Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 K3 - 30 meters
Jim - I do not yet have a KPA500, but did recently set one up for a friend. Although the standby/operate function is not remembered on a per band basis, I am not sure why that might be an issue. If your concern is that you do not want to inadvertently run 500 watts on 30 meters, the per band drive level is the perfect solution. I set my friend's up so if he is on 40 meters, the drive level of the K3 gives 500 watts out, and when he switched to 30 meters the drive level drops sufficiently that the KPA500 only puts out 200 watts. Switching to standby on any band puts the K3 back to 100 watts. If your reason is other than the above, I don't know what you need. Very 73 de Dave - K9FN Jim Bennett w6...@mac.com wrote: I had a KPA500 a year ago and in a moment of stupidity, sold it. Now considering a replacement. Got a question about it's operation that I can't for the life of me recall from my previous ownership. Let's say that I want to use the amp on all the HF bands except for 30 meters. Does the KPA500 have a per-band memory for the operate / standby function? Scenario: If I put the K3/KPA500 on 30 meters and place the amp in bypass, then drop down to 40 meters and go to operate mode, and then later on go back to 30 meters - will the KPA500 remember that I want it in bypass mode, or do I have to do it manually? Looked in the downloadable KPA500 manual, but saw no reference to this. Thanks in advance, Jim / W6JHB __ 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] auto-tuner needs more radio output to tune
THANKS to each of the kind folks who let me know that KX3 power can go to 10 watts for tuning using CW or FM. Evidently I had misunderstood some earlier list content about PSK being limited to 5 watts. I appreciate the feedback! Julie KT4JR __ 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] KPA500 K3 - 30 meters
The other thing you can do if you have the KPAK3AUX cable installed is to use the INHIBIT function (if you are not using DIGOUT1 to control a PR6 preamp). In the KPA menu, set INHIBIT to ENABLE, then in the K3 config menu set DIGOUT1 ON when you are on 30 meters. The problem with this solution is that if you are using DIGOUT1 ON to turn on the PR6 preamp it will inhibit the amp on 6 meters too. Dave's solution below is the better way to go. Cheers, Fred KE7X -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of David Bunte Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 12:48 AM To: Jim Bennett Cc: Elecraft Reflector Reflector Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 K3 - 30 meters Jim - I do not yet have a KPA500, but did recently set one up for a friend. Although the standby/operate function is not remembered on a per band basis, I am not sure why that might be an issue. If your concern is that you do not want to inadvertently run 500 watts on 30 meters, the per band drive level is the perfect solution. I set my friend's up so if he is on 40 meters, the drive level of the K3 gives 500 watts out, and when he switched to 30 meters the drive level drops sufficiently that the KPA500 only puts out 200 watts. Switching to standby on any band puts the K3 back to 100 watts. If your reason is other than the above, I don't know what you need. Very 73 de Dave - K9FN Jim Bennett w6...@mac.com wrote: I had a KPA500 a year ago and in a moment of stupidity, sold it. Now considering a replacement. Got a question about it's operation that I can't for the life of me recall from my previous ownership. Let's say that I want to use the amp on all the HF bands except for 30 meters. Does the KPA500 have a per-band memory for the operate / standby function? Scenario: If I put the K3/KPA500 on 30 meters and place the amp in bypass, then drop down to 40 meters and go to operate mode, and then later on go back to 30 meters - will the KPA500 remember that I want it in bypass mode, or do I have to do it manually? Looked in the downloadable KPA500 manual, but saw no reference to this. Thanks in advance, Jim / W6JHB __ 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
[Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off
I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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] KXPA100 Shipping Update
We posted an update to http://elecraft.com/elecraft_shipping_status.htm earlier this week. Here is the update in case anyone here missed it: === One of our key molded parts arrived incorrectly fabricated from the vendor, which is the primary cause for a delay in shipping to Nov 15. The vendor is correcting the problem and it should be here in the next three weeks. Several other parts are also late arriving, but they will arrive earlier than this part. Full production shipments are now targeted to start Nov. 15, with an increasing volume of customer shipments each subsequent week as we ramp up. We will initially start with shipment of factory assembled KXPA100s, followed in 1-2 weeks with the kit versions added to the shipping flow. We apologize for this delay and we are working to get the KXPA100 shipping as quickly as possible. We will keep this status page updated weekly if there are any changes. === 73, Eric elecraft.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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off
