n00b Amp question

[richard kappler]

Does a 100w amp ADD to your radio's output, or push it to 100w?

Asked another way, if I have a 100w radio set to full power, does a 100w
amp make output 200w, or does it stay at 100w?

--
W2KAP

In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself
to protect the fuse.
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[Dennis Moore]

An amplifier boosts your radio's output power to the maximum power of
the amp. A 100 watt amplifier will put out a maximum of 100 watts (or
thereabouts). It does not add 100 watts to whatever your radio is
putting out.

73, Dennis NJ6G


On 5/23/2018 12:07, richard kappler wrote:
> Does a 100w amp ADD to your radio's output, or push it to 100w?
>
> Asked another way, if I have a 100w radio set to full power, does a 100w
> amp make output 200w, or does it stay at 100w?
>

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[David Bunte]

Richard -

There are probably more technical responses than this, but I think the
simple answer is that if you have a 100W Solid State amp, and drive it with
100W you will likely either destroy something, or the system will self
protect and shut down. I know that with my K3 and KPA500 combo, I get 500
watts out with about 28 watts from the K3... if I raise the output power of
the K3 to a bit above 30 watts (maybe 32 or 33w), the amp 'faults' because
of excessive drive, so my 500 watts amp gives me 500 watts when driven by
an appropriate amount of RF. If it is additive, I am not aware of it.

I believe the answer is somewhat different if using a tube type amp in a
grounded grid configuration.

Dave - K9FN


On Wed, May 23, 2018 at 3:07 PM, richard kappler <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Does a 100w amp ADD to your radio's output, or push it to 100w?
>
> Asked another way, if I have a 100w radio set to full power, does a 100w
> amp make output 200w, or does it stay at 100w?
>
> --
> W2KAP
>
> In any given circuit, the most expensive part will always sacrifice itself
> to protect the fuse.
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
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>

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[Jack Brindle-2]

Almost, but not quite. Assuming the amplifier is linear (as are the Elecraft units), the amplifier will boost the signal by the multiplication factor of the amp, up to a maximum value.
For example, the KPA500 has about 13db of gain, so the output will be 13db above the input, up to about 700 watts. To put it another way, if 40 watts input gets 500 watts out,
then 4 watts in will give 50 watts out. There is a maximum input level for each amplifier (I believe 60 watts for the KPA500, but would have to check), and a maximum output value.

Don’t expect that any input will drive the amplifier to full output, but the output is indeed proportional to the input.

Hope this helps!

73,
Jack, W6FB

> On May 23, 2018, at 12:16 PM, Dennis Moore <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> An amplifier boosts your radio's output power to the maximum power of the amp. A 100 watt amplifier will put out a maximum of 100 watts (or thereabouts). It does not add 100 watts to whatever your radio is putting out.
>
> 73, Dennis NJ6G
>
>
> On 5/23/2018 12:07, richard kappler wrote:
>> Does a 100w amp ADD to your radio's output, or push it to 100w?
>>
>> Asked another way, if I have a 100w radio set to full power, does a 100w
>> amp make output 200w, or does it stay at 100w?
>>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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