Keith,

I saw Don respond to this and he is right that K15 would be the common denominator if not for 15m. You can check to see if the coils are intact if you measure the resistance between pins 1 and 10 for each. It should be around 230 ohms or so. If you find one open or well away from that resistance, then it would indicate a bad coil on that relay.

You can also measure the intended path through the relays for each band and make sure there are no unintended paths. If you can read the schematic, it shows the path with each relay in it's reset state. You would need to consult the table in Appendix B to see which relay(s) are active for a respective band and you can then measure the continuity of the intended path. You should also check any unintended paths which could indicate a problem.

As Don stated, this is not a fun problem to find and will take some good debugging skills. So far, everything you've indicated seems to suggest the PLL oscillator and VCO circuits are working properly, but the range selection area is not producing the proper capacitance to allow the VCO to produce the proper frequency on those bands you indicated.

If reading the schematic is a problem, let us know and I am sure between Don and myself, we can give you some step by step instructions for tracing through this problem.

73,
Dave W8FGU

------ Original Message ------
From: "Keith Hamilton" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: 7/13/2020 9:34:03 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Fwd: Re[2]: K2 7747 VCO alignment problem

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Keith Hamilton <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 9:19 PM
Subject: Re: Re[2]: [Elecraft] K2 7747 VCO alignment problem
To: Dave Van Wallaghen <[email protected]>


Dave

Yes the frequency changes when turning the VFO knob when measuring with CAL
FCTR on TP1.

I have checked the markings on C71, C72, C73, and C74 (C75 is not installed
yet). They are
all correct and I resoldered them to be sure.

I am beginning to think I might have a bad relay K13, K14 or K15. My good
bands are 80,40 and
15 meters. My bad bands are 30,20,17,12 and 10 meters. Looking at the relay
table in appendix B
I am not sure which relay could be bad. How can I test them? Should I try
to replace them?
73,
Keith N8CEP


On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 4:58 PM Dave Van Wallaghen <[email protected]> wrote:

 Ok Keith, just to make sure things are where we want on the bands that
 seem to work, does the frequency change when turning the VFO knob when
 measuring with CAL FCTR on TP1? If they do, then things are working ok.

 For the bands that are locked at 8.28v, that is the max output from the
 integrator circuit (U6B). This means that there is no lock between the PLL
 Oscillator and the VCO circuit and the PLL chip (U4) is trying to drive the
 varactors to provide more capacitance to the VCO circuit. The most likely
 cause will be a misplaced capacitor in the VCO range selector (C71 - C75)
 or a problem in the VCO circuit itself. But because this may be band
 dependent, I would look first in that range selection circuit. Verify that
 those caps are the proper values. They are easily misread and will cause
 the type of thing you are seeing.

 Also verify those varactor diodes are the proper type and in the right
 places. Soldering issues are typically the leading cause of problems, so
 check that also. If all looks right to you, you may want to signal trace
 through that selection circuit to verify the proper relays and active for
 the bands not working. There is a relay table in Appendix B that shows you
 which relays are active for each band.

 This is a brand new build, correct?

 73,
 Dave, W8FGU


 On 7/13/2020 4:41:07 PM, "Keith Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote:

 Thanks for your help Dave!

 Yes. I was able to get 6 volts on R30 by turning L30. At first the voltage
 was too high
 so I adjusted the turns on T5 by spreading the red windings further apart.
 Then I
 was able to get to 6 volts.

 I did a CAL FCTR with the probe on TP1 and the frequency set to 4000,
 The reading is 8912.22

 73 Keith N8CEP


 On Mon, Jul 13, 2020 at 3:59 PM Dave Van Wallaghen <[email protected]> wrote:

 Hi Keith,

 Were you able to get 6v on R30 by tuning L30? Did you have to bring the
 voltage down or up by moving the windings on T5?

 If you would, set the VFO to 4 MHz and do a CAL FCTR on TP1 and let me
 know what the reading is. I'm just looking for a couple of clues before
 we proceed.

 73,
 Dave, W8FGU


 On 7/13/2020 2:52:11 PM, "Keith Hamilton" <[email protected]> wrote:

 >I am having trouble with the K2 VCO alignment. I have moved the T5
 windings
 >and obtained 6 volts at the left end of R30. I then went on to the chart
 >(table 6-1) to measure the voltages at the listed frequencies. My
 readings
 >are ok on 80 40 and 15 meters (between 1.5 to 7.5 volts) but on 30,20,17
 >,12 and 10 meters the voltage is 8.29 volts and does not change.
 >
 >I have checked the solder connections of T5 and the value of C72 (271).
 The
 >diodes D21,D22,D23, D24, D25 and D26 are correctly installed. I also went
 >over the solder connections of K13, K14 and K15.
 >
 >Now I'm stuck. Any help will be appreciated.
 >
 >Keioth Hamilton N8CEP
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