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Reviews For: Elecraft KPA-500

Category: Amplifiers: RF Power - HF & HF+6M

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Review Summary For : Elecraft KPA-500
Reviews: 124MSRP: 1999.95 Kit Form
Description:
KPA-500 Solid State Amplifier 160-10M Plus 6M, Auto Band
Switching via RF sense or cable connection.
Product is in production
More Info: http://www.elecraft.com/
# last 180 days Avg. Rating last 180 days Total reviews Avg. overall rating
251244.9
N7MG Rating: 2012-06-14
7dB in a small space Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
The KPA500 is a really nice design based on internal layout. Its nice to see the utter lack of gobs of cables having to run everywhere. I've looked inside of a few other solid state amps here and there and its clear that Elecraft has done a good job keeping the inside clean and serviceable. I'm not saying Elecraft is the only one but there are some others that are TERRIBLE.

The kit build did have a couple hiccups. The mounting of the power supply parts to the heat spreader was VERY difficult because one of the capacitors made it quite hard to get the screw driver in position. I'm not sure if one of the caps is now taller and Elecraft hasn't been notified yet but this was a major hiccup.

Also the 10 pin ribbon cable in the power supply was keyed wrong in my kit. I was able to grab a non keyed 10 pin ribbon cable from the junk drawer and got the amp online. A quick call to Elecraft got me the necessary parts. While on the phone with Elecraft they not only solved my parts issue but in passing I mentioned another issue I was having. They resolved this issue as well without even being asked to do so.

Elecraft is a fantastic company and all the way up to the top of the company excellent service is what makes these guys tick. I often feel that Elecraft's products are priced higher than they should be. However I work for a company as an electrical design engineer on project where a small build quantity is around 50-80,000 a year and some product lines are as many as 250,000+ per year. With buying power like that my idea of what items should cost is a bit lower than that which Elecraft can attain. Also when you realize that Elecraft "gives away" all of their firmware they have to include the cost of the developers time in the product. When you get down to it in that respect Elecraft's prices are quite fair on most everything they sell.

The KPA500 is no exception to Elecraft's attention to detail and quality. Elecraft rates the amplifier to 66% duty cycle (10 minutes on 5 off). I put my KPA500 into my dummy load for 10 minutes solid and the unit cycled between 68 and 70 degrees C several times. The unit would get to 70C and the fan would spin up faster. At 68C the fan would slow down. Then the temp would rise to 70C again. This continually repeated and I am certain that the KPA500 could have gotten a lot longer transmit time with no issues what-so-ever.

I get full output power on all bands. On 6 meters I was afraid that the KPA500 wasn't able to generate the full 500 watts. Turned out that the metering was just reading a touch low. The power was there the KPA500 was just under rating itself a little. I think that part of this was coming from my tuner situation.

The box is very solid considering how it goes together and even my wife who is a mechanical engineer was marveling at how good a job Elecraft did to get all of the equipment into such a small space. It really just sits there and does its job and gives you a lot of go in a small space.

I must admit I am looking forward to the KAT500 complement to this great power amp. Thanks Elecraft for the 7dB its been handy on numerous occasions! Its a great instant on add-an-s-unit amp.
N8RT Rating: 2012-06-12
Everything you want in a Solid State 500W amp Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I purchased the KPA500 Kit in March of 2012, and built it in one evening. No soldering on this Kit, and that is an amazing feat of design, thanks ELECRAFT.
After the AMP was finished, just a few simple tests and, everything worked as it should. I had wired my KPA for 120VAC .
I than tested all the KPA functions and everything worked as it should.
I tested the amp into a KW Dummy Load and 25 watts drive to the input produced 550 watts output on 20 meters, all other bands were about the same.
I use a Kenwood TS590 with the KPA and, the only connections required are, an amplifier RCA keying line and Coax input. The KPA has an RF Sniffer at the input and automatically changes to the correct Band, as the 590 changed bands.
I can highly recommend the KPA500, Solid State 500 Watt amplifier.
N3XF Rating: 2012-06-03
Fabulous Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Built kit in 5 hours with no problems. Hooked up to the K3, it is just like having a single 500 watt radio. Bought the K3 kit at Dayton last year and the KPA500 this year. I've owned many radios including Yaesu, Kenwood, Icom and Collins over the years. The Elecraft equipment is better than anything I've ever owned and I especially like the intuitive way it all works together. Best QSK setup I have ever used in 45 years of CW operating.
N4FZ Rating: 2012-05-27
An awesome little workhorse! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I built my KPA500 in about 5 1/2 hours. I took my time, and it was exciting to see all the components coming together with such ease. The instructions are very well written, so assembly is easy. I had one slight problem with the PA/LPF sandwich, but Elecraft sent me a replacement, and the amp has worked flawlessly ever since. Elecraft stands behind their products, and their service is legendary!
K7VO Rating: 2012-05-20
SMOOTH BUILD, WORKS GREAT Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
I built two SB 220's in the 70's so that's my kit building experience. I found this KPA 500 a pleasure to build! I took my time, put the screws in muffin tins and had no trouble at all.The 6 hours flew by. It was VERY ENJOYABLE to build and I felt great when it worked when first plugged in. Great reports so far. I'm not sure I will use my 8410 much anymore. Terrible problem to have.
WH6V Rating: 2012-05-08
Solid Little Bugger Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
Great little amp. works like a charm. Built it from the kit in about 5 hours as seems to be the experience of most builders. Only had one problem and that was a simple mechanical adjustment problem with the interlock switch, it kept the power supply from coming up. But that was fixed easily. Operation has been a wonderful on 80 to 10 meters, with clean reported signals. Band switching is great, and no tuning is great. I use it with a Flex 3K and the air work very fine together, I use about 32 watts to drive to full peak output. Only minor grip is the price, but the value is in the quality of the components and ease of operation.
N8FNR Rating: 2012-05-05
ANYONE CAN BULD THIS! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
This is a very easy kit to put together. If you can use simple hand tools you can build it with no kit building experience. Just take your time, read the instructions and don't be in hurry. It took me about 6 hours or so to put it together and it saved me $300 vs having it built by Elecraft. After I assembled it, it powered up the first time with no issues and I am not much of a kit building guy.

