Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 App

Joel; It’s worth the look. We have most apps for both Windows and Mac. By the way, the KPA500 firmware was developed and is still maintained using a Mac mini, which is a good indication as to how important both Windows and macOS are to us. Welcome to the Elecraft world; we hope you will enjoy y

Re: [Elecraft] KPA1500 Faulting for High SWR inappropriately

What is the fault? We see a lot of issues with antenna systems not being able to handle the higher power, either 500 or 1500 watts. This can develop over time or show up very quickly after the amp is installed. Be sure to check the cabling and connectors for possible arcing. In this situation, t

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 Also faulting for High SWR inappropriately

Amazingly, it is probably not the KPA500. We have been seeing quite a few inquiries about this. Analysis almost always shows an issue in the antenna system caused by high power. There are a few things at play. When measuring SWR (or better, antenna S parameters) at low power, you will get the

Re: [Elecraft] RS232/ U1/ failure

The ‘1406 is a rather ubiquitous chip - we use it many places in several package styles. It started out life as the Motorola MC141406, and was picked up by many other manufacturers. You should be able to find a proper substitute from many manufacturers in the package style you need in the KIO3.

Re: [Elecraft] KPA 500 Erratic Band Changes

Dave; Do you get the Operate message on the K3 display before the band change? Might the K3 be transmitting when you hit the OPER button on the KPA? Use the KPA Utility to get a fast log file and send it my way. I am very interested in seeing the KPA’s current settings. I’m really puzzled at wh

Re: [Elecraft] Where to put the wattmeter

The original poster was using a sensor connected to a P3. For me, the big use for this is to view the modulation pattern of my transmission. I have other devices (like the KPA500 itself) that tells me the power. And if I really want to see the match on the antenna feed (which for my tribander sh

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 Fan Question

Hi Jim! Hope you are enjoying Idaho. I hear it is a great place to be! The fan in the KPA500 goes to level 3 at 60 degrees. It goes to full-on at 80 degrees. The levels are: level 1 - 50C degrees level 2 - 55C degrees level 3 - 60C degrees level 4 - 65C degrees level 5 - 70C degrees level 6 - 80

Re: [Elecraft] W-2 Cable Length

A shorter cable would be no problem. I found the stock cables to be too long as well and fabricated shorter cables for my W2 test setup. Going the other way, very long cables could be a problem since the sample voltages could degrade on the path, and there could be RF pickup to cause issues. Ther

Re: [Elecraft] Yamaha CM500

The CM-500 is indicated as being discontinued by Yamaha. There are some available from a vendor at Amazon for $80. I suspect they bought up Yamaha’s inventory when they were discontinued. 73, Jack, W6FB > On Aug 7, 2023, at 2:57 PM, Henry Pfizenmayer via Elecraft > wrote: > > A few weeks ag

Re: [Elecraft] CM-500 Question

As contesters who wear headphones as much as 48 hours straight on weekends, we find comfort to be one of the most important assets of any headphone. There are LOTS of headphones that sound great, have outstanding performance both in their speakers and microphone. But, they make you feel like your

Re: [Elecraft] Interesting observations after installing antenna switch

Ken; I just did an analysis of the circuit you described using the RAAS-4A schematic from the WA4MCM web site, and my local docs for both the K3S and KPA500. This is rather interesting, but with the antenna selector in the circuit, the band voltage will never go above about 0.6 volts. Thus, if y

Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data

I would suggest that the Elecraft KRC2 would provide the information quite well. It was designed for use with the K2, receiving band data and providing the ability to select bands with both high and low drive outputs. It also outputs the BCD data on four terminals. Take a look at the ELecraft we

Re: [Elecraft] K2 Band Data

As far as I know, the transceivers have Auxbus (K2, K3, K4, but not K1). Not sure if the KX transceivers bring it out to a connector, though. The KPA500 sends data out to the transceiver using Auxbus, but does not listen, the KAT500 only receives data. The KPA1500 does both. I believe you are us

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 / KAT500 and W2 watt meter question

Glenn; You will want the two Aux cables to connect the K3S to the KAT500, then the KAT500 to the KPA500. The cables are described in the equipment manuals. When the KAT500 is in a tune or finds some error situation, it will negate the key line to the KPA500 until the KAT is able to correct the s

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 / KAT500 and W2 watt meter question

