Off the cuff, it sounds like you’re trying to transmit into an open circuit … Are you sure you have the correct antenna selected in the radio?
Grant NQ5T K3 #2091 KX3 #8342 > On Dec 3, 2018, at 11:49 AM, Richard Hoffman, K1DJ via Elecraft > <elecraft@mailman.qth.net> wrote: > > I put up my first 160 meter antenna last week in anticipation of > participating in last weekend's contest. I managed to get the antenna -- a > slow slung inverted L with a single raised radial as a compromise on my tiny > 100 by 100 foot lot -- up in time. I then managed to get the antenna down to > an SWR of 2 to 1 measured by a Rig Expert AA55 zoom analyzer, at the balun to > which the raised wire and radial are directly attached, and ythen got the > same 2.0 SWR reading at the shack end of a borrowed piece of about 50 feet of > RG-213. [I recognize that 2 to 1 is not perfect by any means, but it was > certainly within the range of my Elecraft equipment, I thought.] > > But then my K3S simply refused to tune or load into the antenna, either > directly, using its internal ATU, or routed through my KPA-500 to a KAT-500 > tuner. In both circumstances, the rig and/or tuner showed an SWR around 25 > to 1, and tuned at best to around 16 to 1, resulting in no apparent RF output. > After trying to fix this in various ways, I gave up on the 160M contest and > turned to other pursuits, while seeking advice from several Elecraft-loving, > 160M-using, friends. > > It finally dawned on me this morning to connect the rig to my dummy load. > The result of attempting to tune and load the dummy load is exactly the same > as it was trying to use the new inverted-L: initial 25 to 1 SWR, tunes down > only to 16.9 to 1. > The rig, amp, internal and external tuners, and dummy load work fine on 80M > through 6M. This is my first time trying them all on 160M. > QUESTION: Are there special configuration or other steps I need to take to > operate the K3S on 160 meters? Do these symptoms suggest any other problems > that you can help solve? > ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
