I believe you have been hearing about the wattmeter diodes in the KPA100. That has nothing to do with the receiver at all. The receiver will withstand quite an excessive surge.
The situation is that the K2/100 power control circuits depend on measuring the transmitted power right at the antenna. As a result, the diodes in the wattmeter measurement circuit are quite close to the antenna feedpoint and static surges such as caused by nearby lightning can cause damage to those diodes. The best solution is to remove the antenna connection when the K2 is not in use - the best method is to use an antenna switch to connect a dummy load to the transceiver. Again, this has nothing to do with the receive sensitivity of the K2 or the K3, it is only related to the ability to control the power output. When the wattmeter diodes are damaged, the KPA100 will go to full power output -while displaying zero (or low) power. I have not heard of many incidents with diode damage with the K3, but with the K2, we hear of this problem frequently. I do not know why the K3 has escaped damage to the wattmeter diodes, since its power control mechanism is similar to the K2. If you want to be safe and protect your transceiver (no matter what the brand or model) from surges on the antenna (from wind, rain, snow, or nearby lightning static), then disconnect the antenna from the transceiver when not in use. In the best case, connect the transceiver to a dummy load, and if you cannot manage that, at least make the circuit between the antenna feedline and the transceiver an open circuit 73, Don W3FPR On 9/7/2011 10:13 PM, KC6CNN wrote: > I have read several post about something burning out due to close by > lightning. > I have not heard of this many before. > My question is because of the high sensitivity of the receivers are the > elecraft's prone to this? > > ______________________________________________________________ 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