I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 Current Drain When Off
I turn my Astron P/S off after turning off my K3 for the night. Should I be leaving the P/S on? 73, Jim N7US -Original Message- I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL __ 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 Current Drain When Off
On 10/16/2013 10:50 AM, Jim N7US wrote: I turn my Astron P/S off after turning off my K3 for the night. Should I be leaving the P/S on? That depends on how rich you feel. :) Differential cost of power (that is, at the highest rate I'm paying here in CA) is $.35/kWh. At that rate, leaving an Astron linear supply on 24/7 would cost me more than $20/month. Depending on where you live, you may not be getting screwed by your power company as badly as we are. Thank you, Enron. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.com On 10/16/2013 10:37 AM, Alan Bloom wrote: I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off
Jim, I turn off all the power to the Ham equipment when it is not going to be used in the next several hours. I have a single switch for power feeding the equipment. I lived in South Florida so protecting electronic equipment is built-in! 73 George AI4VZ -Original Message- From: Jim Brown On 10/16/2013 10:50 AM, Jim N7US wrote: I turn my Astron P/S off after turning off my K3 for the night. Should I be leaving the P/S on? __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Another case of YMMV..!! My 75amp, supplying 12 vdc to everything on my desk, has been turned on for the past 9 1/2 years, with the few exceptions of when I was attaching leads to my distribution panel. And I live in south Georgia, just an alligator spit from the Florida line. Tom - W4BQF -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of George Danner Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 2:26 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Jim, I turn off all the power to the Ham equipment when it is not going to be used in the next several hours. I have a single switch for power feeding the equipment. I lived in South Florida so protecting electronic equipment is built-in! 73 George AI4VZ -Original Message- From: Jim Brown On 10/16/2013 10:50 AM, Jim N7US wrote: I turn my Astron P/S off after turning off my K3 for the night. Should I be leaving the P/S on? __ 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] KX3 2-meter module progress report
Original Message Subject:[KX3] Re: KX3 2-meter module progress report Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:20:44 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com David Anderson gm4...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: What is the planned receive frequency coverage of the 2m module? 144-148 MHz, minimum, for full sensitivity. However, we allow tuning well above and below this range (at least 20 MHz), even though sensitivity gradually falls off. For example, this allows copy of weather-band stations at 162 MHz which are generally very strong, at least at my QTH near San Francisco. Is there any 144-146 band pass filter to limit strong out of band signals from pagers and other fixed services outside the band? I have in the past studied our RF environment on the band. http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/preamp/index.html Filtering is included at all stages of the receive path, including a 10-element band-pass filter ahead of the mixer. But because the module is so small, there's no room for a high-Q, tuned band-pass filter at the input; instead, we use low-loss low- and high-pass filters to preserve sensitivity. To reduce the need for narrow input filtering, we used a high-intercept LNA that is likely to do OK in all but the very worst RF environments. This increases current drain of the radio on 2 meters somewhat compared to other bands, but we felt it was an acceptable tradeoff. Since the KX3-2M module has its own antenna jack, you could use an external high-performance 144-148 BPF if required. It isn't clear from your sweeps (the URL above) whether this would be necessary for your use of the module, though it certainly wouldn't hurt. Is the frequency stability basically the same as that of the KX3? HF/6-m and 2-m stability are correlated since they're referenced to the same LO. For CW/SSB, we strongly recommend performing the KX3's extended VFO temperature compensation procedure, providing typical stability of +/- 2 to 3 Hz on 6 meters and +/- 5 to 10 Hz on 2 meters. The standard compensation (done at the factory) yields greater variance, but is entirely sufficient for FM or AM operation. We hope to simplify the extended compensation procedure in conjunction with the KX2-2M product release. In both transmit and receive mode, the operating frequency is subject to small asynchronous corrections arising from temperature changes. On 6 meters and lower these corrections have a granularity of 1 Hz. On 2 meters they're about 3 Hz due to the conversion scheme used. We're looking into improving the granularity on 2 meters, but the overall range of corrections--about +/- 5 to 10 Hz--is about as good as it gets on this band with a conventional temperature-sense IC.) You will have gathered that my interest is weak signal work on 144 and as an IF for microwave transporters. What modes do you plan to use? 73, Wayne N6KR __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.com On 10/16/2013 10:37 AM, Alan Bloom wrote: I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 __ 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] KPA500: SWR protection