Key line interrupt would probably not be a good way since the transceiver is still transmitting, but at a lower level. All key line interrupt does is to disable the amplifier. I would think a better way would be to use the K3’s inhibit input signal if you really need no tx power coming out. Not

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 / KAT500 and W2 watt meter question

If you use the key-line interrupter, then you must use the phono-plug cables to connect the K3, KPA and KAT. Otherwise PTT will not get to the amplifier. Of course using both without the key line interrupter is very redundant. You just don’t want to use both if an external device is included. 73

Re: [Elecraft] K3 and KAT connections without a KPA500

This is pretty simple, Jim. The AuxIO cable goes from the K3 to the KAT500. Then one of the Antenna outputs of the K3 goes to the RF input of the KAT500. Of course the antennas connect to the KAT500 then (as they did before). That is pretty much it. 73, Jack, W6FB > On Nov 4, 2023, at 3:03 PM,

Re: [Elecraft] K3 - Display flashes "thr 4 OFF" intermittently

the behavior I might expect if a macro was being executed. Is it possible that you have one saved, either in the K3 or the computer that is set to trigger at the times you noted? Mostly they execute so fast you don’t see the activity, but if the K3 is busy it might slow down a ways. Band change

Re: [Elecraft] USB/3.5mm Extension?

Yes. At the point for the extension, the signals are RS-232, not USB. You should be able to use a much longer cable if need-be. Be sure to read through the manual - it should give you a much better feel for each connection. Enjoy the KAT500! 73, Jack, W6FB > On Nov 25, 2023, at 2:59 PM, W2HX

Re: [Elecraft] USB/3.5mm Extension?

Andy, you do a great job of keeping me on my toes. But... Indeed, it is NOT true that the KAT500 uses TTL signal levels for the serial port. The KAT500 has voltage translation circuitry that allows for the use of quasi-RS232 signal levels. Quasi? Yes, the transmit data goes to +12 Volts, but it

Re: [Elecraft] USB/3.5mm Extension?

So that everyone reading understands, the KAT500 IS RS-232/IEEE-232 compatible in its voltage levels. It is NOT TTL (0,5v) compatible. 73, Jack, W6FB Sent from my iPhone > On Nov 28, 2023, at 10:14 AM, Andy Durbin wrote: > >  > "Indeed, it is NOT true that the KAT500 uses TTL signal levels

Re: [Elecraft] USB/3.5mm Extension?

Andy’s point that the KXUSB actually has 0 to 5V output on its TxD line is correct. This is most likely the limiter in how long of a cable you can have between the KXUSB and the KAT500. The actual length is probably best derived by trial and error. As K9YC points out, the rise and fall times of

Re: [Elecraft] Noise from KAT500?

I remember those days. I still have my Heath SB-303 and SB-401 pair, both of which run from 117VAC. I didn’t have to get a 12V supply until I started upgrading back around 2000. You might want to invest in a small Astron linear supply (or similar). You will slowly start acquiring equipment that

Re: [Elecraft] K3s power level macro

We thought about that when we designed the KPA500. Take a look at page 29 of the K3S Rev A manual - "Per-band Power Control”. You need to have the KPA500 communicating with the K3 through the Aux I/O cable. It works amazingly well, no macros needed! 73, Jack, W6FB > On Dec 5, 2023, at 12:35 PM

Re: [Elecraft] K3s power level macro

Is 17mSec not fast enough? When you hit the OP button on the KPA, it tells the K3 to make the adjustment, and the power is very quickly changed. Same is true when you go from OP to STBY, the K3 goes back to 100 watts. I seriously question whether you can do things as fast with a macro and having

Re: [Elecraft] KAT-500 + KPA-500 / SWR Thresholds

KPA inhibit SWR? The KPA500 uses Reflected Power for all of its protections except for one item - if the SWR is above 18:1, it will throw an immediate fault. There is no adjustment for these thresholds. As far as the Auxbus, the KPA does not listen but only talks on it, conveying band, mode and

Re: [Elecraft] What minimum temperature should the K station be kept at during a hard freeze

Usually the limiting factor for low temperature in modern equipment is the LCD. They have a problem crystalizing much below freezing and thus are not usable in very cold temperatures. I hope thing don’t get too cold in your area - we are forecast to see 19F here in SW LA on Tuesday morning. Yuc

