[Amps] K3 Drive Levels and the SPE 1.3K-FA

[dgb]

Thank you all for the feedback. 73 Dwight NS9I

On 11/16/2019 2:23 PM, Gary K9GS wrote:
> Hi John,I was thinking the same thing as a solution Dwight.  Just be sure you place the pad after the T/R relay or the pad will be in the receive path.You can try it before the T/R relay to see how it works before opening up the amp to insert it after the relay.I'm guessing that this might void your warranty. Talk to the SPE folks and see if there is an adjustment to reduce the gain to allow you to drive with 13W in the medium power position.There are enough people using K3s with their amp that this has probably come up before. 73,Gary K9GS
> -------- Original message --------From: John Simmons <jasimmons at pinewooddata.com> Date: 11/16/19  1:55 PM  (GMT-05:00) To:  Cc: amps at contesting.com Subject: Re: [Amps] K3 Drive Levels and the SPE 1.3K-FA Sounds like you have had some expensive learning experiences. The easiest solution is to put a 2-3 dB pad between the output of the K3 and the input of your amp. Look on eBay; you can find various combinations of connectors and loss ratings. They are not expensive.-de John NI0Kdgb wrote on 11/16/2019 12:46 PM:> I run a lot of rtty and digital with my K3. I always set the amp to > the mid range getting 8-900w out. It takes only 8-11 w drive from the > K3 to accomplish that.>> Note: SPE recommends to run the amp in Mid Range for digital > operation. When I first got the amp I made the mistake of running it > in the high range and melted the copper heat sink, which was not > considered a warranty repair, and was an expensive lesson learned.>> Over the  course of the 3 yrs. that I've owned the amp,  I have blown > 4 LPA's in the K3 running it at 8-11w. With latest repair the tech > informed me that the "LPA is not rated for continuous duty at upper > power levels (like the digital Modes)" They suggested running 13w vs > 11w so the LPA wouldn't be used. If I do that it over-drives the SPE > in the mid-range.>> What is my suggested recourse?>> thanks 73 Dwight NS9I>> _______________________________________________> Amps mailing list> Amps at contesting.com> http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps_______________________________________________Amps mailing listAmps at contesting.comhttp://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/amps
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