It's possible that I was among the first, if not the first, to report the K144XV self-oscillation problem in March 2010 not long after it started shipping. It took six months to solve, including 3 replacements units, a replacement KXV3A and a lot of emails, tests and effort on both sides of the Atlantic. David G4DMP whose K144XV showed the same problem eventually isolated it. As he has said in an earlier posting, the solution, discovered in September 2010, was simple in the end. It is implemented in K144XVs shipped since then and referred to in an Errata Sheet for the K144XV Installation Manual dated September 30th 2010. It applies to pages 15 and 16 of the Manual and involves the omission of one of the screws holding the top cover. I believe the metal standoff beneath the hole may also be omitted now but is still shown in the photograph on page 14 of the Manual, the date of which precedes the solution. In the unlikely event of anyone out there still having the problem, the above details may help.
As will be apparent the support from Elecraft was unstinting and the K144XV may now be bought with full confidence. I would agree, however, that the K144RFLK is essential, for CW and SSB operation operation at least. I have never had problems with strong local signals but here the 2m band is so rarely awash with them that it's not surprising. 73 to all Geoff G3UCK -----Original Message----- From: Ron D'Eau Claire Sent: Sunday, September 16, 2012 12:02 AM It's my understanding that the oscillation problem was solved long ago by (IIRC) a change in the K144XV pc board ground scheme. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
