I personally think all the banter about KPA1500 fan noise has created confusion. Yes, the amp has three fans with five selectable fan speeds..and since the amp is small the fans are necessarily small and therefore must run faster …. and as the fan speed increases the pitch and noise levels increase.. and the higher fan speeds do indeed create significant noise, but the higher speeds will rarely (if ever) be needed. I have had my KPA1500 about 3 months now, and have manually switched to level 3 just a couple times (cq running during cw contest and major cw split pileup), and thus far I have never had to use levels 4 or 5. The fans operate automatically as per heat sink temperature but can also be manually controlled. Fan speeds 1 and 2, to me, are just like any other amplifier, and noise is not problematic. Levels 3, 4, and 5 however are definitely noisy and can become annoying…. But again, those speeds are rarely necessary. IMHO, with five selectable speeds, the KPA1500 could very likely have the most capable cooling system available in any amateur amplifier.... and I call that a plus. The three additional amplifiers in my shack (Alpha 9500, Icom PA1 and Alpha 89) make noise too, but it’s probably a good bet that they do not have cooling capability that matches the KPA1500’s five speed fans.
Don, N5LZ -----Original Message----- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Richard Thorne Sent: Friday, June 01, 2018 5:55 PM To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] KPA-1500 Fan Noise - YouTube ? This fan noise issue has me concerned to the point that I’m considering cancelling my order. While the amp won’t be on my operating desk, it will be on a rack next to my operating desk. Remoting the amp is not an option. Quite frankly I have no interest in remoting the amp. Is there anyone out there that has a KPA-1500 willing to post a YouTube video so we can hear the fan in action and judge the noise for ourselves? From the research I’ve done it appears that if you want a solid state amp, regardless of make, you need to be prepared for fan noise. Thanks Rich - N5ZC Sent from my iPhone ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n...@comcast.net ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
