Don Wilhelm wrote: > David and all, > > There already is a message for HI REFL which appears in the VFO B area > when the SWR exceeds 2.0. > It is transient and could possibly be overlooked. If a log of errors > could be made available, that might be helpful when troubleshooting. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > > David Cutter wrote: > >> That would be of great benefit if you had an intermittent fault, such as a >> fault in the antenna, particularly in a contest. Antenna faults are >> probably the most common and an ERR message for high SWR sounds like a >> really good idea. >> >> David >> G3UNA >> >> >> > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.5.339 / Virus Database: 270.12.37/2129 - Release Date: 05/22/09 > 17:56:00 > >
Don, Interesting that you have a message reporting high SWR. I have never seen it and I have had MANY chances to see if it indeed does get displayed when a high SWR causes the power amp to be shut down. Let's suppose for a moment that the mechanism that would display it did not get executed. What other mechanism in the firmware would shut down the power amp when I had the suspect cable connected and when the suspect cable is replaced with a presumed better cable, I have no power amp shut down? Am I to believe that there may be another problem? Any suggestions? Don, N0YE Here is a copy of my original post: Hi all, My K3 appears to be working just fine once the power amp shut down problem was fixed. For months after I had assembled the K3, I would occasionally to frequently experience power amp shut down failures. The power amp shut down failures would occur while transmitting. The power amp shut down would occur sometime after I had been transmitting for a while and sometimes when I has been transmitting only for a very short time. This problem appeared to occur mostly on the 10m band. The problem appears to have been an intermittent BNC connector on the coax cable that I was using. This cable worked fine on other radios but not the K3. When I changed the cable to the K3, the power amp shut down problem went away. I have been trouble free for about 6 weeks now. Lessons learned: (a) use good cables with good connectors, (b) be aware that the K3 has hair trigger protection logic that shuts down the PA, (c.) the K3 needs to have messages displayed on the front panel when it decides to shut down the power amp giving a cause for that action, (d) the K3 documentation needs to enumerate the actions the firmware may take to change the state of the radio, in particular when the PA power is shut down. Had I been able to read about the protection logic built into the firmware to protect the power amplifier, I would have saved months of frustration trying to figure out what was going on. It would be greatly appreciated by me and surely many others if the user manual would discuss the protection logic in the firmware and where and when power down actions will be taken. Had the firmware reported protective action taken to shut down the power amp, this too would have hastened my taking corrective action. It would be so easy for the firmware to display, say on the VFOB display, that high SWR caused the power amp to be shut down. Don Nelson, N0YE ______________________________________________________________ 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
