Another dim question on burners

So my KL203P arrived this afternoon and is now in line and powered up. I did my youtube research and thus cranked the power down to 2w output from the 6900 so as not to stress/overheat the burner.

But herein lies a question. I got the little burner to help on those occasions when you need a little boost especially recently with 555 coming alive but for local work I don't want the burner on and instead want to crank up the 6900.

If the burner is switched off but still in line, can I put the increased radio power through it or does the output power of the radio always need to be reduced regardless of the burner being on or off?

Any help on this gladly received

Thank you

Hi Sean,

From the circuit diagram :- KL203P Schematic
It looks like the relays connect straight through when the unit is powered off so would be fine.

However, I wouldn't even trust myself to leave them inline without inadvertently switching them on whilst being set to higher power

It's up to you really.

Remember, the only dim question is the question never asked

Hope that helps,
Victor

According to the instructions that come with this Amp you can input anything between 0.5 - 10 Watts in FM/AM mode and anything between 1 - 20 Watts in SSB mode. As long as you keep to these limits it should be fine. I usually use (input) about 5 Watts for FM and about 15 Watts for SSB. I've been using it for over a year with no ill effects and yes, you can keep it in-line and use your radio's full power (which is 40 Watts FM / 60 Watts SSB for my radio) when the Amp is switched off.....just remember to turn down your radio's power when using the Amp.

Many thanks for the responses folks, really appreciate it.
Will actually try and key it up tonight and see what difference it makes to the North Staffs folks on 25
I did debate the "will i be disciplined enough" to remember to wind it down before switching it on and reckon I could be...... time will tell lol

Put up a sign in your shack/radio area reminding you to keep power low when the amp is on...I have a few signs reminding me about power output.

I have been using a kl203 for the last 5 years in my mobile and with 15w in it gives a steady 90w and has been a decent cheap amp.I did notice patch lead length can be important to stop rf with these..

Cozzmik wrote:

Put up a sign in your shack/radio area reminding you to keep power low when the amp is on...I have a few signs reminding me about power output.

I have been using a kl203 for the last 5 years in my mobile and with 15w in it gives a steady 90w and has been a decent cheap amp.I did notice patch lead length can be important to stop rf with these..

Is the patch lead better longer or shorter ?

joinercb wrote:

Cozzmik wrote:

Put up a sign in your shack/radio area reminding you to keep power low when the amp is on...I have a few signs reminding me about power output.

I have been using a kl203 for the last 5 years in my mobile and with 15w in it gives a steady 90w and has been a decent cheap amp.I did notice patch lead length can be important to stop rf with these..

Is the patch lead better longer or shorter ?

There may be a set size and someone with far more knowledge will know the length needed but for me i did the suck it and see method and when my short (approx 12") patch lead caused issues i made a 24" one and it was fine.
Different shack set ups require different ways to stop RF as i have no idea what at your shack could be a issue.

You may get lucky and a standard size patch lead may work just fine..

Thanks Cozzmik , I’m going to be setting one up shortly just trying to iron out any possible problems before i start , i never even thought that the length of the patch lead would make a difference , something to have a play about with and see what works best

Hi just got a kl203 to go mobile .i can't  go direct to the battery to power it up .could I use a small scooter battery?sorry if I'm in wrong  post.

joinercb wrote:

Thanks Cozzmik , I’m going to be setting one up shortly just trying to iron out any possible problems before i start , i never even thought that the length of the patch lead would make a difference ,

It shouldn't. If it does it is indicating your antenna is using the coax to make up for the lack of a RF ground at the antenna. Assuming you can't do much at the antenna the best you can do is choke off the coax at the shack end. To do that buy a FT240-61 toroid and wrap 8 turns of RG58 coax around it. A 1 metre long patch lead would do that, you'd plug it into the antenna side of the last thing in the chain from rig to antenna and you could get a SO239 to SO239 coupler to connect the other end of the patch lead to the coax coming from the antenna.

What sort of power supply do you guys use to power the radio and amp at the same time ..? or use a cheaper separate one just for the burner ...

I'm only using 100W and I run the linear and radio off a 23 amp switch mode PSU with no problem. It depends on your setup how many amps you'll need, but better to go too high and have some spare than not enough and have the lights dim when you key up.

leno51 wrote:

What sort of power supply do you guys use to power the radio and amp at the same time ..? or use a cheaper separate one just for the burner ...

I use a 12V 22amp Tracer battery with my KL203P.

my self the kicker is to help your signal and to stop your radio getting hot and stressed the radio stays cool and if you run only radio , the radio will get very hot and stressed, I run my radio with a kicker radios cool and unstressed the kicker gets hot, now when they get very hot they drop watts and do crazy things so put a fan on the kicker it stays cool and runs right if you run a kicker on ssb check the mic gain as if it swing up say 20w good buy kicker , and make sure your swr is good my go box radio is a mass dx5000 low power version 12w fm am and ssb so I use the kicker but most of the times I run with no kicker and the power echo mic and it works fine