Jack, I see Wayne has responded and I am certain he will help get to the bottom of the problem.
I do have one question about your SSB behavior - do you see the same drop-off in power if you set the wattmeter to read peak? The power rating of the K3 is expressed in Peak Envelope Power, so your metering should match when trying to compare apples to apples. On your PSK31 situation, are you driving the audio to the K3 high enough to produce 4 to 5 bars on the "ALC" meter, and setting your desired power output with the K3 power knob? If you are trying to use the audio level to control the power output, it will behave much as you have described. The K3 measures the power output, and decides there is not enough to match the setting of your power knob, so it increases the drive attempting to produce more power. Drive the audio input so you have at least 4 ALC bars with maybe the 5th flickering. The "ALC" meter on the K3 is not completely an indication of ALC - the first 4 bars act more like a VU meter to tell you the audio level. The 5th bar indicates the start of ALC action. 73, Don W3FPR Jack Brabham wrote: > Well, here's a follow up. > > A week after the assumed return posting date, I emailed, asking for a > status update and got a phone call from Elecraft the next day. > Nothing had happened during that week, apparently the return shipping > just fell thru a crack and didn't occur (and yes, they are swamped with > work). > > So we got that moving and I received the radio on the 15th. > > Still exhibits the same problem it had when I sent it in. > > So I'm now 3 and a half months into my K3 ownership and still can't get > on SSB. Considering that I bought the radio specifically for SSB > contesting and sold all my other radios to pay for the K3, this is not > making me a happy camper. > > I haven't the slightest doubt that what I was told by Elecraft was 100% > accurate, that the low output problem was confirmed on the bench and > that an EEINIT had "fixed" it, and it stayed "fixed" while at Elecraft. > However, as someone who spent 30 years or so troubleshooting complex > systems, the fact that several previous EEINITs had failed to fix the > problem would have been a big red flag that I had not yet got to the > root cause of the issue. > > So I emailed Rene and let him know the problem was back. I expect I'll > hear from him early next week and we will figure out the next step. > > BTW here's a quick summary of the "problem" in hopes someone on the list > may have an idea to try. > > (1) Low average output on SSB, typically 10 to 15 watts (AVG) according > to my W2 and confirmed in that it only drives my SB-200 to about 150 > watts when driven by voice. This occurs with what I take to be normal > metering indications from the K3, 5 to 7 bars of ALC, a few bars of > compression and the PO meter "hanging" around 50 watts with peaks up > around 100W. > > (2) Weird power fluctations in PSK31. With higher audio frequencies, > when PSK1 idle tones are transmitted, the power out will start at about > 50 to 60 watts and rise to a nominal 75 watts or so over 15 to 20 > seconds. If I preform this test repeatedly with a few seconds "off" > time between tests, the "starting" PO number gets progressively higher > each time. After 6 to 8 test cycles the power will only vary a few watts. > > However if I power cycle the K3, changing nothing else, the PO reverts > to starting at 50 watts or so drifting up to normal over several > seconds, repeating the whole sequence. > > At lower audio frequencies, below around 800 hz, the overall PO tapers > off, and is down 50% at 300 hz. TX EQ is flat, and all config > parameters are still as received from Elecraft repair except RS-232 > baud rate and the mic selection. > > To me, at this point, the two most likely possibilities are something > mechanically/physically intermittent in the K3 (although it has never > worked normally for me), or something in the local station environment. > > I have tried 3 mics, a Heil PR22 and both elements of a Heil Pro-set, > FP, RP, and Line-IN, thru a pro-audio chain or direct connected with no > change. Recordings on the internal DVR sound fine on Monitor but > exhibit the same problem. The power supply is solid at 13.8V. High > quality station ground system. Everything else works fine, superb > reception, normal CW operation, PSK works if I keep the audio carrier > above 1000 hz. > > The DSP board was swapped out before sending the radio in. > > I would be just totally tickled to discover the problem is something > stupid I'm doing or not doing, or a function of some other problem in my > station setup, but I don't know what the heck it would be. > > Any ideas? > > 73 Jack KZ5A > > > > > > > > > > > > On 7/2/2010 10:50 AM, Jack Brabham wrote: > >> I agree that a posted repair queue length figure would probably >> eliminate a lot of angst by setting reasonable expectations. Probably >> eliminate a lot of phone calls to Elecraft as well. A weekly >> prognostication would be more than adequate for my purposes. >> >> Another thing that could use a little work is the level of communication. >> >> Last Friday I got a call from Elecraft stating that the symptoms (low >> SSB PO) had been confirmed, and that an EEINIT had resolved the problem. >> My K3 was going to "soak" over the weekend and shipout Monday (last) >> if was still good. I was glad to hear it was coming back but a bit >> curious as to why the first half a dozen or so times we did an EEINIT >> had not resolved the problem. >> >> Now its a week later, I don't know if my K3 is back in the shop (as I >> suspect) or if it is has been shipped and I need to hang around to >> receive it... I'm sure I could call and get an update but, being lazy, >> I would rather just get a short simple email periodically while the >> RSA is open or anytime there is a status update. >> >> 73 >> >> Jack KZ5A >> >> K3 #4165 >> >> >> >> ______________________________________________________________ >> 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
