Today I was finally able to get a real antenna set up to use with my K2. Signals were coming in nicely on all bands so I decided to try and make some QSOs. I have an external amplifier which I used with my old rig, and it's keyed via an external carrier detect switch that sits in- line between the rig and the amp. The switch takes 12v to work.
My first mistake may have been leaving the K2 turned on while I changed the cabling to wire up the amp. Before this I was just running the K2 to the antenna through my tuner. I hooked up the coax properly from rig to switch to amp to tuner, and then applied 12v to the switch. I heard a zap in my headphones, and quickly realized that I had hooked the DC up to the RF switch backwards : ( I disconnected it right away. Then I noticed that the noise level on 40m, where I had been tuned, was greatly reduced. I removed the amp and switch from the chain and connected the K2 to the tuner and antenna again. When I tried to tune on 40, I got a high current warning. Same on 12 and 10. The other bands work and sound fine. I don't know how wiring the RF detect switch backwards could have resulted in current getting into the K2. Maybe it was just static, I don't know. So I'm guessing I zapped something in the bandpass filter section of the K2. I've opened it up but I don't see any visible signs of trauma. I did smell a burnt electronics smell right after the mishap, but I'm pretty sure it was from the RF detect switch and not the rig. Where should I start with troubleshooting this? *kicks self repeatedly* -- [email protected] (Owen B. Mehegan) 'There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy.' --William Shakespeare ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