Re: [Elecraft] K3+KPA500+KAT500 RFI Revisited

Please describe the aux cables you have in use between the equipment. It is highly unusual for the BCD lines to change state during transmission, on any other time without actually changing the band on the K3. If you are using very long Aux cables, or have other equipment connected to the cable

Re: [Elecraft] KAT 500 Loses Match

That antenna is rated for 250 watts, which is most likely the cause of the problem. This is common, we upgrade from low power to high and don’t realize that we need to upgrade out antenna system as well. For use with the KPA500, you should replace it with an antenna with a higher rating. These a

Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 no PC comms

The KAT500 does not use the same cable as the K3 or K4 or, for that matter, the KPA500. It needs a cable with stereo mini-phone connector. Elecraft has a USB cable that plugs into the KAT500 and works quite well. 73, Jack, W6FB > On Mar 10, 2024, at 12:33 PM, Mike Dodd wrote: > > Elecraft is

Re: [Elecraft] KH-1 Discussions?

You might try starting one here. I am sure it will be welcome! 73, Jack, W6FB > On Aug 11, 2024, at 10:10 PM, Will Shattuck wrote: > > Hi folks. > > I recently purchased a KH-1. Is there a better place for discussion of this > radio than here? I’ve lurked for a few weeks now and haven’t seen

Re: [Elecraft] KAT-500 remote control using serial port

David; Sorry I didn’t’t have the opportunity until now to answer your question… The answer is in the KAT500 Programming reference. You probably want to use 38400 bps, 8 N 1 to communicate with the KAT500, as is described in the Serial Port Overview section of that manual. The manual is availabl

Re: [Elecraft] Update on Band Tracking

Be sure to check the pins on the AUX-IO cable connectors. The small DE-15 pins can easily be bent, and if so they may short to another pin or not make contact at all, causing the exact problem described. If they are bent, you may be able to carefully straighten them, but most likely you will nee

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 SWR Calibration

Bob; The KPA500 does not use a Breune style bridge, but rather a true directional coupler. It does not need to be nulled; there is no adjustment. There is an adjustment for the power; see the PWR ADJ setting in the manual. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Nov 17, 2019, at 6:58 AM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 SWR Calibration

The Breune Bridge directional coupler, designed by and named for Warren Breune of Collins Radio, can be a very accurate and useful device for measuring power. I was lucky to learn about it from W1FB when we both worked at the League. Elecraft has used it in several radios, including the K2. We

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 fan won't shut off

That won’t do any good. The main firmware has shut down at that point. The fan is running because the relay is stuck, which is not something that firmware can fix. Call tech support. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Nov 25, 2019, at 7:49 PM, Eric Norris wrote: > > Reload the firmware. > > 73 Eric WD6DB

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 fan won't shut off

When the KPA shuts down, the power relay is switched off, then the driver transistors for the fan are turned on. The microcontroller shortly executes a restart, which puts the MCU into boot mode, but does not reset the I/O ports. Thus the fans are turned on, allowing the big power capacitors to

Re: [Elecraft] Annoying Beeps

I have learned to trust things that Bob says, but this one didn’t agree with my memory. So I checked the source code for the KPA500 on this one. The KPA500 only emits a tone when a fault occurs. It does not emit a beep for key entry. The SPEAKER menu item enables/disables the tone for faults. Th

Re: [Elecraft] Radio and amplifier environmental specifications

Probably the biggest limiter will be the LCD. LCDs do not like cold temperatures - anything below freezing can be a problem, but below 10 degrees they tend to stop working and turn black. Yes, the do recover when it gets warm - usually. I wouldn’t want to subject my station to anything below fr

Re: [Elecraft] Possible K3 over shoot on transmit

There are two things at play here. First, the KPA500 has an unregulated power supply. On first key down, the power will spike, then quickly lower as the big filter capacitors decay from their peak voltage to the rms voltage. This is normal and we all see it. While I am sure you are seeing this,

Re: [Elecraft] Possible K3 over shoot on transmit

Actually ALC is there because people expect it to be there. We recommend not using ALC between the KPA500 and K3. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Jan 12, 2020, at 12:00 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: > > Yep, the power control circuit does have a bit of initial character > overshoot.This is noticed whe

Re: [Elecraft] Update: K3 Hard of Hearing

John; It sounds like it is time to call tech support to see if they can help. They are pretty good at figuring out what happened and how to fix it. Trying the second K3 in its place, and it works fine, tells me that you may have an issue in the front end. But they will know better. Good luck get

