Hi All
I just wanted to put on record my thanks to all those who offered advice and
support as I worked through the issue with my KRX3A.
It’s all working now. For the record, I think it was a poor connection caused
by one of the TMP cables not being engaged fully.
73
Gareth, M5KVK
On 5/31/2020 7:22 PM, Peter Dougherty wrote:
This is a brand-new balun from InnovAntennas, made specifically for this
antenna, received this past Thursday.
The word "balun" has been used to describe nearly a dozen VERY different
physical things, and is thus totally useless as a descriptor of
Is there any chance RF is getting in to the KPA1500 via an alternative
route, like one of your HF antennas, a faulty switch, loose bonding/ground,
or even a change in house wiring or wifi router, antenna rotator cable,
picking up the RF and radiating/routing it to the KPA1500 from the
antenna?
It seems to have been a transient. Signals appear to be comparable this morning.
This is all by ear of course.
73
Gareth, M5KVK
On 31/05/2020, 18:09, "Grant Youngman" wrote:
Glad to hear you got it working. But you shouldn’t be seeing a signifiant
difference between the two receivers,
I have two of the original A123 SLA style 7AH sized batteries, model ALM-12V7
and use them with my KX3. They have eight ANR26650 cells arranged in a 4S2P
config. The ALM-12V7s can be arranged in series or parallel systems the same as
ordinary SLAs.
Internal to the battery package are the
Jim,
These were LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Nanophosphate) A123 packs, sold then in
4S1P, 4S2P, and 4S4P configuration. Totally different animal from what you
are talking about, and as I said, no internal balancing. They had
balancing harnesses for hooking up to Cellpro 4S and 10S chargers. The
On 6/1/2020 6:45 AM, Alan - G4GNX wrote:
I have a similar issue with ferrite 'balun' heating, although mostly
tested on 40 metres. I'm using an OSCFD (Windom) which has a main 4:1
balun at the feed point, but also has a sleeve 'balun' consisting of 8
ferrites wrapped in a plastic sleeve, about
My experience is that the Balun-Designs 4:1 current balun works
brilliantly on a well designed ocf antenna with decent height and
proportions to
provide good band sync at the same impedance point, where the different
band sine waves intersect, at the approx 1/3 total length feedpoint.
shown
My recent experience with Palstar has not been good. An expensive DL1500
dummy load in which the SO239 had not been mounted correct bwith the
locknut still ten turns loose,
requiring dismantle and repair new out of the box by myself. Also a new
expensive AT2K tuner in which the roller
It's the 6 element LFA on a 6.8 meter boom. The balun is their 50 MHz ferrite
core balun.
I want to get the Ten-Tec tuner out of the equation forthwith but unless I can
solve the fan noise problems it's a non-starter. My XYL is working from home in
the same home-office that my shack is
Is it the 3 element 6m LFA? That is an interesting antenna. Which of the baluns
did you get? They show three - two for 50 - 70 MHz, and a third for HF and 6m.
G0KSC has some interesting designed - I will be waiting to hear your results
with this one.
I’ll go through your details here and see
Since Elecraft is so backed up. I thought would ask this question here
I just received my invoice for repairs to my K3S
There was a notation stating:
SPKR + PH wrong toogle. Reset to NO
I found this unusual as I have it set to YES since my headphones and stereo
external speakers both
On 6/1/2020 7:13 AM, Adrian wrote:
If you use a decent combination balun such as ;
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-4116-4-1-hybrid-balun-1-5-54mhz-3kw/
if you have any metal structure in range of the field, or
These are probably effective as impedance matching devices, but
everything I've
I agree with Jim, K9YC on these points.
** OCFD antennas are noted to have lots of common mode current issues.
These are a chore to tame.
** Most commercial baluns or common mode chokes are poor designs, of
inadequate material, designs copied from other poor designs but packed
in a
On 6/1/2020 3:31 PM, Walter Underwood wrote:
Even with a 1:1 SWR, 1000 W is pretty close to the 500 V peak rating for a UHF
connector.
The vast majority of HF stations with big power amps use UHF connectors
throughout, and are without such problems as long as quality connectors
are properly
On 6/1/2020 5:47 PM, Peter Dougherty wrote:
Ten-Tec Tuner,
This might be it, Peter. ! I've used (and loved) the Ten Tec 229 and 238
tuners, but some of their fixed capacitors are under-rated for power.
This is fairly well known among Ten Tec users, so I read about it
somewhere and
Plus there is L1 which is 0.3uH in the circuit and C7 and C8 in the
circuit when in the bypass position. This does not allow the tuner,
even in bypass mode, to work well as an antenna switch on 6M.
The capacitors in question are not rated for the RF current
experienced under certain load Z
I had a similar issue with my K3s/KPA 1500 that defied logic. Without going
into all the details, I finally sent both the K3s and KPA 1500 back to
Elecraft to have them analyze it as a systems problem. It turned out to be
a faulty 100W PA on the K3s that would generate very short high level
On 6/1/2020 6:37 AM, stephen shearer wrote:
Ground loops can be another issue.
I was having a "feed back" issue with my KX3/KXPA100 ans solved it
eliminating ground/power loops.
