Re: [Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive?
Hi Dave, Yes I did solve by opening up the K3 and 'jiggling' circuit boards and putting covers back onso, not sure which board had gotten loose. I see where you cc support, as it's the weekend, you may want to post on the reflector so the battery of experts, like W3FPR can read your well written diagnosis below. Wish you luck. 73 Tom On Sat, Aug 1, 2015, at 17:38, Dave New, N8SBE wrote: Did you ever solve this? My K3 just died, after being left on overnight. It was working fine last evening, and this afternoon, I came down to the shack to start the NA QSO party CW contest, and no receive, no transmit. I've tried a number of things, including re-loading all the firmware, with the requisite reboots, and restoring the configuration file I had saved just before I took the rig out to W8UM field day. During Field Day, we started getting ERR 12V errors, and the rig started spontaneously shutting down, coming up in low power (less than 10W). We had to finish operating the weekend at the 10 W level. Later, I discovered that the rig was suffering from the dreaded tin-plated connector issue, so I ordered the connector upgrade kit, and installed it a couple of weeks ago. All seemed fine at that point, and we did use the rig to make about 50 contacts (at full power) at the Detroit Maker Faire N8M station last weekend. So, here's what I know, so far: 1) When I change the filter/DSP controls, I can hear the receiver noise change accordingly, so it seems that the receive chain is intact at least from the crystal filters to the audio out. 2) I have the subreceiver installed, and I hear (don't hear?) the identical things on it, so it seems likely that it is something that is upstream to both the main and subreceiver, or something they both share (like a mixer/oscillator). 3) I've tried all bands, and none of them are working, BUT 4) I can see signals on the P3 on all bands, so the signals are getting at least to the IF takeout for the P3. I can see signals on ANT 1, ANT2 (I have the ATU), Rx ANT and on the XVTR IN with the KXV3 set to test mode. 5) In all of these cases transmit shows 0 W out. The transmit audio works on USB/LSB, showing ALC and compression readings on the meter. With VOX on, the CW paddle switches the K3 into transmit mode, the TX LED lights, and the CW decode shows the transmitted characters. 6) I tried to do an RF calibration with the K3 utility, and it seems to complete, but the K3 displays E 0400E2 ERR DSE, and I have to power down/up the radio to get rid of the error message. This might just be a red herring, as I've read messages that indicate this could be an overrun error or some other communications error when using the KUSB adapter (which I'm using on a Windows 7 PC). In summary, the K3 serial 3105 seems to behave completely normally, including all controls and displays, except that I cannot hear signals from the antenna, although they are displayed clearly on the P3, and transmit power is nil. Any suggestions would be most welcome. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: [Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive? From: cx...@4email.net Date: Sat, May 30, 2015 11:08 am To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Cc: k3supp...@elecraft.com Hola, I was scheduled to operate my K3 as a remote for the WPX contest. Problems with VPN at remote site delayed that setup. As contest time approached, I decided to deploy my Buddipole out the apartment window and was gonna play around with 100w and dipole config.on 15m. However, I could not hear any signals, at all. Nothing but white noise on all bands. The Buddipole ends in a BNC which I had connected to adaptor for PL259. Tried Ant 1 and Ant 2 with no luck. Thinking adaptor may be bad, I hook BNC to RX in but no sigs there. This morning, more troubleshooting, I discovered that there is no power out (although I was tricked as ATU was finding perfect SWR , HI). K3 has not been used for over a year and when I brought it to HP, it was inside my rollaboard so I had a watchful eye on it during the trip. The only thing I can think of, is perhaps one or more of the circuit boards was dislodged due to vibrations of rolling around the airport or within the airplane(s) themselves. 9 hours on B767 then 3 on a B737. Before I open up the K3 and start messing around inside. any suggestions or tips on where I should start? I am thinking of pulling circuit boards then resetting them, just in case one or more was 'jiggled' loose during transport. 73 Tom HP1/K6CT aka CX7TT -- __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive?