Yeah I know it seems a little expensive at $2k but it has a lot of features compared to any other amp that I know of. The closest ones that I can compare it to are the THP HL-550FX at $3000 and the Acom 1000 at $3250. The Acom 800S is coming out soon but it will be $3500. I am not aware of any other amps that go from 160 - 6m in this price class.

It has great filtering and fault protection. I was able to remove my Bencher YA-1 LP filter as it was no longer needed. And there is no way that you are going to damage or overdrive this amp. If you get one you will not be splattering all over the bands like a lot of people who do not know how to tune their tube amps. You know those guys who splatter their signal over 3 khz? Why be like them?

And really there is not that great of a difference between 500 watts and legal limit when it comes down to it. I would bet that 99% of the time that 500 watts will be enough for you to make the contact.

I have it paired with my Flex-5000A and love this combo. Yeah I know I am a heretic using a Flex rig and an Elecraft amp but both companies make fine lines of equipment and these two pair together well!

Zack
N8FNR
N8DDW Rating: 2012-03-22
What a FABULOUS AMP! Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
What a FABULOUS AMP! First off, let me say that building this amplifier was a snap. For those out there on the fence or nervous about messing something up worry no more... You can save $300.00 and build the kit in about 4 to 6 hours (making your time worth more than $50 an hour which is a great trade). Instructions are clear, better than any Heathkit manual to be sure. While today's complex components and circuits make this assembly mechanical in nature (no soldering iron needed here, just some basic hand tools) the feeling of accomplishment is absolutely the same as having built it component by component like yesteryear from the boys in Benton Harbor. This amp is compact, its fully contained, it works flawlessly and it runs on 110 AC with no special wiring needed in the shack. I am running my KPA500 with a Ten Tec Orion II. I have a custom interface built (God Bless Phil AD5X for his design, see AD5X.com) that allows the Orion to control the KPA500 band switching automatically. 28 to 35 Watts of drive delivers 500+ Watts of quiet power! Full Break in, just hook up the Amp Key out on the Orion to the PA Key jack and away you go! Amp is small, is nice looking, is fun to build, it runs on 110 with no extra circuit (in my shack anyways) and the design quality is first rate. My first experience with Elecraft and definately won't be my last! I'm seeing visions of a K3 and a Panadapter dancing in my head already!
K6JEY Rating: 2012-03-18
Excellent in Contests Time Owned: 3 to 6 months.
I have had the amp for 3 months and two contests and use it with a K3/P3 and LDG AT600Pro tuner. The amp really shines where you often change bands and want to call a new posting.
The amp is fussy about SWR. To switch bands, I put the amp in standby, key the carrier or tune button, get a preset good SWR from the tuner and then put the amp in operate. The whole thing is very quick, but gives me acceptable VSWR on all bands with all my antennas. Without the tuner on a flat antenna the combination of the K3 and amp feel like a 500w radio. I had been using a Henry 2K4 amp and I was interested how the lower power would effect DX pile-up busting. The answer is: some but not much. In some cases I am not called as soon as I used to. Many times the same.
All around the amp is great, but in contests it is really in its element. Very happy.
OH2GBA Rating: 2012-02-27
Nice! Time Owned: 0 to 3 months.
This is a nice little amplifier, and I agree with all previous positive reviews. But I would have liked some little details to be different.

First:
This amplifier is part of the "K line" but if you look at the buttons of the amplifier they are very different than the K3/P3. The buttons of the amplifier 'click' and are hard, on the K3/P3 they are soft and don't click.

Second:
The background color of the display is the same as the K3, however, the font is a bit different. One clear example is the number 0.

But let me be clear, it's a very great addition to the K-Line and I am looking very much forward for additions. Especially the KAT500. But a set of speakers, a power supply and a desk-mic in the same K-Line style would be nice too!