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Re: SWR High SSB ONLY - When Using LA-1K Amp
Rich,
interesting to see others having same issues as i am. Just operating in the cqwpx cw contest this weekend and mines doing it randomly on CW. Its a real pain to be baby sitting this amp. I may sell it. I feel like somethings not right with this amp. Im not sure i wanna call Palstar anymore. And i thought i had it Fully corrected With going direct mode, forget normal mode, its worse there. Contesting to me is a true test of performance and this amp seems lacking in quite a few ways. Maybe we can chat further on this, but its definitely troublesome. Even on a dummy load.? |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
To summarize results for future reference:
1. A PolyPhaser surge suppressor (Model IS-50UX-C0, 2kW) was determined to be incompatible with my Palstar LA-1K / Palstar HF-AUTO installation likely due to my use of a non-resonant dipole antenna.? The PolyPhaser wants to see a 50 Ohm antenna, and a non-resonant dipole has substantially different impedence values as it is tuned by the HF-AUTO over different frequencies. 2.? My Palstar HF-AUTO apparently did not detect the transients, but the Palstar LA-1K did, and shut down. 3. Removing the PolyPhaser from the transmission line in this installation corrected the operation of the Palstar LA-1K. 4. Installing an Alpha Delta Coax Switch with surge suppression in the transmission line does not appear (at this point) to create transients or affect the Palstar LA-1K or the Palstar HF-Auto tuner. ? ? |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
开云体育Thanks, that makes me feel better about the “pill”s I have. ? Bill Grover, N3EYF ? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Bill Pfost via groups.io ? Yes-the “pill”(as Alpha Delta calls the gas tube arrestor) is installed in the switch. ? ? ? On Thu, May 28, 2020 at 22:37, Bill Grover <bgrover@...> wrote: Including the arrestor I'm assuming. ? Bill, N3EYF
? ? |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
Yes-the “pill”(as Alpha Delta calls the gas tube arrestor) is installed in the switch. On Thu, May 28, 2020 at 22:37, Bill Grover <bgrover@...> wrote:
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Including the arrestor I'm assuming. Bill, N3EYF
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Re: Band data cable with a TS-590SG much shorter TX switching
开云体育For what its worth. I had nothing but issues with the rf detection in normal mode. Im using an ftdx5000. Once i went direct, all my issues have disappeared. Without a dummy load even. All modes. All bands.73 VE6UM On May 28, 2020, at 8:19 AM, Chris E. <kc2rgw@...> wrote:
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
开云体育I use one.? It works fine.?
? From: Bill Pfost via groups.io
Sent: Thursday, May 28, 2020 7:06 AM
Subject: Re: [la1k] Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown
Problem ?
I'm
considering the use of an Alpha Delta Coax Switch to ground the line when not in
use.? That switch may be operated without the gas tube (AD calls it a
"pill").? I can test to see if the pill causes problems with my LA-1K.
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Band data cable with a TS-590SG much shorter TX switching
Just putting this in here for anyone else with a TS-590SG (likely any radio that will provide band data). I initially was running with only the PTT cable and using RF for band switching. The Kenwood has a keying delay option of 25ms to avoid hot switching. But in reality it was something at least a half second in total from the time I hit the PTT switch to the amp keying on TX. It worked but was annoyingly sluggish. I decided to try a band data cable with a null adapter (the amp wants to see the rig set to 9600b btw, won't work at faster speeds when I tried it). I could finally set the menu to option 2 which is no delay and now the amp keys like most any other, single or low double digit ms timing, far far faster. Now I can use VOX with out the sloppy keying and it's much more responsive to manual PTT keying. Much less doubling with people now.? Happier with this for sure. 73? de?Chris?-- KC2RGW ------------------------------------------------------------ ˙dn ?p?s ????? ?o??uo? ?no? u?n? ?s???d 's??? ?u?p??? ??? no? ?? |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Chuck Scott
开云体育Bill: Don't forget to terminate the line with a short to protect the line from being damaged by high voltage during a strike. Also, if you disconnect a transmission line inside of your house,
be sure to throw it out the window and a some distance away from
the house!!! Chuck - N8DNX
On 5/27/2020 12:10 PM, Bill Pfost via
groups.io wrote:
Further investigation shows that any surge suppressor in the transmission line of my non-resonant antenna is not likely to work.? I am left with the direct grounding of my CWSByteMark 9:1 balun () and simply disconnecting the antenna from my system when not in use. |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Chuck Scott
Bill:
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Things about PolyPhaser (and other) protectors that can be a problem. * Wrong selection for the frequency and power range * Damage from previous strikes or event nearby strikes * Perhaps the most insidious is moisture intrusion from the transmission line around the center pin of a connector. The last one if fun because it all looks normal until you pull it apart. Many types of transmission lines can cause this, even with foam and solid insulaton. Damage to the line or a bad connection somewhere can result in moisture wicking along a multi-strand center conductor for some distance and then penetrate the connectors. (Green or otherwise discolored center conductors.) The result can be that it's somewhat functional at lower power levels but becomes intermittent at higher power. Yes, any time there is a higher SWR there's a chance a protector will end up at a point on the line with elevated voltage at some point. Protectors are usually rated at low SWR (PolyPhaser typically 1.1:1) so if it's going to be used on a wide-band antenna with a tuner, the protector needs to be de-rated based on the expected maximum SWR (maximum voltage). If not, it could be triggering at power levels a lot lower than rated power causing the amp to trip. Given that, your PolyPhaser protector may be working normally. So, when testing a line for possible issues, never assume the protector is good or not firing normally on you. Chuck On 5/26/2020 6:48 PM, Bill Pfost via groups.io wrote:
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
Further investigation shows that any surge suppressor in the transmission line of my non-resonant antenna is not likely to work.? I am left with the direct grounding of my CWSByteMark 9:1 balun () and simply disconnecting the antenna from my system when not in use.