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 MCU LOAD screen

I have seen this also, and agree with Andy’s assessment. A program that polls the ports to find its target can also cause this issue. Even though the KPA is displaying the MCU LOAD message, as long as no firmware data has been sent to the KPA500 and the firmware is actually not corrupt, you shou

Re: [Elecraft] TCP Port for KPA500 and KAT500

There must be an interface box in between the network and the KPA500 and KAT500, since neither support network communications, only serial. You might want to describe what you are doing and what devices you are using. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Feb 17, 2020, at 11:37 AM, VO1HPFrank wrote: > > This

Re: [Elecraft] TCP Port for KPA500 and KAT500

I suspect the addresses in the remote software are fixed, or at least that is their default. With that in mind, if you want to use the remote software, then you probably should set up the ethernet serial adapter to use those specific ports. I’m not really familiar with how the remote software is

Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft Digest, Vol 190, Issue 17

Norman; Elecraft has 200Hz, 250Hz, 400Hz and 500Hz filters. You can order them at the web site at the URL: https://elecraft.com/pages/k-line-transceiver-k3-k3s or call the main number at 831-763-4211 Monday through Friday to order. The orde

Re: [Elecraft] Extra Protection For KPA500?

The key here is the need for the AuxIO cable. The K3 exposes the second set of per-band power settings when it knows the KPA is attached and is in OPER mode. Of course to be able to communicate the AuxIO cable needs to connect the KPA to the K3, and the K3 needs to be set with RADIO = K3. Once

Re: [Elecraft] Extra Protection For KPA500?

One other thing to consider is that you don’t want to connect all of the pins straight through from the K3 to the KPA500. There are some conflicts that will cause problems. The Elecraft cables are set up properly with the appropriate pins cut that should not connect between the two devices. An a

Re: [Elecraft] Per-Band Power Setting Issue

Doubtful. Wayne is awfully busy on other projects. We would not want to have fixed-in-firmware drive limits - KPA500s vary in their needed drive level. Some need more power than others for drive. For example my older KPA500 (actually the first one) needs 35 to 40 watts to drive it to 500 watts,

Re: [Elecraft] Shipping Status updates

The shipping services are extra busy at present in this area. It appears that the number of on-line orders for various products (like toilet paper) has gone way up as people are not able to obtain them locally. We are seeing deliveries delayed by a day or two for both UPS and FedEx. It doesn’t s

Re: [Elecraft] Keyoard help

Richard; A couple of suggestions: 1) Look for a key labelled “fn” on the keyboard. Pressing that while simultaneously pressing a Function key should give you what you want. 2) Look for an HP application or control that will allow you to turn on and off the functions, or even change them to do s

Re: [Elecraft] A broken K3

David; Go back and re-read the message from Keith Trinity. Keith is one of the guys down in Watsonville and knows more about the K3 than just about anyone. To put it another way, you were indeed contacted by Customer Support. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 24, 2020, at 7:46 PM, David Olean wrote: >

Re: [Elecraft] K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

Don; Which version of the K3 Utility are you using, and which version of Catalina? 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 4:04 PM, Don Putnick wrote: > > Hi all, > I'm working with Rob at Elecraft on this, but I'm trying to gather more > data for us. When I open the K3 Utility under Catalina, n

Re: [Elecraft] K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

Guys; 32 bit apps won’t even launch on Catalina. I suspect that the application’s preferences are corrupt, and have advised him how to find and delete them. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 4:38 PM, Grant Youngman wrote: > > The latest versions posted on the website all work fine under C

Re: [Elecraft] K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

That shouldn’t have been needed. The drivers have been built into the macOS since 10.9. David, suggestions? 73, Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 5:08 PM, Don Putnick wrote: > > That didn't work. BTW when I got the KUSB yesterday I went to the FTDI > website to download the drivers. The VCP i

Re: [Elecraft] K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

10.15.4 released on Tuesday. It should be available in your System Preferences / Software Update panel. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 5:27 PM, Grant Youngman wrote: > > AFIK 10.15.3 is the latest GA version of Catalina. Are you using a > beta/developer version? > > Grant NQ5T > > >

Re: [Elecraft] SOLVED!: K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

Way to go, Don! Glad you got it going. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 8:34 PM, Don Putnick wrote: > > > The short version: usb-to-serial adapter driver snafu > > The long version: Way back when I bought my K3, Elecraft was having problems > with the KUSB. I bought a Keyspan adapter in

Re: [Elecraft] K3 Utility vs macOS Catalina

The Mac Utilities currently on the Elecraft web site are both signed and Notarized. They are ready to go with Catalina. No need to right-click open any longer. A Big thank-you to the program’s author, W4SMT for taking care of this. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Mar 27, 2020, at 8:27 PM, Hisashi T Fujina

Re: [Elecraft] The Big Three...

