Add an amp

[Z-MAN 369]

You aswered your own question about "stories" on those lil amps, if your satisfied on a 5 year plan, lol. I have 2 Palomar's that ive owned for about 20 years now, and i bought them used. Some like Pepsi some prefer Coke, personally i like Faygo, lol.

 

[TonyV225]

The KL203's can handle the 2950's, 257 (non-hp), cre 8900, no problem on SSB.

I don't expect to get 10 years out of them but you they should easily last 5 years.

I've run a 2950 at 35 watts SSB into a KL203 for years without issue, same with a 257, and currently running a CRE 8900 into a KL203 at 40+ watts on SSB with no problems.

The only time I've seen KL amps pop is when people run high AM deadkeys and I've heard more of this with the KL300 and the 1446's.

I'd say keep you input at 30-35 watts ssb into a KL203 and you shouldn't have any problems.

I don't know where people get all these "stories" of them failing. I've been using them for years without problem and so have others on the forum and I've heard very few people saying they've killed them. Not to mention for the price if one only does last you 5 years it easily pays for itself.

I have 4 pill amps and heavy duty equipment that sits in the closet because I've moved away from worrying about being the big dawg on the radio. These days I mostly run barefoot but I do keep the Kl203 available if I want to bump up over 100 watts.

The problem isnt with the amplifiers that have the standard tramsistors its the units with the mosfets or those RM3 transistors.

 

[Brake Weight]

What did you set your 980's DK at?

AM, I think mine is at 1w DK and 4-5ish PEP. With the amp it's a 20w DK and mid 80s PEP. SSB is at 7w. I could get a little more out of it. But will it really matter?

 

[Mudfoot]

 

[catfish]

Hi,Iam a newbe here and looking for a 10 or 2 or 6 meter radieo and i wont it to be a base station the cheepest way i can get back on the air,i guess this is the right place to look for to buy a radio,and again iam not a rich person but love to stumble opon a deal,so where is all the deals ?

 

[KM3F]

The thread is a sad commentary of not knowing anything about dynamic requirements.
Let me try to help.
First you need to know the max 'rated' output of the amplifier.
Next, the drive requirement is different on AM and SSB.
.
Example for AM.
If the amplifier is rated at 100 watts max/25 watts in., the most drive that can be applied is 6 watts to be safe and undistorted.
The concern is will the amplifier handle the power dissapation of a carrier plus modulation at full output because it may not cool very well.
.
How is this arrived at?
Driver radio----- 6 watts X 4 = 24 watts peak power in AM at 100% modulation.
24 watts would be the peak drive level for the amplifier at 100 watts out.
If you drive harder than this, splatter results and possible damage to the amplifier.
Reason is the amplifier can go into flat topping and gain compression and is 'no longer' linear in output vs input because it cannot make any more clean power.
.
Example for SSB.
The driving radio should not go above 24 watts 'peak' power out on voice peaks to keep the amplifier within it's linear operating mode.
Remember the amp only requires 25 for peak output.
The amplifier should be biased for idle current with no drive, to be proper for SSB.
.
Letting thing rip is not a way to go about any of this.
Knowing what your doing is.
You have too know the limits of the amplifier, the limits of the driver and some metering to see what's going on or your just running wild, cause interference and damage equipment needlessly.
.
Power mikes have no place in a good station.
Very few Amateur stations use a power mike on any modern radio.
If the Mike is matched to the radio input impedance and it's output is normal, the radio audio stages should have enough gain for full output.
Low SWR below about 2 to 1 between the radio and amplifier and amplifier and antenna should be the goal to keep RF out of the radio's Mike circuit causng feedback distortion.
Power mikes only make it worse for feedback.
The goal should be clean audio not the loudest obnixious dirty signal you can put out.
This is about as simple as it can all be explained.
Good luck.

 

[9C1Driver]

Hi,Iam a newbe here and looking for a 10 or 2 or 6 meter radieo and i wont it to be a base station the cheepest way i can get back on the air,i guess this is the right place to look for to buy a radio,and again iam not a rich person but love to stumble opon a deal,so where is all the deals ?

Your best bet is to start a new thread and not try to high jack a current thread. That is forum basics 101. This way more people can see your post and reply.

 

[cbradiomagazine.com]

I'd like to clarify that I dont recommend the KL203 for dual final radios but that I think the idea that KL amps aren't capable amps is overblown and based on people abusing them or not understanding how to set up their radio. I get emails all the time from people overdriving their amps.

I've only ever blown one amp in all my experience and it had nothing to do with overdriving the amp. When someone kills an amp it is almost always user error, just like most things in life.

When i used to work as a mechanic at a Jaguar shop i had a lady with a 5 year old car with problems and we found out she had never changed the oil. She had no idea that needed to be done. I couldnt believe it then i dated a girl 2 years later and found she had never changed hers either.

 

[hotrod]

The thread is a sad commentary of not knowing anything about dynamic requirements.
Let me try to help.
First you need to know the max 'rated' output of the amplifier.
Next, the drive requirement is different on AM and SSB.
.
Example for AM.
If the amplifier is rated at 100 watts max/25 watts in., the most drive that can be applied is 6 watts to be safe and undistorted.
The concern is will the amplifier handle the power dissapation of a carrier plus modulation at full output because it may not cool very well.
.
How is this arrived at?
Driver radio----- 6 watts X 4 = 24 watts peak power in AM at 100% modulation.
24 watts would be the peak drive level for the amplifier at 100 watts out.
If you drive harder than this, splatter results and possible damage to the amplifier.
Reason is the amplifier can go into flat topping and gain compression and is 'no longer' linear in output vs input because it cannot make any more clean power.
.
Example for SSB.
The driving radio should not go above 24 watts 'peak' power out on voice peaks to keep the amplifier within it's linear operating mode.
Remember the amp only requires 25 for peak output.
The amplifier should be biased for idle current with no drive, to be proper for SSB.
.
Letting thing rip is not a way to go about any of this.
Knowing what your doing is.
You have too know the limits of the amplifier, the limits of the driver and some metering to see what's going on or your just running wild, cause interference and damage equipment needlessly.
.
Power mikes have no place in a good station.
Very few Amateur stations use a power mike on any modern radio.
If the Mike is matched to the radio input impedance and it's output is normal, the radio audio stages should have enough gain for full output.
Low SWR below about 2 to 1 between the radio and amplifier and amplifier and antenna should be the goal to keep RF out of the radio's Mike circuit causng feedback distortion.
Power mikes only make it worse for feedback.
The goal should be clean audio not the loudest obnixious dirty signal you can put out.
This is about as simple as it can all be explained.
Good luck.

this is VERY good info. everyone should read this. i just read it twice already.
the kl amps are ok . i got 3 local here with them .2 have the 500 base . 1 has a klv 400
another has a klv 60 hook up to a pc 122xl in the mobile. all of these are hooked up
too single final radios , washington,cobra 2000gtl, galaxy 2547,pc122. 1 has been in
use over 10 years .PROPER operation is nessary for any amp and its life expancy