Hi everyone, Am I understanding KPA500 specs correctly?It looks like if I were to get a KPA500 and loaded it up inadvertently on an antenna with an SWR on the high side, the KPA500 would protect me from my error by reducing power and/or faulting? Does this mean that the KPA500 is close to fool proof in protecting itself from errors that I might make?Heaven only knows that I make enough as it is ! A different take on the same question is whether I could postpone a KAT500 purchase until later. Thanks in advance. 73, Hoop K9QJS San Juan Island WA K3 #6884 a P3 __ 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 Current Drain When Off
K3 #642 measures just over 4mA when off. FT-847 reads 12mA. However, with both those loads on the FP-1030A power supply, it appears to be consuming about 3wH [72 watt-days/26.28 kw-years], apparently just to light the little LED on the panel. In fact, it's very close to 3wH with all the loads disconnected. Our highest marginal PGE rate is $0.34/kWh which works out to $8.94/yr max. Maybe a leak outside the K3(s)? It does raise the question, just how many electrons are being wasted in the TV, DirecTV receiver/DVR, microwave, and the myriad of phone/Kindle chargers plugged in all over the house, not to mention this computer which is on nearly all the time? I suspect it's a lot more than 9 bucks a year. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org On 10/16/2013 12:15 PM, Jim Brown wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off
Be careful. The power is on to the finals even when the K3 is turned off. Therefore, if the finals short, they can overheat leading to all sorts of issues. Trust me, I found out the hard way. Mine was drawing 2 amps with the K3 turned off. I make it a habit now to turn off the power supply when I am not around. Buck k4ia On 10/16/2013 3:59 PM, Fred Jensen wrote: K3 #642 measures just over 4mA when off. FT-847 reads 12mA. However, with both those loads on the FP-1030A power supply, it appears to be consuming about 3wH [72 watt-days/26.28 kw-years], apparently just to light the little LED on the panel. In fact, it's very close to 3wH with all the loads disconnected. Our highest marginal PGE rate is $0.34/kWh which works out to $8.94/yr max. Maybe a leak outside the K3(s)? It does raise the question, just how many electrons are being wasted in the TV, DirecTV receiver/DVR, microwave, and the myriad of phone/Kindle chargers plugged in all over the house, not to mention this computer which is on nearly all the time? I suspect it's a lot more than 9 bucks a year. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org On 10/16/2013 12:15 PM, Jim Brown wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.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 __ 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 Current Drain When Off
FWIW, I just measured my K3 and it draws 38mA when switched off. Mine is also older - way back in early production. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 12:16 PM To: Reflector Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.com On 10/16/2013 10:37 AM, Alan Bloom wrote: I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 __ 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 Current Drain When Off
My K3 (about 2 years old) is pulling under 5 mA when powered off. I usually turn off the power supply that feeds it to avoid wasted power. You would be shocked to find out how much power things can pull. It adds up (after all there are 8760 hours in a year) . My original cable box consumed 68 watts an hour no matter what mode it was in (ON or OFF). At my electrical rate that was over $100 a year. Now my FIOS box is much better, and OFF is only a couple of watts, or about $3 a year. I was also real proud of myself when I took a bunch of surplus PC parts and built a file and printer server that was powered on 24/7. However power measurements indicated it was pulling almost 400 watts an hour, or more than $600 worth of electricity a year. Once I knew that I replaced it with a high efficiency commercially built server that consumed less than a tenth of that. It paid for itself years ago. That's also why I tend to use laptops rather than desktops now -- far more power efficient. I even mentioned to the group a year ago that my KPA500 pulls a tad bit of phantom power even when the switch is off. As I recall it added up to about $20 a year. But to be as green as possible I unplug it if I'm not going to be using the radio for a bit. 73, Bob, WB4SON __ 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 Current Drain When Off