There is a catch in this, of course. Several of the top contesters are sponsored by some of the radio companies. The winner in the 2014 WRTC was sponsored by Icom as were many others. The same was true in 2018. Of course, they get the best radios, delivered at the competition. Thus the radio cho

Re: [Elecraft] K3 on SSB

I believe what Frank is referring to is not Tx audio, but receive audio during times of very heavy band loading, which pretty much occurs only in busy contests such as CQ WPX SSB last weekend. During these times stations are basically on top of each other or very closely spaced. We tend to hear

Re: [Elecraft] kx3 utility

The utility is telling you that it is communicating with your KX3 at 38400 bits/sec. The KX3 has firmware revision 2.90. This is not an error message. It appears to be working just fine. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 2, 2020, at 9:41 AM, 1lasportsman 1lasportsman <1lasports...@cox.net> > wrote: > >

Re: [Elecraft] KPA1500 hum - problem solved

When he added the amplifier, the return currents on the coax became much greater. The second problem is that the switch then added the return currents of the vertical to those induced into the dipole and made things worse. I see the need for chokes on BOTH antennas. Makes sure they are heavy dut

Re: [Elecraft] Kpa500 lcd display issue

Wayne; What are you calling “test pattern”? There is an LCD test in the system, but it is not available normally, and also not a settable configuration. Give me more info and I’ll try to diagnose. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 13, 2020, at 12:30 PM, Wayne Suite wrote: > > The lcd on the kpa 500

Re: [Elecraft] Kpa500 lcd display issue

There is no serial command to change the LCD ADJ setting. However, you can reset the saved parameters by holding the EDIT button while powering up the KPA. 73, Jack, W6FB > On Apr 13, 2020, at 1:03 PM, Andy Durbin wrote: > > "All other front panel stuff works I suspect the buttons for the me

Re: [Elecraft] Kpa500 lcd display issue

Andy; Your analysis was correct. Somehow the LCD ADJ value became set to 100. KD5SPX was able to resolve the issue by figuring out the exact keypresses needed to access the menu setting and lower the value. The range of the value is 0 to 100, with the default being 30. This value sets the duty

Re: [Elecraft] Kpa500 lcd display issue

I believe the answer to be yes. It would overwrite the parameters, so any problems in the saved configuration would be restored. Of course, so would all the valid parameters. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 14, 2020, at 4:40 PM, Andy Durbin wrote: > > Hi Jack, > > Just for future reference - Does

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500/XV integration

George; That message occurs because something is loading the Auxbus when the K3 is powered on. Make sure that the KAT500 and the XV144 are both powered up when you turn on the K3. They can be powered on at the same time, but the task needs to be done before the K3 enumerates the Auxbus, which i

Re: [Elecraft] Electrolytic Capacitor failure

If Ray has a K3/10, then the power supply is perfectly fine. The recommendation for that is "13.8VDC @ 6A for K3/10”. There are a lot of K3/10’s in the field. Nothing in his post indicated which transceiver he has. However, if indeed he has a K3/100, then Frank is right (as usual). Ray should

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500/XV integration

You can try it, but I think the real solution may be to leave the XV powered while the K3 is on. The reason is that the XV has weak pull-up to +5V on its Auxbus line. When the XV is off, that 5V line is actually at 0 volts, which means it is pulling the signal to the common reference. This, alo

Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 setup for Icom

Rich; What are the jumper settings in the KRC2? It is _very_ important not to use a straight-through cable with the KRC2. As documented in the KRC2 manual, the pins are connected to the microcontroller, and the +/- 12 V excursions of the RS-232 levels will damage the microcontroller I/O pins.

Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 setup for Icom

Let me explain a bit more. The KRC2 followed the same thinking as the K2 - we put non-RS232 signals on the DE9 pins. That means that only pins 2 and 3 should see those signals, but not the others. I remember there being a warning in the manual about this, but I don’t find it at this point. We wi

Re: [Elecraft] [Elecraft-K3] Latest on the new home for my K3...