Did you ever solve this? My K3 just died, after being left on overnight. It was working fine last evening, and this afternoon, I came down to the shack to start the NA QSO party CW contest, and no receive, no transmit. I've tried a number of things, including re-loading all the firmware, with the requisite reboots, and restoring the configuration file I had saved just before I took the rig out to W8UM field day. During Field Day, we started getting ERR 12V errors, and the rig started spontaneously shutting down, coming up in low power (less than 10W). We had to finish operating the weekend at the 10 W level. Later, I discovered that the rig was suffering from the dreaded tin-plated connector issue, so I ordered the connector upgrade kit, and installed it a couple of weeks ago. All seemed fine at that point, and we did use the rig to make about 50 contacts (at full power) at the Detroit Maker Faire N8M station last weekend. So, here's what I know, so far: 1) When I change the filter/DSP controls, I can hear the receiver noise change accordingly, so it seems that the receive chain is intact at least from the crystal filters to the audio out. 2) I have the subreceiver installed, and I hear (don't hear?) the identical things on it, so it seems likely that it is something that is upstream to both the main and subreceiver, or something they both share (like a mixer/oscillator). 3) I've tried all bands, and none of them are working, BUT 4) I can see signals on the P3 on all bands, so the signals are getting at least to the IF takeout for the P3. I can see signals on ANT 1, ANT2 (I have the ATU), Rx ANT and on the XVTR IN with the KXV3 set to test mode. 5) In all of these cases transmit shows 0 W out. The transmit audio works on USB/LSB, showing ALC and compression readings on the meter. With VOX on, the CW paddle switches the K3 into transmit mode, the TX LED lights, and the CW decode shows the transmitted characters. 6) I tried to do an RF calibration with the K3 utility, and it seems to complete, but the K3 displays E 0400E2 ERR DSE, and I have to power down/up the radio to get rid of the error message. This might just be a red herring, as I've read messages that indicate this could be an overrun error or some other communications error when using the KUSB adapter (which I'm using on a Windows 7 PC). In summary, the K3 serial 3105 seems to behave completely normally, including all controls and displays, except that I cannot hear signals from the antenna, although they are displayed clearly on the P3, and transmit power is nil. Any suggestions would be most welcome. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: [Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive? From: cx...@4email.net Date: Sat, May 30, 2015 11:08 am To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Cc: k3supp...@elecraft.com Hola, I was scheduled to operate my K3 as a remote for the WPX contest. Problems with VPN at remote site delayed that setup. As contest time approached, I decided to deploy my Buddipole out the apartment window and was gonna play around with 100w and dipole config.on 15m. However, I could not hear any signals, at all. Nothing but white noise on all bands. The Buddipole ends in a BNC which I had connected to adaptor for PL259. Tried Ant 1 and Ant 2 with no luck. Thinking adaptor may be bad, I hook BNC to RX in but no sigs there. This morning, more troubleshooting, I discovered that there is no power out (although I was tricked as ATU was finding perfect SWR , HI). K3 has not been used for over a year and when I brought it to HP, it was inside my rollaboard so I had a watchful eye on it during the trip. The only thing I can think of, is perhaps one or more of the circuit boards was dislodged due to vibrations of rolling around the airport or within the airplane(s) themselves. 9 hours on B767 then 3 on a B737. Before I open up the K3 and start messing around inside. any suggestions or tips on where I should start? I am thinking of pulling circuit boards then resetting them, just in case one or more was 'jiggled' loose during transport. 73 Tom HP1/K6CT aka CX7TT -- __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive?
On Sat, 30 May 2015 10:34:31 -0500 James Wilson w4rk...@gmail.com writes: Tom, Since you receive white noise, before you dive into the K3, consider that there is an item that is common to all three antenna inputs. - The BNC connector and coax to the BudiPole. Try another independent antenna into the antenna input you have active. Just a few feet of wire as an antenna will give you some signal reception. Then try transmitting into a dummy load using a completely different coax and connector. Just suggestions. 73, Jim Wilson __ 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 riese-k3...@juno.com __ 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
[Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive?
Hola, I was scheduled to operate my K3 as a remote for the WPX contest. Problems with VPN at remote site delayed that setup. As contest time approached, I decided to deploy my Buddipole out the apartment window and was gonna play around with 100w and dipole config.on 15m. However, I could not hear any signals, at all. Nothing but white noise on all bands. The Buddipole ends in a BNC which I had connected to adaptor for PL259. Tried Ant 1 and Ant 2 with no luck. Thinking adaptor may be bad, I hook BNC to RX in but no sigs there. This morning, more troubleshooting, I discovered that there is no power out (although I was tricked as ATU was finding perfect SWR , HI). K3 has not been used for over a year and when I brought it to HP, it was inside my rollaboard so I had a watchful eye on it during the trip. The only thing I can think of, is perhaps one or more of the circuit boards was dislodged due to vibrations of rolling around the airport or within the airplane(s) themselves. 9 hours on B767 then 3 on a B737. Before I open up the K3 and start messing around inside. any suggestions or tips on where I should start? I am thinking of pulling circuit boards then resetting them, just in case one or more was 'jiggled' loose during transport. 73 Tom HP1/K6CT aka CX7TT -- __ 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
[Elecraft] K3 no xmit, no receive?
