. I already have the KPA500 and love it but
the price for the KPA1500 is a bit above my budget. I am looking at the SPE
1.5K-FA which is about $1000 less. I like the fact that it has inputs for
two radios and 4 antenna connections. Plus the power supply is built into
the same box. I know the response from this list will be pro Elecraft but
any constructive or informative comments would be appreciated.

Tnx es 73,
Dave N8AG

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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W2xj

Re: SS Amp

Well you have an Italian amp with one man US support. That one man appears to be at least in his 80s. In my world (broadcast) many of us avoid Italian products. YMMV and you get what you pay for.

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 16, 2019, at 9:06 PM, Dave <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I’m trying to decide on a SS amp. I already have the KPA500 and love it but the price for the KPA1500 is a bit above my budget. I am looking at the SPE 1.5K-FA which is about $1000 less. I like the fact that it has inputs for two radios and 4 antenna connections. Plus the power supply is built into the same box. I know the response from this list will be pro Elecraft but any constructive or informative comments would be appreciated.
>
> Tnx es 73,
> Dave N8AG
>
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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Art Greenberg

Re: SS Amp

In reply to this post by john@kk9a.com

I have the 1.5K-FA. I like it. I am not heavily into contesting and I'm not
a competitive DXer.

Yes, it's less expensive than the KPA1500. It also doesn't integrate as
well with the K3. It doesn't control the K3's output power when switching
between standby and operate. One needs to remember to do that, especially
when switching into operate mode on the amp - massive overdrive isn't
pretty and could damage the amplifier.

It doesn't remote as well as the KPA1500, either. It comes with a software
control panel that runs on Windows. I use VNC to control the amp when
operating remote.

Art
WA2LLN

On January 16, 2019 21:09:45 Dave <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I’m trying to decide on a SS amp. I already have the KPA500 and love it but
> the price for the KPA1500 is a bit above my budget. I am looking at the SPE
> 1.5K-FA which is about $1000 less. I like the fact that it has inputs for
> two radios and 4 antenna connections. Plus the power supply is built into
> the same box. I know the response from this list will be pro Elecraft but
> any constructive or informative comments would be appreciated.
>
> Tnx es 73,
> Dave N8AG
>
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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]

Joe Subich, W4TV-4

Re: SS Amp

In reply to this post by john@kk9a.com

On 2019-01-16 9:39 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
> I do not recall reading what transistor(s) it uses or know how loud
> it is or what the IMD is.

The SPE 1.5 uses a single LDMOS device. While it can produce 1500W
with sufficient drive, it starts to compress well before the 1000 W
level. SPE's own test data supplied to the FCC showed very poor IMD
characteristics - what one would call a distortion generator - at
"full" power.

73,

... Joe, W4TV

On 2019-01-16 9:39 PM, [hidden email] wrote:

> The one piece 10kg lightweight design and a multi-voltage power supply make
> the SPE 1.5k-fa very nice for travel. I do not recall reading what
> transistor(s) it uses or know how loud it is or what the IMD is. The
> Elecraft KPA-1500 is pretty heavy-duty and of course well supported in the
> U.S.
>
> John KK9A
>
>
> Dave n8ag at comcast.net
>
> I'm trying to decide on a SS amp. I already have the KPA500 and love it but
> the price for the KPA1500 is a bit above my budget. I am looking at the SPE
> 1.5K-FA which is about $1000 less. I like the fact that it has inputs for
> two radios and 4 antenna connections. Plus the power supply is built into
> the same box. I know the response from this list will be pro Elecraft but
> any constructive or informative comments would be appreciated.
>
> Tnx es 73,
> Dave N8AG
>
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>

Barry Simpson

Re: SS Amp

In reply to this post by john@kk9a.com

Hi Dave

I had an SPE 1.5KFA for a few months.

I have also owned a KPA500 for around 4 or 5 years.

Despite the publicity blurb that says the SPE QSK is silent, it isn't. The
relay is quite noisy - at least if you are used to the totally silent
KPA500.

It is also difficult to control power wise. I wanted to run it at around
400 watts and for that you only need about 8 or 9 watts of drive so it is
difficult to control accurately.

I also found an unexpected quirk whereby using the amplifier affected my
transformer (not switch mode) in my Alinco 30A 12V power supply. In
sympathy with the keying, the transformer in the PSU kept making a groaning
noise that I have never had before. I have surmised that as the SPE has
power factor correction circuitry, that is somehow interacting with the
transformer. I didn't get the same effect with various switch mode power
supplies.

At the end of the day, I decided that the SPE was not for me and I sold it.
I much prefer the KPA500.

If you don't want the KPA1500 there is a very nice looking solid state amp
made in the UK by Linear Amp, the Gemini HF 1K. It has some really good
reviews on eHam and it appears to have silent QSK.

73

Barry VK2BJ

On Thu, 17 Jan 2019 at 13:06, Dave <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I’m trying to decide on a SS amp. I already have the KPA500 and love it
> but the price for the KPA1500 is a bit above my budget. I am looking at the
> SPE 1.5K-FA which is about $1000 less. I like the fact that it has inputs
> for two radios and 4 antenna connections. Plus the power supply is built
> into the same box. I know the response from this list will be pro Elecraft
> but any constructive or informative comments would be appreciated.
>
> Tnx es 73,
> Dave N8AG
>
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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]

Petr, OK1RP/M0SIS

Re: SS Amp

Hi,

just FYI... the articles "Looking for clean SS HF PA w/QSK" in 6 parts on my
blog here:
http://ok1rp.blogspot.com/2018/11/looking-for-clean-ss-hf-pa-wqsk-part-6.html

Talked about:
SPE EXPERT 1.3K-FA
ACOM 1200S
JUMA PA1000
LINEAR Amp Gemini HF-1K
Azden AZR-1000
Elecraft KPA1500
Burst-2000A

-----
73 - Petr, OK1RP
"Apple & Elecraft freak"
B:http://ok1rp.blogspot.com
G+:http://goo.gl/w3u2s9
G+: http://goo.gl/gP99xq
--
Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/
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73 - Petr, OK1RP
"Apple & Elecraft freak"
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