My electric bill from ComEd in Chicago charges the same rate per kWh regardless of usage. Adding in all costs, the cost per kWh is 9.3 cents. Other costs of living here are high, but I guess I can afford to keep the K3 powered up if I wanted to. 73, Jim N7US -Original Message- K3 #642 measures just over 4mA when off. FT-847 reads 12mA. However, with both those loads on the FP-1030A power supply, it appears to be consuming about 3wH [72 watt-days/26.28 kw-years], apparently just to light the little LED on the panel. In fact, it's very close to 3wH with all the loads disconnected. Our highest marginal PGE rate is $0.34/kWh which works out to $8.94/yr max. 73, Fred K6DGW __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Jim, Here's one possible explanation: The external power supply must drop all the way to zero V, as must any all K3 I/O signals. This may have implications for attached equipment. If there's any residual voltage on the supply or I/O lines, even 1 V, the K3 may not turn off all the way. It turns out that the brown-out detection circuitry on microcontrollers can be confused at some power levels that are low enough to look like a brownout but not high enough to properly power the detection circuitry. Under such conditions the MCU may continue to run on power-down via the on/off switch, resulting in the radio drawing an unpredictable amount of current. If residual supply or I/O leakage isn't the cause, then I suspect a problem with your K3's on/off circuitry or possibly even the PA module. (You could test the latter theory by unplugging the KPA3.) Every K3 we've tested drops to a very small number of milliamps of current drain when off. 73, Wayne N6KR Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off
I disconnected everything from my K3 except the power cable and the drain when off remains at 38mA. I don't have the time right now to pull the PA module, but that sounds like the next best possible culprit. I had never noticed the parasitic drain because my station power supply is switched off when I leave the shack. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 1:34 PM To: j...@audiosystemsgroup.com Cc: Reflector Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Jim, Here's one possible explanation: The external power supply must drop all the way to zero V, as must any all K3 I/O signals. This may have implications for attached equipment. If there's any residual voltage on the supply or I/O lines, even 1 V, the K3 may not turn off all the way. It turns out that the brown-out detection circuitry on microcontrollers can be confused at some power levels that are low enough to look like a brownout but not high enough to properly power the detection circuitry. Under such conditions the MCU may continue to run on power-down via the on/off switch, resulting in the radio drawing an unpredictable amount of current. If residual supply or I/O leakage isn't the cause, then I suspect a problem with your K3's on/off circuitry or possibly even the PA module. (You could test the latter theory by unplugging the KPA3.) Every K3 we've tested drops to a very small number of milliamps of current drain when off. 73, Wayne N6KR Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.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 __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Same here but only about 31ma on a Triplett 2202 DMM on K3 s/n 202. 73, Ken K3IU ~~~ On 10/16/2013 5:01 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: I disconnected everything from my K3 except the power cable and the drain when off remains at 38mA. I don't have the time right now to pull the PA module, but that sounds like the next best possible culprit. I had never noticed the parasitic drain because my station power supply is switched off when I leave the shack. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 1:34 PM To: j...@audiosystemsgroup.com Cc: Reflector Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Jim, Here's one possible explanation: The external power supply must drop all the way to zero V, as must any all K3 I/O signals. This may have implications for attached equipment. If there's any residual voltage on the supply or I/O lines, even 1 V, the K3 may not turn off all the way. It turns out that the brown-out detection circuitry on microcontrollers can be confused at some power levels that are low enough to look like a brownout but not high enough to properly power the detection circuitry. Under such conditions the MCU may continue to run on power-down via the on/off switch, resulting in the radio drawing an unpredictable amount of current. If residual supply or I/O leakage isn't the cause, then I suspect a problem with your K3's on/off circuitry or possibly even the PA module. (You could test the latter theory by unplugging the KPA3.) Every K3 we've tested drops to a very small number of milliamps of current drain when off. 73, Wayne N6KR Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.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 __ 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] kx3 internal batteries question
