Brian, Can’t help wondering if ESD or similar build-up occurred with low humidity in the winter.
Frank KG9H On Jan 28, 2015, at 3:26 PM, Brian Waterworth <[email protected]> wrote: > I had a similar situation with my KX3 just after the RTTY round-up at the > beginning of January. I also have the 2M module installed and experienced > the same challenges with the inductors. SWR values after 2M module install > seemed to be ok on HF. I actually can't recall if they were high as I > didn't check. But, the auto-tuner had no trouble achieving less than 1.5:1 > matches with a regular ATU cycle (not the aggressive cycle) into my G5RV > shorty. After the round-up, I couldn't achieve less than 3 on most bands > (ATU assisted) and in some cases an SWR of 75:1!! I tried measurements > into two different dummy loads that I had around the shack. I bypassed the > ATU and measured on all bands. I had high SWR on all HF bands into both > dummy loads. > > The sad ending to my tail is that I had to send the KX3 back to Elecraft > for warranty repair. > > The report back, from the Elecraft tech looking at my rig, was that 5 of > the RF board's ICs were blown. Probable cause: near field lightning strike > or greater than 100+ watts of RF energy into the KX3. It is winter where I > am (snow, cold :-) and we don't get lightning at this time of year. Also, > I don't know how 100+ watts would have slipped into the KX3. It isn't near > any other RF source with that kind of power. > > It is interesting, Ed, that you are reporting something similar to my > situation. I hope you resolve your problem without having to send your KX3 > back. > > P.S. I struck up a nice email conversation with the folks at Elecraft > support and they guided me through some tests and asked for measurements. > They too didn't want me to have to send the rig back. But, the results of > the SWR measurements told them that something bad was wrong and the KX3 > needed servicing. > > regards, > Brian > VE3IBW > > > > On Wed, Jan 28, 2015 at 1:59 PM, Ed Hamlin <[email protected]> wrote: > >> Hi >> >> I just recently installed the 2M transverter in my KX-3. I’m now noticing >> high (11 to 25) SWR readings on 20m and I wondered if this might be related >> (I don’t recall such high readings before). I’m using an off-center fed >> dipole that has worked quite well in the past. The KX3 autotuner worked so >> well in the past, and I’ve seen it tune on relatively short random wires, >> so inability to tune on a good antenna seems rather odd. >> >> Part of the installation required displacing L40 and L43 on the main RF >> board to make room for the SMA connector. It’s possible to break one of the >> leads on the inductor while doing this. L40 (as I recall) felt pretty tight >> and I may have inadvertently pushed it too hard. >> >> What would be the symptoms of an open circuit on either of those >> inductors? Other than high SWR on 20m and 30m, I haven’t seen any anomalous >> behavior. >> >> 73s >> Ed >> ______________________________________________________________ >> 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 >> Message delivered to [email protected] > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