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON!
First, ain't no such thing as a "ground loop." The real cause of
problems we BLAME on this
Based on my experience, balun power ratings are for MATCHED conditions.
It is rare that hams use a balun in a matched condition. Thus a 1:1
balun should see 50 ohms on the input and 50 ohms on the output, while a
4:1 balun should see 200 ohms on the output and 50 ohms on the input.
In
I, too, use Bioenno batteries. They work well, and I have tested the ones
I own under load, and the advertised capacity ratings are pretty accurate.
My one gripe is that the balancing circuitry is built into the pack. This
causes them to slowly self-discharge. The original A123 batteries use a
In that case, then it should also fault with a 50 ohm dummy load under
the same settings.
Does it ?
Adrian Fewster
Everything I'm seeing is pointing to the fault
being inside the KPA-1500 at this point.
- pjd
__
Elecraft
Morning Doug,
Like many others who responded to you, I use Bioenno LFP batteries to power my
radios in the field. I currently have three packs, a 3Ah, a 15Ah, and a new
60Ah. The latter was purchased for Field Day and will power my K3, station
computer, and whatnot in the field. (Yes, I’m
I am not familiar with the KPA1500 but I am wondering if the tuner is
causing the poor SWR on your good 6m antenna? Is it bypassed?
John KK9A
Peter Dougherty w2irt wrote:
I have never driven the amp with 90 Watts. Ever. The 90W figure is
what comes out of the K3s *after* the amp has
The balun (1:1 current choke here) is a red herring.
If you follow this thread all the way back, you'll see that the previous
antenna was not balun fed, and it used a length of 75 ohm cable and stubs to
match. And in this case the balun is made by InnovAntennas, specifically for
this antenna
Amazon is selling a 12v 6amp battery for $30 w/free shipping, fits in
the palm of your hand. Ordered one last Friday to use w/KX3...
73 de Jose Douglas KB1TCD
On 6/1/2020 7:39 AM, Doug Daniels wrote:
I'm hoping to get my KX2 for Field Day, and am looking to get an external
battery to use for
The new full-length LMR-400 cable is about 3 feet longer than the old 2-section
coax I had before (old = 3/8” hardline and about 8 feet of RG-213). The entry
point is grounded to rod immediately below it, connected by 1.5” braid.
- pjd
From: Mark Goldberg
Sent: Monday, June 1, 2020
Hello Peter
I suspect RFI as well. I do not have a KPA1500, so my advice is not
worth much, but the fact that the fault only occurs when a signal is
being radiated sends me a red flag. I had a similar problem here with
my SPE amplifier power output. I was measuring it on an LP-100A
I have a similar issue with ferrite 'balun' heating, although mostly
tested on 40 metres. I'm using an OSCFD (Windom) which has a main 4:1
balun at the feed point, but also has a sleeve 'balun' consisting of 8
ferrites wrapped in a plastic sleeve, about 3 feet from the feed point.
If I run the
I'm hoping to get my KX2 for Field Day, and am looking to get an external
battery to use for FD as well as SOTA. I'm looking at the Talentcell and
Bienno 12v 12Ah ones. Anything specific to the KX2 I need to know about
external batteries? I know the internal one is more or less proprietary.
--
That's worth a shot. I have a ~7 foot RG-213 patch cable from the back of the
amp to the entry box. I don't have any more LMR-400 so I can't use that, but I
do have quite a bit of 213 and will make a new patch cable. That's the only bit
of the old system that's still remaining.
- pjd
First I'd like to thank all everyone that bought my DDU. I have had some great
feedback.
I had an email last week asking me if my DDU would work with their W1 watt
meter. The model I am selling now will not. But I can rewrite the code to
work with the W1. I would only do this if there are
Ground loops can be another issue.
I was having a "feed back" issue with my KX3/KXPA100 ans solved it
eliminating ground/power loops.
73, steve WB3LGC
On 6/1/20 8:25 AM, David Olean wrote:
Hello Peter
I suspect RFI as well. I do not have a KPA1500, so my advice is not
worth much, but the
I have never driven the amp with 90 Watts. Ever. The 90W figure is what comes
out of the K3s *after* the amp has tripped out. With the amp in 'operate' I
feed it typically 25-35 Watts.
Here are the error codes, as requested (truncated for length--there are MANY
more):
441 20-06-01T01:02:22
Hi all,
I run a 75m Emergency Mgmt regional net Sundays at 21:00 UTC on 3.940 and The
Seagull net is active rest of the week here in ME same freq.
I find the band goes long shortly after the net is over, around 21:30.
Might want to not use 3.940 for a net...
I’d be willing to try Elecraft net
I use a Bioenno 9ah battery with mine, works great.
Tom - KB2SMS
On 6/1/20 7:39 AM, Doug Daniels wrote:
I'm hoping to get my KX2 for Field Day, and am looking to get an external
battery to use for FD as well as SOTA. I'm looking at the Talentcell and
Bienno 12v 12Ah ones. Anything specific to
Peter,
If my antenna system had 2.5 to 3 to 1 SWR, I would not run 1.5 KW. I'd
be looking at my antenna...
