Amplifiers
AetherSDR controls several linear amplifiers directly, independent of the radio: the ACOM S-series, the SPE Expert 1.3K-FA / 1.5K-FA / 2K-FA, the VK3AMP 600 / 1000 / 2000 W, and the Elecraft KPA1500. Each is configured in Peripherals and gets its own applet in the Amplifiers category. Any combination can be connected at once, alongside a PGXL.
The 4O3A Power Genius XL is relayed by the FlexRadio and has its own applet, described on Peripherals (PGXL applet). The TelePost LP-100A wattmeter is covered at the end of this page.
An amplifier's applet button stays hidden from the applet bar until that amplifier is configured and present; it then appears on its own.
SWR sweeps: AetherSweep only knows how to check a PGXL. Put any of the amplifiers on this page into standby or bypass yourself before sweeping.
Setup
- Open Settings → Radio Setup... → Peripherals.
- Click Add and choose the amplifier.
- Fill in the connection (see Reference) and click Connect.
Reconnect automatically on the Peripherals page retries after a dropped connection.
For serial-capable amplifiers, choose the Connection Type, then either pick the serial port (Refresh Serial Ports rescans) or enter the ser2net host and TCP Port/Speed.
Using the ACOM S-series
Supports the current S-series line: 500S, 600S, 700S, 1200S, 1400S and 2020S. The model is detected from the amplifier, so there is no model selector.
The ACOM Amplifier applet shows:
- A status pill with the amplifier mode (OPERATE, STANDBY, OFF).
- PWR, REF (reflected) and SWR gauges. They rescale with the detected model.
- An info grid with temperature (click to switch °C / °F), high voltage, drain current, band and the amplifier's total operating time.
- A fault banner while a fault stands, with CLEAR to clear it.
- STANDBY, OPERATE and OFF buttons.
Using the SPE Expert 1.3K-FA / 1.5K-FA / 2K-FA
The amplifier only answers when polled, so AetherSDR polls it every 100 ms. The model is identified from its status. If the amplifier goes silent behind a live ser2net link, the applet reports it as off.
ser2net: monitoring and control work with the proxy port in raw or telnet
mode. Powering the amplifier on over the network drives the proxy's
DTR/RTS lines, which needs an RFC 2217 telnet port
(accepter: telnet(rfc2217=true),<port>). A sample configuration is in the
tooltip on the network address field.
The SPE Expert Amplifier applet (button SPE):
- Gauges for output power (rescaled with the LOW / MID / HIGH level), antenna SWR, and the SWR seen before the ATU.
- Temperature, voltage and current readouts, and a warning / alarm banner.
- ON (a DTR/RTS power pulse; works over the network with RFC 2217), OFF, OPER / STBY, the power level (click to cycle LOW / MID / HIGH), TUNE (the ATU), INPUT 1/2, ANT (cycles the antenna for the current band), and drive up / down.
Popped out into its own window, the applet adds a live mirror of the amplifier's LCD and a FRONT PANEL key group: BAND − / BAND +, SET, and the manual ATU steps L − / L + / C − / C +. These keys work only while the LCD mirror is current; if its data goes stale they are dimmed, and the display stays visible.
Using the VK3AMP 600 / 1000 / 2000 W
A network amplifier controlled over TCP, with live telemetry on UDP. There is no serial option.
In Peripherals, pick the Amplifier Model (600 W, 1000 W or 2000 W; default 2000 W). It sets the forward-power gauge's scale.
The VK3AMP Amplifier applet:
- A status pill (
CONNECTED/ —). - PWR, REF and SWR gauges.
- An info grid with temperature, voltage, current, band and antenna.
- A fault banner. Faults are shown as the amplifier's numeric code; there is no fault-name table.
- BYPASS / AMP ON (the label shows the current state) and COOLING (cooling override).
- ANT 1–3 antenna select.
- RAIL LOW / HIGH voltage-rail buttons. They are unavailable while the amplifier is bypassed.
- RESET, which asks for confirmation and then holds the reset command for about ten seconds.
The VK3AMP reads Reconnect automatically only at startup.
Using the Elecraft KPA1500
Not yet validated on real hardware. The KPA1500 support follows Elecraft's published programming reference but has not been run against a physical amplifier (#4097). Reports from owners are welcome.
The Elecraft KPA1500 applet:
- A status pill, PWR, REF and SWR gauges.
- An info grid with PA temperature, band and the ATU state.
- A fault banner showing the code in hex (for example
Fault B0) and a CLR FAULT button. - OPERATE / STANDBY. The label changes only when the amplifier confirms.
- The internal ATU: ATU IN / ATU BYP, and TUNE, which reads
TUNINGwhile a tune runs; press it again to cancel. A full-search tune needs RF, so key the radio's own TUNE: nothing in this applet keys the radio. - ANT 1 / ANT 2. An
ANT nlabel appears when an external antenna switch reports an antenna number from 3 to 32.
There is no network PTT and no lost-link TX inhibit.
Using the LP-100A wattmeter
The TelePost LP-100A is a wattmeter, not an amplifier, but it is set up the same way: Peripherals → Add → LP-100A Meter, over a local serial port (115200 8N1) or a ser2net proxy in raw mode (default TCP 2000).
The LP-100A Meter applet is in the Metering category and is read-only: it does not change the meter's range, mode or alarm.
- Power and SWR gauges, plus dBm, return loss, impedance (Z), phase and the meter's power range.
- A status pill:
LIVE(AetherSDR is polling the meter),SHARED(another program is already polling it; AetherSDR rides along instead of doubling the traffic),NO DATA(connected but the meter stopped answering) orOFFLINE. - The meter reports which range it is on but not its full-scale value. Right click the applet to set each range's full scale, or Reset to defaults.
Reference
| Amplifier | Connection | Defaults |
|---|---|---|
| ACOM Amplifier | Serial, or network through a ser2net proxy in raw mode | 9600 8N1; TCP 7000 |
| SPE Expert Amplifier | Serial, or network through ser2net (raw or telnet) | 115200 8N1; TCP 7000 |
| VK3AMP Amplifier | Network only: TCP control, UDP telemetry | TCP 5005; UDP 5010 |
| Elecraft KPA1500 | Network only: TCP | TCP 1500 |
| LP-100A Meter | Serial, or network through a ser2net proxy in raw mode | 115200 8N1; TCP 2000 |
Known issues
- An SPE amplifier set to connect at startup shows connected but no data until you disconnect and reconnect it (#4893).
Troubleshooting
The SPE amplifier will not power on over the network
Powering on drives the ser2net proxy's DTR/RTS lines, which a plain raw or telnet port cannot do.
- Configure the ser2net port as an RFC 2217 telnet port:
accepter: telnet(rfc2217=true),<port>. The tooltip on the network address field has a sample configuration. - Reconnect the amplifier in Peripherals and press ON.
The VK3AMP takes a long time to connect on Windows
After the amplifier has been idle, the first connection can take 9–12 seconds, because the amplifier answers only broadcast ARP.
- Wait: AetherSDR waits up to 18 seconds before trying again.
The SPE front-panel keys are dimmed
The popped-out FRONT PANEL keys work only while the LCD mirror is current. Its data has gone stale.
- Check the amplifier's connection in Peripherals.
- Wait for the LCD mirror to update; the keys come back with it.