Dave; Perhaps this has been asked, but what are you doing for equipment bonding? 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 22, 2020, at 10:22 AM, Dave Cole wrote: > > Please thank him for that tip!!! I will be using that from now on!!! > > 73, and thanks, > Dave (NK7Z) > https://www.nk7z.net > ARRL Volunteer

Re: [Elecraft] Latest on the new home for my K3...

That works great! Brother has wide tapes of various colors that wrap around the cable nicely. You can have text or images. Pretty cool! 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 23, 2020, at 12:37 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: > > I just label mine coax feeds with my P-Touch. Just read what is on the label. > >

Re: [Elecraft] Voltage drop in DX Power to K3

There is one more item that has been forgotten. The K3 has an SB530 Schottky diode in the power input circuit between the input fuse and the main 12V bus (but not the 100 watt 12V PA bus). This will account for about a half of a volt drop. If you are using the front panel voltage reading, this m

Re: [Elecraft] KX2 / KPA500

Jim; Disconnect the AUX IO cable from the KPA and try it again with the KX2. Does it have band it likes to stay on? (I’m thinking 60 meters here). 73! Jack, W6FB > On Apr 28, 2020, at 2:47 PM, James Bennett via Elecraft > wrote: > > Hi Mark, > > In one of the books I have (or had), possibly

Re: [Elecraft] KX2 / KPA500

I went back and reread this . My question is this - with the interrupter in place, does the K3 still key the amplifier? I suspect you are running into the issue of pull-ups on the K3 pulling the PTT signal up to Vcc. Of course Vcc when the K3 is off is 0 volts, which causes the KPA to key. We s

Re: [Elecraft] Windows Needed

Before this email query gets hijacked too far afield… Macintoshes do a very good job of handling the needs of hams, especially with Elecraft devices. I do _all_ of my computing with Macintoshes, including a lot of product development. So, for Tommy: MacLoggerDX from Dog Park Software is an exce

Re: [Elecraft] USB C to The K3's RS232?

Yes. It works quite well. I have several USB-C to USB 3.0 adapters, including the Apple ones that I use. Plugged into one of these I have a real FTDI USB to Serial adapter which talks nicely with the Mac. For my K3S, I simply plug the USB cable into the K3S’s USB jack and get both serial contro

Re: [Elecraft] KPA 500 fault!

A “270V ERR” fault indicates that the TR switch bias supply is not working. This may be caused by the top cover being removed, the safety switch attached to the top cover becoming loose or an actual failure of the 270V supply. Since your main HV supply is now down close to 0V, it looks like you

Re: [Elecraft] Coronavirus

Depends on the parts. The largest parts you see are indeed made in the US - these being the sheet metal, push buttons and many other components. Global economy? Yes. Is the entire box made from components coming from outside the US? Definitely not. And I am 100% sure that the radios and devices a

Re: [Elecraft] Upper limits of KPA500?

Dave; The KPA500 will protect itself above 90C, but it will work quite well at 70C. Why do you stop at 70C? 73! Jack, W6FB > On May 3, 2020, at 1:26 PM, Dave Cole wrote: > > Hello, > > I just got the new MMSSTV software, and will be running a bit of SSTV. SSTV > is 100% duty cycle. > > In

Re: [Elecraft] Upper limits of KPA500?

Let me state things a bit better this time. The amplifier is designed to protect itself, and does a very good job of it no matter the condition. It will do a good job of warning you before anything bad happens; make sure bad things don’t happen very much and your amp will have a very happy life.

Re: [Elecraft] Upper limits of KPA500?

>From the KPA500 manual, Rev E1, page 41 Specifications: Duty Cycle at 500 Watts 10 minutes key down / 5 minutes standby Sometimes it is very worth while to read the manual. It gives me something to do when being stuck at home for so long gets me down. 73! Jack, W6FB > On May 4, 2020, at 6:39

Re: [Elecraft] CM500 headset on K3S and KX3?