73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
On 5/31/20 9:07 PM, Peter
If you use a decent combination balun such as ;
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-4116-4-1-hybrid-balun-1-5-54mhz-3kw/
if you have any metal structure in range of the field, or
https://www.balundesigns.com/model-4115ocf-4-1-for-ocf-dipoles-1-5-54-mhz-5kw/
for a total current 4:1 balun. These
The internal battery isn't proprietary. Elecraft has some made for them
with the power connector they use. I bought some spares from Tenergy a
while back and soldered on my own connectors. I'm not sure why, at the time
Elecraft had a shipping policy about more than two batteries I believe.
I have
Your point is valid, however the underlying fact in my situation is that the
new antenna with the new 1:1 current balun (i.e. feedline choke) is presenting
**identically** to my old antenna that didn't have a balun. Neither better nor
worse.
- pjd
-Original Message-
From:
I had an antenna for 160m that had a fairly high SWR at the feedpoint, but
was easy to match to 50 ohms with a series inductor less than 30 feet
further down the line toward the shack. I put a common mode choke per
K9YC's designs at the antenna feedpoint, though, and even though it was
actually
Nearly same experience Bob: Sloping V, 135 ft legs, from top of 80 ft
tower fed with homemade 600 ohm open wire using a DX Engineering 4:1
"balun" [a strange, usually misunderstood piece of electronic apparatus
often used for the wrong reasons] rated at 10 KW. It warmed up
noticeably at 1.2
I am following this with great interest.
Like Alan G0GNX, I also use an OCF, RG-8X out to the current balun in this
case, 300 ohm to the antenna. K3, KPA-500 and KAT-500.
If I am running stations in a contest on 40m and also 80m CW, It "appears"
that my VSWR rises after a half hour and then the
Lets take another try at this. There still isn’t enough information in your
emails to really determine what might be going on. From the amplifier’s
viewpoint, *everything* from the antenna jack on the back of the amplifier is
part of the antenna system. So far we know it consists of some
Back to Bob K4TAX
I had a common mode current problem when I lived in Virginia and ran 100
watts barefoot, and it came as I could not do a significant angle away from
the antenna --- which I eventually solved.
I really do love the OCF idea. Through modeling it and patterns and then
careful
Thanks for the reply, Jack.
Here's a FULL summary of what is in the line at this moment from the jack on up.
PL-259 (soldered, Amphenol 83-1SP as all are) to about 2 feet of RG-213 feeding
into a Ten-Tec Tuner, which is being used only as an antenna switch and is in
bypass. This is needed
One of my antennas is a commercial "G5RV" fed with 33' of 450 ohm ladder
line, terminated in a PL-259 pair, with coax from there to the shack.
Apparently this combination results in very high RF voltage at the
PL-259, and it arcs over at 1000 W (not from an Elecraft amp!). This
combo goes
Even with a 1:1 SWR, 1000 W is pretty close to the 500 V peak rating for a UHF
connector. Type N connectors are rated at 1500 V peak.
wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
> On Jun 1, 2020, at 3:17 PM, George Kidder wrote:
>
> One of my antennas is a
Is it possible that Common mode is getting into the amp, and forcing a
fault?
73, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL Technical Specialist
ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources
On 6/1/20 2:40 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
Nearly same experience
Mine are also LiFePO4 and extremely trouble free
Jim
On Monday, June 1, 2020, 9:17:16 PM PDT, Eric Norris
wrote:
Jim,
These were LiFePO4 (Lithium Iron Nanophosphate) A123 packs, sold then in 4S1P,
4S2P, and 4S4P configuration. Totally different animal from what you are
talking
I have an HF-Auto that is just unsuitable for contest/DX duty, even with the
kludge workaround software--which often doesn't work right. I gave up on it and
hope to sell it to a ragchewer who will undoubtedly make better use of it than
I ever could.
And I agree about the Palstar support
It's a BIT better on ANT-2, but still faults out on occasion, and I'm not
getting a true SWR reading. It is slightly more stable, though, to answer your
question.
- pjd
-Original Message-
From: Vic Rosenthal
Sent: Tuesday, June 2, 2020 1:01 AM
To: Peter Dougherty
Cc: Jack Brindle ;
Pardon me if this has already been covered, but do you have the same problem if
you connect the antenna to ANT-2 on the KPA? I know you don’t want to do this
permanently, but just as a test.
Victor 4X6GP
> On 2 Jun 2020, at 3:47, Peter Dougherty wrote:
>
> Thanks for the reply, Jack.
>
>
The Amphenol 83-1SP connector that many of us use is rated at 1000
volts RMS, That well exceeds the voltage that most amateur 1500
watt amplifiers can safely produce without much more severe internal
damage to the amplifier.
www.amphenolrf.com/media/downloads/305/C83-1sp.pdf
73
Frank
Just a question. Why do you use speakers AND phones at same time? Maybe so
that you can hear radio better but still provide speaker so that you can
irritate your wife and kids in the other room?
Sent from my iPhone
...nr4c. bill
> On Jun 1, 2020, at 10:39 PM, Rich wrote:
>
> Since
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