Tom, Since you receive white noise, before you dive into the K3, consider that there is an item that is common to all three antenna inputs. - The BNC connector and coax to the BudiPole. Try another independent antenna into the antenna input you have active. Just a few feet of wire as an antenna will give you some signal reception. Then try transmitting into a dummy load using a completely different coax and connector. Just suggestions. 73, Jim Wilson __ 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
[Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed
All, My K3 does not have the option that provides for the third antenna input (KXV3). Would the following method allow me use dual antennas for Field Day. Use the switched 12 volt out to drive an antenna relay to make the changeover. Will this work? Is there a better approach? Thanks, John N0EVH __ 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
[Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed
John, The switched 12V out you're referring to is switched on with the K3's POWER and remains in an ON state as long as the radio is on. There is a keyed to ground connection (KEY OUT) that -might- meet your needs to switch an external relay, but I don't know it's current / voltage limitations. Doesn't ANT 1 and ANT 2 meet your needs? They are selectable with the ANT button on the front panel. Maybe I've not understood your question . 73! Ken Kopp- K0PP elecraftcov...@rfwave.net __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed
John: You don't have a lot of time before this Field Day, but in the longer term, there's a better way. For this Field Day, I'd look for a manual switch from MFJ or Alpha-Delta or something along those lines. The K3 (and most other radios of recent vintage) provide back-panel band change or band level lines that can be used for this purpose. The K3 uses a 4-line (plus ground) BCD encoding on the back-panel accessory connector to indicate the band. Yaesu uses the same scheme. Band decoders for this 4-line BCD encoding that are advertised for Yaesu products work well with the K3. ICOM uses a different scheme, but the idea is the same. Available band decoders for the K3 / Yaesu 4-wire BCD protocol include: Elecraft KRC2 http://www.elecraft.com/KRC2/krc2.htm, Unified Microsystems BCD-10 http://www.unifiedmicro.com/decoder.html See the link at the bottom for a more complete description of a simple switching system. http://www.unifiedmicro.com/BBCD10_BLK.pdf Top Ten Devices http://www.qth.com/topten/bdecoder.htm Array Solutions http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/bandmaster.htm#top%20of%20page and microHAM http://www.microham-usa.com/Products/band%20decoder.html The capabilities (and prices) of these devices varies considerably. Some of them have many more functions than just band decoding. These all help to automate the antenna selection process. You change the frequency from the radio front panel (or your logging program on your computer), the radio provides signals to the band decoder, the band decoder provides +12V to an appropriate set of relays, and the relays select the appropriate antenna. Some antenna relay boxes can switch two radios to N antennas, and isolation becomes a very important issue. There are antenna relay boxes available from some of the same sources. I've seen any number of construction articles in QST and NCJ about this. It's a popular station automation topic for contesting stations. In a contest, particularly with guest operators, it's ideal if you can just change the radio's frequency and start transmitting, everything else is automated. Some of my current antennas require an ATU, and I have to tune my amplifier, but I'm hoping someday to automate all that, too. The really competitive stations have all this automated. You could ask this question on the TowerTalk or CQ-Contes reflector and get lots of advice... 73 de Dick, K6KR -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Watkins Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 3:33 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed All, My K3 does not have the option that provides for the third antenna input (KXV3). Would the following method allow me use dual antennas for Field Day. Use the switched 12 volt out to drive an antenna relay to make the changeover. Will this work? Is there a better approach? Thanks, John N0EVH __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed
Take a look at MFJ-1707, or HB your own. I built one years ago, but never got around to building the receive antennas, so didn't really try it out. Jim K0XU On 6/9/2010 6:31 PM, Dick Dievendorff wrote: John: You don't have a lot of time before this Field Day, but in the longer term, there's a better way. For this Field Day, I'd look for a manual switch from MFJ or Alpha-Delta or something along those lines. The K3 (and most other radios of recent vintage) provide back-panel band change or band level lines that can be used for this purpose. The K3 uses a 4-line (plus ground) BCD encoding on the back-panel accessory connector to indicate the band. Yaesu uses the same scheme. Band decoders for this 4-line BCD encoding that are advertised for Yaesu products work well with the K3. ICOM uses a different scheme, but the idea is the same. Available band decoders for the K3 / Yaesu 4-wire BCD protocol include: Elecraft KRC2 http://www.elecraft.com/KRC2/krc2.htm, Unified Microsystems BCD-10 http://www.unifiedmicro.com/decoder.html See the link at the bottom for a more complete description of a simple switching system. http://www.unifiedmicro.com/BBCD10_BLK.pdf Top Ten Devices http://www.qth.com/topten/bdecoder.htm Array Solutions http://www.arraysolutions.com/Products/bandmaster.htm#top%20of%20page and microHAM http://www.microham-usa.com/Products/band%20decoder.html The capabilities (and prices) of these devices varies considerably. Some of them have many more functions than just band decoding. These all help to automate the antenna selection process. You change the frequency from the radio front panel (or your logging program on your computer), the radio provides signals to the band decoder, the band decoder provides +12V to an appropriate set of relays, and the relays select the appropriate antenna. Some antenna relay boxes can switch two radios to N antennas, and isolation becomes a very important issue. There are antenna relay boxes available from some of the same sources. I've seen any number of construction articles in QST and NCJ about this. It's a popular station automation topic for contesting stations. In a contest, particularly with guest operators, it's ideal if you can just change the radio's frequency and start transmitting, everything else is automated. Some of my current antennas require an ATU, and I have to tune my amplifier, but I'm hoping someday to automate all that, too. The really competitive stations have all this automated. You could ask this question on the TowerTalk or CQ-Contes reflector and get lots of advice... 73 de Dick, K6KR -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Watkins Sent: Wednesday, June 09, 2010 3:33 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Subject: [Elecraft] K3 with xmit and receive antennas - advice needed All, My K3 does not have the option that provides for the third antenna input (KXV3). Would the following method allow me use dual antennas for Field Day. Use the switched 12 volt out to drive an antenna relay to make the changeover. Will this work? Is there a better approach? Thanks, John N0EVH __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
