<<<Is it normal for the K3 to key up right away for a split second when turned on. I have a Drake L4B with a soft key behind the radio. If by accident the amp is out of the stand-by mode and you turn on the K3, it will key the amp for a split second. Is this normal? Don't get me wrong, I try to put it in standby but every now and then I'll forget. >>>
That's normal behavior for the K3. I don't like it either, but a properly designed step-start should still be OK with just the quiescent current of the PA tubes so long as RF is not applied. The only problem would come in when the step-start and the radio both have issues. If the step-start isn't planned well, and blows a fuse or a resistor when starting under quiescent current loads, then the radio doing closing the relay line at power-on becomes a problem. As a suggestion you could easily build a time-delay start up for the amp, which it should have if simply closing the relay control line at amplifier power-on causes damage. You'd have to add a small relay and wire it in series with the relay control jack. My amplifiers start just fine at quiescent loads, so I don't worry (although what you observe annoys me too and I can see where it could cause step-start damage in some systems). 73, Tom ______________________________________________________________ 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