Frank; The rear-panel mic input on the K3 and K3S is actually a stereo jack. The ring connector is not connected. Plug the CM-500’s mic plug in (as I do), and it will work just fine! Remember to enable bias on the rear panel Mic as W3FPR noted. The CM-500 is an excellent headset for use with th

Re: [Elecraft] K3S Firmware Update for Mac

Just to make sure - you are trying the latest version of the utility, freshly downloaded from the web site, right? If not, then go to the website and download it. Only the latest version is Catalina compatible. Now, exactly what happens when you install and try to run the Utility? 73! Jack, W6

Re: [Elecraft] K3S Firmware Update for Mac

What directory is the app located in? If on the desktop, move it to the Applications folder. In Catalina certain directories are restricted - you have to give permission to access files there. This sounds like the app is unable to access some of its resources. By the way, you have two of us who

Re: [Elecraft] KPA-500 Issues

Check the cable connections, including making sure that none of the pins are bent in the AuxIO connectors in both cables (K3S - KAT500, KAT500 - KPA500). Also, make sure that the PTT line is actually being asserted. The asterisk is displayed when the Key In is asserted. If it isn’t displayed tha

Re: [Elecraft] K4???

One thing Al doesn’t mention is that Sacramento is only calling part of the shots. Here in the Bay area we are under control of the local authorities, who have things locked down much tighter than the rest of the state. The state folks are talking about starting to ease things over the next week

Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 Manual Errata??

Rich; The KRC2 manual is correct. It is a matter of understanding the frame of reference for the markings. The KRC2 was originally designed as a peripheral for the K2, so the interface ports use the K2 I/O port details. On the KRC2 schematic, 8R, VRDET, 12CTRL, ALC and AUXBUS are all K2 signals

Re: [Elecraft] Field Day

Be careful following this one. His suggestions will leave you in class D. Why? Two things - if the computer controls the radio (and it should for logging and sending exchanges), then it must also be run on emergency power. Second, the addition of a wall charger for the batteries puts you firmly

Re: [Elecraft] Field Day

multiplier of five, the batteries must be charged from something other than a motor driven generator or commercial mains." Very clear. 73! Jack, W6FB > On May 24, 2020, at 1:46 PM, Jim Brown wrote: > > On 5/24/2020 1:16 PM, Jack Brindle via Elecraft wrote: >> Two things

Re: [Elecraft] NOT the feedline (was KPA-1500 faulting on 6m; SWR issues)

Balun? Is it new? What kind? You have pretty much eliminated the KPA1500 with this test. This sounds like a balun toroid heating up and causing problems. You will see perfect conditions at low power, and the AA230 will also show things in great shape. They are not stressing the system. But 1500

Re: [Elecraft] NOT the feedline

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 section

Re: [Elecraft] NOT the feedline

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 wh

Re: [Elecraft] Spkrs+Ph ??

Rich may have a very good reason. I also use that setting. My shack is a nice shed in the back yard. When my wife or daughter come out while I am operating with headphones on, the sound fro the speaker lets them know that I cannot hear them. They know to wait until I finish the current QSO, then

Re: [Elecraft] KPA1500 power per frequency bin

It’s not a KPA1500 function, but rather a K3 function. And the K3 has no concept of KPA ATU bins. 73! Jack, W6FB > On Jun 2, 2020, at 3:39 PM, Hank Garretson wrote: > > It sure would be nice if KPA1500 remembered K3 power for each frequency bin > instead of for each band. > > Is there a menu

Re: [Elecraft] KPA1500 power per frequency bin

The K3 has only one way to communicate with the KPA500 and KPA1500, that being Auxbus. There is no communications on this path that allows setting of specific power levels in the K3 - there is only the OP/STBY that simply selects either the K3 high power (STBY) or low power (OPER) modes. You hav

Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 Dead

Actually four. There are two on the power supply board that protect the low voltage supply. Since the front panel appears not to be powering up, it is possible that one or both of these may be blown. I don’t really have any suggestions for what might be wrong, so the best thing to do is to cont

Re: [Elecraft] Key Clicks

I read that also. It was not a KPA500 or KPA1500. The Elecraft amplifiers are designed with solid-state switching and are capable of switching very rapidly, in much less time than 8 mSec. In fact the amps will switch quickly enough to allow true QSK in the K3/K3S. Fred’s analysis is correct in t

Re: [Elecraft] KAT500 Remote software and KPA500 remote software

Are you referring to front or rear panel power? The K3 Utility can certainly power on a KPA500 if the rear panel switch is on. If that switch is off, it must be turned on before the front panel switch (or remote power-on) works. Now if you have a big relay in the power line to the KPA, it needs

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