I have a question about the batteries in my KX3. I purchased and installed 8 Anasman 2850 NiMH batteries in the KX3 and have used the radio successfully on these batteries for several months, including several recharge cycles with the KX3 internal charger. I last used the KX3 several months ago, so the batteries were understandably dead when I went to try it out the other day. I plugged it in to an external wall wart (12VDC 1.5A) and turned the radio on. The reading on the screen was 12.0V. I then turned on the Battery Charger, but it would only give me a BATT ERROR on the screen. Thinking the wall wart might be the issue (it only supplied 12V and the manual says the charger voltage must be at least 13VDC) I plugged the KX3 into my bench supply at 13.5VDC and got the same BATT ERROR when turning on the internal charger. I then removed all 8 batteries and checked their voltage (no load, just with an old Simpson VOM) and 4 batteries measured 1.2 V and the other 4 were at 0.0 V. I am not sure why they would be different, nor do I understand the BATT ERROR message. I have since ordered 8 AA Eneloops XX low discharge 2500mAh batteries, and a Maha C9000 charger, but am curious as to how only have the batteries were dead on what might be going on with the BATT ERROR. Any thoughts or advise would be welcome. Thanks, Richard Gagnon KG1Y __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Not wishing to take this thread too much offf course, but the dollar equivalent cost of 1 kWh in the UK is about 24 cents US and soon about to rise and we don't have the most expensive elecrical energy in Europe by a long way. So I turn off whatever I can! 73 Stephen G4SJP On 16 October 2013 22:05, Ken K3IU kenk...@cox.net wrote: Same here but only about 31ma on a Triplett 2202 DMM on K3 s/n 202. 73, Ken K3IU ~~~ On 10/16/2013 5:01 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: I disconnected everything from my K3 except the power cable and the drain when off remains at 38mA. I don't have the time right now to pull the PA module, but that sounds like the next best possible culprit. I had never noticed the parasitic drain because my station power supply is switched off when I leave the shack. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.**netelecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-bounces@**mailman.qth.netelecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 1:34 PM To: j...@audiosystemsgroup.com Cc: Reflector Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Jim, Here's one possible explanation: The external power supply must drop all the way to zero V, as must any all K3 I/O signals. This may have implications for attached equipment. If there's any residual voltage on the supply or I/O lines, even 1 V, the K3 may not turn off all the way. It turns out that the brown-out detection circuitry on microcontrollers can be confused at some power levels that are low enough to look like a brownout but not high enough to properly power the detection circuitry. Under such conditions the MCU may continue to run on power-down via the on/off switch, resulting in the radio drawing an unpredictable amount of current. If residual supply or I/O leakage isn't the cause, then I suspect a problem with your K3's on/off circuitry or possibly even the PA module. (You could test the latter theory by unplugging the KPA3.) Every K3 we've tested drops to a very small number of milliamps of current drain when off. 73, Wayne N6KR Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote: Nope. I measured both units several times, and just now repeated the measurements. 73, Jim On 10/16/2013 11:23 AM, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.com __**__**__ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/elecrafthttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htmhttp://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:elecr...@mailman.qth.**net 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/elecrafthttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htmhttp://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:elecr...@mailman.qth.**net 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/elecrafthttp://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htmhttp://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:elecr...@mailman.qth.**net 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] K3,KPA500 on 30m