Disconnection is standard operation where I live in central Florida, even with surge devices installed.? Thunderstorms are intense here and lightning is always a risk. |
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Re: Convert the LA-1K for 2-30 MHz Operation for MARS / CAP / Gov
My LA-1K was updated by Palstar to current production improvements.? The improvements were discrete component changes and replacement of three low-pass filters.? The amp was also checked for alignment.
In the same manner as the above analysis, I repeated the test with these results.? The $99 cost to update the amp was worthwhile in my view.? Performance was more uniform. Amp is a Palstar LA-1K with MARS/Gov firmware, serial number 3049X(last digit excluded), purchase date last quarter 2018.? Radio is Flex 6700 with MARS Turf @ relative 30W input tune signal, Bird 43 Watt Meter w/1000H element, 50 Ohm 1000W Bird 8251 Load, Coax is RG 8/U) Freq - Output(Watts) 1.8 - 760 2.0 - 740 3.0 - 740 4.0 - 710 5.1 - 770 6.0 - 720 7.0 - 500 8.0 - 760 9.0 - 650 10.1 - 720 11.0 - 720 12.0 - 720 13.0 - 720 14.0 - 720 15.1 - 730 16.0 - 740 17.0 - 780 18.0 - 800 19.0 - 830 20.1 - 820 21.0 - 780 22.0 - 700 23.0 - 660 24.0 - 680 25.1 - 700 26.0 - 710 (27 MHz excluded) 28.0 - 760 29.0 - 760 30.0 - 800 |
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
Not yet.? Tomorrow I will try the AD alone.? I will report results here. ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Tuesday, May 26, 2020 7:51 PM, Bill Grover <bgrover@...> wrote:
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Did you try it with the Alpha Delta alone? ?What happened? Bill, N3EYF
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Re: Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
Which are you using, Brian?? The 3kW version? ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ On Tuesday, May 26, 2020 7:33 PM, <fletchbs@...> wrote:
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Resolved - Curious LA-1K Shutdown Problem
Bill Pfost
My LA-1K was flawless into my dummy load.? It was flawless into the dummy load attached to the HF-AUTO tuner.? When I connected my non-resonant dipole to the HF-AUTO and tried to operate my LA-1K, something transient kept shutting the LA-1K down.? After much testing with no resolution I called Mark at Palstar and described the issue.? I told him what antenna I used and he immediately asked if I use a surge protection device in the transmission line.?
I had two devices in line - a PolyPhaser device and an AlphaDelta device.? I first removed the AlphaDelta device and there was no change in performance - still no amp operation.? Upon removing the PolyPhaser the amp worked as it should, and the HF-AUTO even tuned the antenna to frequency faster than before. The surge suppression devices, when used in a higher power line with a non-resonant antenna, can create a transient SWR condition which the LA-1K can detect, thus causing a shutdown.? The amp works perfectly now.? And I now search for a workable lightning protection solution for my station. |
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Re: Rig Cable
I had nothing but bypass issues with the rf detection on all bands all modes. I recently went direct and it resolved all my bypass issues. Even with cw. It stays put now. Yes, i noticed the amp will go into standby whenever i switch bands. My antenna switch is manual and im actually glad it waits for me to press it as sometimes i forget to change the antenna and i dont want to damage the amp. I understand it has a safety circuitry to bypass but if i was doing remote i would want it to stay in operation. I would contact Palstar and recommend this option be put into their next firmware upgrade. As of now, i see no option for you. As for the others having the amp go into bypass while direct while using cw, i would look into it a bit further and figure out why. If its swr related, then yes it will go into Bypass mode. If its on 30m or 60m and your using an icom it will go into bypass in cw and maybe even digital due to Icom putting a restriction on their recent radios. Like i said, i fully tested going direct mode on all bands all modes and works flawlessly.?
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