I used the Micro PA50 pretty extensively on a recent trip to Aruba with good results. Some observations: It worked well for CW and SSB but would overheat quickly on FT8 (the outdoor temp in Aruba is around 29 C, the amp shuts down above 50 C). The input does not appear to be tuned. The SWR to the IC-705 would vary from about 1.3:1 to almost 2:1 depending on the band. The drive level needed varies by band so may need adjustment when switching bands. If the drive level is too high the amp will shutdown and beep until you restart it. On 20m it only needed about 2 watts when powered by a 6 AH LifePO4 battery (13.2v). Battery life was no problem. With the amplifier off-line, the last LPF might still be active. I had to put it back online momentarily to switch the LPF to hear the band come up in the receiver. It's a computer running firmware. If you get into a weird state, just hot plug it to restart the software. Overall the Micro PA50 made a huge difference in my ability to contact other stations. Using the amp most moderate to strong signals would return my calls. Without it, making CW contacts was a struggle. At $175 it's a good value for travel and did the job, but not without flaws.

I'd love to see a field test of the Hermes Lite-2 in combination with the PA-50 amp. It could make a very nice SOTA/POTA setup. A discussion of the selection of a matching antenna and antenna tuner for field ops with the PA-50 and HL2 combination would be interesting.

Great video's Matt! Please show the inside and the performance of the filters.

A great looking piece of kit Matt. It would be great if it could be shown under test. Perhaps a live stream so we could see it in real time. 73

I've been using the Micro PA50 with an IC-705. In Auto mode it works well. When I connected the accessory socket on the Micro PA50 to the tuner or send/ALC socket on the IC-705, band switching from the transceiver didn't work. I wrote to the seller and he responded that not all Icom models provide band information. The IC-705 will only work with the Micro PA50 in Auto mode. This should only be an issue the first time you transmit on a different band. It also means however you can't use the hardware PTT without some modification. Plugging a cable into the accessory socket switches out of Auto mode.

Nice Matt! Yes please, out in the field operation. I am also interested in seeing harmonic suppression results if that is possible Sir! Thanks again! 73 - KF6IF

Looks a good idea, beats my homebrew anyway which is about 4 times the size, with no built in protection.

Matt, can you please tell me where I can get a manual or further info if available for the amp? I bought one based on your video and was a little disappointment there was no info supplied. Without your video I would not have had a clue on how to drive it. THANKS. Daryl de VK3AWA

Where can I find the instruction manual for the PA50????

It would be great to see this demo'd with the (tr)uSDX.

Friend of mine had one. It lasted about 50 QSOs before letting the smoke out...

Im brand new to this. Like literally, whats the name of the chord that goes into the ACC port and into my Xiegu g90? Why is this basic information so hard to find?

Yes, vield test please!

best description so far but whats the double press setting do? I see it on yours as 250? it changes increments and then goes to 1000, 2000, 3000 then BKIN.

What I really want to know is does the relays have diodes to prevent back emf to the transceiver. A feature that is not always included in these sort of PA's. I tried to find out from a vendor but failed to receive an answer that was convincing to me.

Another great video Mat. You cost me lots of money, lol. Have you used this amp with the uSDX+ V2 that you reviewed? My plans are to use That radio, this amplifier, and and the antuner 100 as a portable rig. I think that would be a great combination.

I have received today

Hi Matt, What does it look like on a spectrum analyser? I think that's crucial to differentiate it from other PAs.

Thanks for the information, can you tell if it works fine with the uSDX V2 that you tested as well? Kind regards! Michael

Is this safe to use to with the IC 705

Please help !!!! I was going through all the functions by pressing the button. I even did the 8 times to disable the protection. I pressed the button 8 times again but there is nothing on the display that that indicates that it went back into protected mode. Did I permanently disable the protection?

Mine works right out of the box, but cannot hear my receiver as the fan is extremely noisey , even with phones on.

Hey Matt 👋 I'd love to see how this would pair with the uSDX_ATU transceiver, as a budget, entry level combo for new hams.

Hola. Saben cuanto es el consumo de corriente en Amperes ? Para usar en SOTA. Saludos

Does it support 30m? It seemed to jump straight from 40m to 20m when you cycled through the bands?

I'd like to see someone build a kit to parallel stack or bridge two of these. Maybe with a pair of 3.5-30MHz Wilkinson power combiner/dividers. Any electronics guru's out there up to the task?

Matt: Where can I find a manual for the Micro PA50? I have a Xiegu G90, any description of the direct ACC connect cable? Greg AC1NY

I just received my PA50 for my IC-705 and have noticed that often when keying up (especially on CW), the SWR meter on the 705 will momentarily “spike” to infinity before settling down at around 1.5:1 SWR. Is this an indication of “back EMF”, and if so, am I in danger of damaging the 705 when TXing with 3-4 watts out of my 705 into the PA50?

Hi Matt, do you know if this amp is compatible with an Elecraft KX2 ?

thanks matt, your a star👍👍👍,

Can you give more info on attenuators as my qcx mini is running at 5w.

just wondering if anyone knows of a top quality silent cooling fan which might go in this unit, as mine is just way too loud.

what was the 10db attenuator did you use. I have a radio that put out about 6 watts and you can change it, so I thing that would trigger the amp protection. Looking for a way to reduce the power output

Any idea how much power it draws?

So no ALC?

I have one of these, and have harmonica tested it with a Xiegu x6100, and a tinySA through an attenuator. It failed on a couple of bands. Unfortunately I believe this makes it a waste of money for me.

To sensitiv!

I bought one. The internal SWR reads erroneously high, so it goes directly into shut down on any band where the tuner can't get the SWR below about 1.5:1. So, my 705 says the SWR is good, the tuner says it's good, my FT-891 is fine with the match, but this amplifier thinks it's 2.3:1. It's even worse on 15 meters, to the point that it won't even work on my resonant dipole. It was money I could afford to lose, but it is still wasted money. It will make QSO's, but not reliably. Lots of unrealized potential here. Would not recommend.

This amplifiere has operating point >> C-operation

I never heard the price 🤔 de WO8USA🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