Elecraft KPA500 Owner's Manual - Manual (Page 19)

19
Fault Conditions
The FAULT indicator lights and the speaker sounds to indicate a fault condition has occurred. To avoid
unnecessarily interrupting amplification because of moderately abnormal conditions, there are two levels of
faults that may occur, attenuator faults and hard faults.
Attenuator Faults
Relatively minor faults such as excessive reflected power cause an internal 3dB attenuator to be switched into
the RF path that reduces the output to protect the KPA500. When an attenuator fault occurs, the
FAULT LED
blinks and the cause is displayed on the LCD for about 1 second. The KPA500 tests the condition at intervals
and will return to normal operation automatically after the cause of the fault is removed. The interval between
tests is set with the
ATTEN REL menu (pg 20). If the fault persists over time or if it is severe enough, a hard
fault will occur.
Hard Faults
Hard faults are those that require switching the KPA500 to STBY to protect it, such as conditions of extremely
high reflected power or high drive power, or because a critical component such as a power supply has failed.
When a Hard Fault occurs, the cause of the fault is displayed on the LCD. When the condition has been
corrected, tap the OP/STBY switch to return the KPA500 to normal operation, or tap the
I N F O switch to return
the KPA500 to STBY mode.
LCD Display Fault Fault Type Fault No.
1
GAIN ERR Excessive overall amplifier gain. Hard 15
HI CURR Excessive power amplifier current. 2 Attenuator →Hard
2
HI TEMP Power amplifier temperature over limit.
2
Hard 4
PWRIN HI Excessive driving power. Attenuator →Hard 6
PA DISS Power amplifiers are dissipating excessive power. 2 Hard 11
POUT HI Excessive power output. Attenuator →Hard 12
REFL HI Excessive reflected power (high SWR). Attenuator →Hard 9
60V HIGH 60 volt supply over limit (see Positioning the Amplifier, pg 10). Hard 8
60V FAIL
60 volt supply failure. Requires cycling KPA500 mains power after it
is corrected.
3
Hard 13
270V ERR
270 volt supply failure. Requires cycling KPA500 mains power after it
is corrected.
3
Hard 14
N/A Communication failure between KPA500 and K3. N/A 0
NOTES:
1. When the KPA500 is used with the Elecraft K3 transceiver, and the optional K3 interface cable
(see Elecraft KPAK3AUX K3 Cable , pg 27) is used to connect the K3 to the KPA500, these
numbers will be displayed on the K3’s LCD briefly if a hard fault occurs.
2. These faults are commonly caused by excessive power output or excessive reflected power.
3. An open KPA500 top cover interlock switch will cause this fault. See pg 9. If you have just built
your KPA500 from a kit, ensure the interlock switch actuator is assembled exactly as shown under
Top Cover and Side Handle in the Assembly Manual. Leaving any parts out will cause the actuator
to be too short to operate the interlock switch properly.