Simply follow the set up instructions for each band. I'm awful with computers/software I got it. I run apx 480-500 on all bands but 30m where it's set at 200w. Normal is 100w on 30m rarely I kick the KPA on it remembers its 200w setting. Been using my KAT500 abt 2 weeks. I love it !!! K9IL __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Ur right, probably an auto-ranging Ammeter (???) 73, Chas - Original Message - From: Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft e...@elecraft.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Wednesday, October 16, 2013 2:23 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off Hi Jim - you must be misreading the meter by several decimal points :-) We just measured several K3s in the lab and they both draw less than 5 mA when off. Eric elecraft.com On 10/16/2013 10:37 AM, Alan Bloom wrote: I just measured my fully-loaded K3/P3. They draw 1.94A on and 4.3 mA off. Alan N1AL On 10/16/2013 10:07 AM, Jim Brown wrote: I recently set up four solar panels and a pair of 6V golf cart batteries to run my station. When I first set it up 6-8 weeks ago I was getting 35 Ah per day. Now with the sun lower in the sky and the panels shaded by my tall trees, it's more like 25 Ah/day. The batteries didn't seem to be holding a charge, and I thought they might be defective. Then someone noted that K3s pull some current when they're switched off, so I just measured mine. Sure enough, when switched off, my oldest one is pulling 420 mA and the next oldest one is pulling 350 mA. The combined load is 18.7 Ah/day! That load, combined with a a few hundred mA for antenna switching relays is what's draining my batteries. Is there a fix for my K3s short of an external switch to disconnect them from the battery? 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 __ 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 Current Drain When Off
FWIW #345 draws 39mA. No change when pulling the plug on the PR6 and RS232. Regards, Mike VP8NO On 16/10/2013 18:05, Ken K3IU wrote: Same here but only about 31ma on a Triplett 2202 DMM on K3 s/n 202. 73, Ken K3IU ~~~ On 10/16/2013 5:01 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: I disconnected everything from my K3 except the power cable and the drain when off remains at 38mA. I don't have the time right now to pull the PA module, but that sounds like the next best possible culprit. I had never noticed the parasitic drain because my station power supply is switched off when I leave the shack. 73, Ron AC7AC __ 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] auto-tuner needs more radio output to tune
I had the SGC 100 watt unit for many years feeding a classic 130' doublet. Upgraded to the 500 watt model 3 years ago. Both of them take around 6 seconds to find sweet spot with this antenna with 15 watts applied from the K2/qrp. 160m to 10m __ 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] KPA500: SWR protection
On 10/16/2013 12:45 PM, jkhoo...@rockisland.com wrote: Hi everyone, Am I understanding KPA500 specs correctly?It looks like if I were to get a KPA500 and loaded it up inadvertently on an antenna with an SWR on the high side, the KPA500 would protect me from my error by reducing power and/or faulting? Yes. Does this mean that the KPA500 is close to fool proof in protecting itself from errors that I might make?Heaven only knows that I make enough as it is ! Yes. I have operated my KPA500 into an open circuit, and it faults and quits making RF. A lot of us are afflicted with the errors we make syndrome. :-) A different take on the same question is whether I could postpone a KAT500 purchase until later. The KAT500 offers me several advantages: 1. I need it using my large sloping Vee, and it does well 2. I'm not enamored with SWR LED's that actually light up when I go key-down, even if the KPA500 accepts it. KAT500 solves that. 3. I have 3 antennas, different combinations of bands, the KAT500 has 3 SO-239's on the back, and lets me configure which antennas will be available on each band and which one is the preferred. I've run my KPA500 at 500W in RTTY contests, in this last CQP, most of the CW ops in the Alpine County expedition were running it to about 600W. At one point, I changed bands, forgot to hit the antenna switch, and it faulted and the ICOM 7600 folded back, all just like it all should. I think you'll find that it is hard to break Elecraft gear. My K3 is #642. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org __ 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] KX3 - 10M High Current
I just put up a 10M dipole at 16' with a BL2 at the center feed. The AIM4170 says it all checks out good with a low SWR (1.5) and this is confirmed in bypass mode with the KX3. I'm operating using a fully charged 10Ah SLA battery with a short, thick power cable...12.7 Volts When I try to run 10 watts, I get the high current warning when operating or when I press tune and the unit goes back down to 5 watts. When I hook the antenna up to my K3, I get no such warnings and it runs 100 watts just fine. Firmware is 1.61. I've seen other issues on the reflector for 6 meters which some have resolved with firmware updates. Anyone else having this issue? Jim - W6VAR -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-10M-High-Current-tp7579949.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 - 10M High Current
