Fred,
You do seem to have considerable max power dropoff on 10 and 12 meters.
Re-check T2 to be certain it is wound just like the figure in the manual.
It also helps to mount T2 about 1/8 inch above the board.
The second thing that can hold down max power is the CAL CUR setting - set
it higher and see if you get any additional output. With a 13.8 volt
supply, power out of 15 watts on all bands except 12 and 10 meters is quite
common, and if the CAL CUR setting is moved to 4.5 amps, I have obtained as
much as 18 watts on some K2s - the important thing is that you are able to
achieve at least 10 watts on all bands - that is the spec, anything above
that is additional joy.
As far as your Internal Battery charging, you do need 14.1 to 14.2 volts at
the K2 power jack to assure adequate charging (and batteries can have short
lifetimes if undercharged - or overcharged). If you have a charge
controller included with your solar system, you may want to consider a
direct connection to the battery (you may have to install a second charge
controller). For an example of how to do the direct connect with proper
safety considerations, take a look at the SmartCharger article on my webpage
www.qsl.net/w3fpr.
73,
Don W3FPR
----- Original Message -----
I just completed my 2nd K2......I sold the first one (#242) a couple
of years ago. The new K2 (#4502) was completed this morning.
This K2 was built with the KAT2, KIO2, KSB2, K160RX, and KBT2
options.
I seem to have rather low power output......at least I remember the
last K2 I built seemed to have higher output than this one.....might
I have a problem somewhere??? I tried the alignment both with and
without the ATU installed.....so I know the ATU is not the culprit.
These power readings were obtained into a dummy load and measured
with the same digital wattmeter I used with the last K2.
160M.....13 watts
80M.....14.13 watts
40M.....12.8 watts
30M.....13.26 watts
20M.....13.1 watts
17M.....12.6 watts
15M.....11.0 watts
12M.....10.4 watts
10M.....7.74 watts
Also, I may have wasted my money on the battery option. The
instructions for the battery option say to charge the battery from
a 14V +/- .2V.......I run my K2 from a solar charged battery setup.
At night with NO sun the system runs about 12.7V. During the
day with FULL sun it'll run about 13.7V. I had hoped to be able to
grab the K2, key, and portable antenna and head off into the woods
for an afternoon of play......but it looks like I'll have to charge the
battery from some other source. I kinda hate the thought of that!!
So far in it's life, K2 #4502 has had NO commercially produced
electrons inside it......seems like blasphemy to "plug it in"...HI HI
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