I just finished building the KXPA100 kit and I am so impressed with the performance. Several contacts made in the first 10 minutes after completing the build.
Thanks for the video. Just ordered mine today and watching your vid showed me I forgot to add the cables. Guess I was in too big a hurry to hit the checkout button.
Give them a call on Monday. They'll add it to the order and won't charge additional shipping. I called them they day I got the shipping notification and asked them to throw something else in the box and they were happy to help. The folks at Elecraft are the best!
Mine is in the mail. I thought about getting a different amplifier because the Elecraft stuff is so expensive but the seamless integration of the units is worth the extra cash.
I guess I have been watching a lot of YT videos on Elecraft radios lately -- this came up on my list. I've had one of these PAs for a year or so. It was the only things I bought new from Elecraft as they are scarce as hen's teeth secondhand. I use it with the KX3 mostly, but could use it with the KX2. The level of integration is incredible. With a KX3, PX3, and the KXPA100 one has a complete station that approaches their K3/K3S radios. My only reservation about this system is the bit of mess of wires with the separate components. But then, my home A/V system is much, much worse. :o
i dont mean to be so off topic but does someone know of a way to log back into an Instagram account..? I somehow forgot my account password. I appreciate any help you can offer me!
@Emmitt Silas thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site on google and Im waiting for the hacking stuff now. Seems to take quite some time so I will reply here later when my account password hopefully is recovered.
Hi there! Greetings from the UK. Great video, very useful. When paired with the KX2, are we able to monitor current draw (TX and RX and STBY of both KX2 and KXPA100) on the screen of the KX2? If not, are you able to tell me the current draw at 20W and 50W on TX? And on STBY or on RX as well? From the specs I can tell it is typically 20A (presume on TX at 100W) I am Interested to be able to estimate the running times when used on the field with the batteries and solar panels I have. Thanks for sharing
I don't remember if you can display it on the radio itself. I made the huge mistake of selling this amp so I cannot test it now. If you have one, do not sell it.
Watching all KXPA100 videos while I try to decide on purchasing or not (under 30 days left before the the 2020 Elecraft price increases). I have both a KX2 and a KX3, the amp would make sense. The only hesitation is that I built a Hardrock 50 Amp with ATU that I really like (and use). Lately, due to my station setup, I’m not liking having to reach for the HR50 every time I power on and then tune up. I really like the integrated nature of the KXPA100, I could actually mount it higher up on my shelves, closer to the coax input in my shack and save some desk space. I do have a question though, I notice you have both Noise Reduction and Noise Blanker turned on. Do you have noise and or pulses from your power supply? Which power supply are you using? Is it worse with the KXPA100?
Good catch. I didn't notice that I had them turned on when I recorded the video. But to answer your questions, I do not normally run either DNR or NB. It was hooked up to a MFJ 30amp switching power supply for this video. I have never had any noise at all when using it on this radio or any other.
I purchased the KXPA100. Almost all of the cables you show in your video are NOT included with the KXPA1OO. With mine I received two of the USB cables used to updated the KXPA100 firmware (weird), the RCA plug cable, and one power cable. All other cables must be purchased separately. Most of them can be purchased from suppliers other than Elecraft, which will save time/money and allow you to avoid dealing to much with Elecraft. The cable designed to connect the KX3 to the AMP is $60.
That's a shame. When I purchased mine they included the cables of choice. The only cable I paid extra for was the KX2 adapter. I see on their site now that they have changed that. They have also increased the price of the amplifier so much that I don't think I could justify buying it now. I paid $1200 with the ATU and all cables just a few years back. Same purchase today is over $1800!
When you want to tune via the kxpa100 atu, do you just set the pwr output on the kx2 to 11 watts so the amp is engaged? I usually tune at 5 watts on my other rigs.
When using the KX3 or KX3 with the KXPA100 amp, it's best to just think of it as a single device. The "device" will know what do do when you press the tune button. Just set the PA and ATU to external in the radio menu and it will handle it for you.
Great video! Question , I just received my KXPA100 , can I leave the battery in the KX2 and plug it into the amp? And/or can I just use battery power from the kx2 to get rid of 1 wire in this setup? Thanks in advance.
I know you asked this a while ago. Sorry for the slow reply. You can use the battery in the radio and not connect the power. Personally, if I am connecting two or three cables, one more is not a big deal.
Great video! You mentioned the relay on the amp kicks on once the KX2 is at 10 watts, but what if you are operating portable on a battery and don’t want to put out 100 watts, but something less? Will the amp kick on if the KX2 is at lower wattage, thus the amp puts out less power? Hope this question makes sense. 73, WA6HQQ
I am not sure I understand your question but the external amplifier does't do anything until you set the power to 11 watts or higher. You can adjust the power from 0 to 110 watts. At 11 watts, the relay switches the PA over to the KXPA100 and it takes over from 11 through 110 watts.
Thank You for the reply. For example, my thinking was if I wanted to run only 50 watts, it does not sound like that would work. Sounds like it is the radio by itself at 0-10 watts, or the radio at 11 watts, which will kick on the amp for a total of 110 watts, nothing in between.
@@richardg4817 No, you can run anywhere from 0 to 110 watts and every level in between. If you want to run 50 just dial in 50 watts in the radio. Go to 7:32 in the video and you'll see the power set at 30 watts.
I was looking into the same setup but honestly I don't see the point. For that amount of money I can have a decent 100W home station like Kenwood ts590 and and QRP rig like Lab599 Discovery or the KX2. I does make sense to have one rig for everything though, just hard for me to justify amp like that.
I had the thoughts. When I got this I still had my FTDX3000 and a couple other rigs. Now I use this amp with a KX3 and a PX3 at home and it is an amazing station. The receiver in the Elecraft gear is so good and the filters are amazing. I sold all my other radios and only use the Elecraft gear now. No regrets at all.
@@K4MJV I will definitely look into it, I'll be power limited to 10W anyway when I pass my foundation/technician and I'm not planning on upping my game (licence) any time soon so having a small QRP that I can take everywhere definitely sounds nice and after a year I could just pass the next level and add an amp or get a base station, whatever 😂 Thank you for your thoughts!