The KX3 is spec'ed for 8W on 12m, 10m, and 6m. In some cases, you can run 10W, but that requires a good antenna match and a higher-voltage power supply. wunder K6WRU On Oct 16, 2013, at 5:11 PM, Jim - W6VAR wrote: I just put up a 10M dipole at 16' with a BL2 at the center feed. The AIM4170 says it all checks out good with a low SWR (1.5) and this is confirmed in bypass mode with the KX3. I'm operating using a fully charged 10Ah SLA battery with a short, thick power cable...12.7 Volts When I try to run 10 watts, I get the high current warning when operating or when I press tune and the unit goes back down to 5 watts. When I hook the antenna up to my K3, I get no such warnings and it runs 100 watts just fine. Firmware is 1.61. I've seen other issues on the reflector for 6 meters which some have resolved with firmware updates. Anyone else having this issue? Jim - W6VAR __ 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 Current Drain When Off
On 10/16/2013 2:46 PM, Mike Harris wrote: FWIW #345 draws 39mA. The two radios I measured are s/n 935 and 1606. They've got a lot of good miles on them. :) I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. Bought a second one at Pacificon for $59, tax included. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 Current Drain When Off
On 10/16/2013 5:42 PM, Jim Brown wrote: I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. That's what I have, really cool! 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org __ 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 Current Drain When Off
I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. I would suspect a display problem with the Watts Up ... like showing the wrong range. I *measure* 4.4 mA and 4.2 mA respectively on my K3s - s/n 622 and 1450 - with my trusty Fluke 85. It's either a display problem in the Watts Up or your PAs have problems - unplug one wire from the circuit breaker and measure again. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 10/16/2013 8:42 PM, Jim Brown wrote: On 10/16/2013 2:46 PM, Mike Harris wrote: FWIW #345 draws 39mA. The two radios I measured are s/n 935 and 1606. They've got a lot of good miles on them. :) I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. Bought a second one at Pacificon for $59, tax included. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Another data point: K3 1417 measures 4.0 mA when turned off. Rob NV5E Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 21:35:37 -0400 From: li...@subich.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. I would suspect a display problem with the Watts Up ... like showing the wrong range. I *measure* 4.4 mA and 4.2 mA respectively on my K3s - s/n 622 and 1450 - with my trusty Fluke 85. It's either a display problem in the Watts Up or your PAs have problems - unplug one wire from the circuit breaker and measure again. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 10/16/2013 8:42 PM, Jim Brown wrote: On 10/16/2013 2:46 PM, Mike Harris wrote: FWIW #345 draws 39mA. The two radios I measured are s/n 935 and 1606. They've got a lot of good miles on them. :) I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. Bought a second one at Pacificon for $59, tax included. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 K3 - 30 meters
Guys - thanks for all the helpful info. I had completely forgotten that the K3 can, when used in conjunction with the KPA500, use two RF output settings per band: one with the amp on and another with it off. Dave was right on - set it to 100 watts (or whatever) with the amp off, and with the amp on, set it to something less than 201 watts. Perfect! 73, Jim / W6JHB On Wednesday, Oct 16, 2013, at Wednesday, 7:28 AM, Cady, Fred wrote: The other thing you can do if you have the KPAK3AUX cable installed is to use the INHIBIT function (if you are not using DIGOUT1 to control a PR6 preamp). In the KPA menu, set INHIBIT to ENABLE, then in the K3 config menu set DIGOUT1 ON when you are on 30 meters. The problem with this solution is that if you are using DIGOUT1 ON to turn on the PR6 preamp it will inhibit the amp on 6 meters too. Dave's solution below is the better way to go. Cheers, Fred KE7X __ 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 Current Drain When Off
On 10/16/2013 1:33 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote: Here's one possible explanation: Thanks Wayne. Battery voltage is in the range of 12 - 13.8 V, depending on what the solar panels are doing. As to residual on accessories -- I've got I/O for the Yankee Clipper SO2R box plugged into both radios. That has a WinKey emulator, which feeds the Key input, a paddle which it switches to the paddle input, a CM500 mic, which it switches to the rear panel input (and for which the K3 is providing bias), and headphones, switched to the rear panel phones. I tried unplugging it from one of the radios and nothing changed. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 Current Drain When Off
Get the one from Hobbyking for $24 instead of from Power Werx. It is the exact same Turnigy 130A meter without the power poles.http://hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/uh_viewItem.asp?idProduct=10080You can buy a lot of power poles for $40. 73, Tom - wa4ta Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 17:42:34 -0700 From: j...@audiosystemsgroup.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Current Drain When Off On 10/16/2013 2:46 PM, Mike Harris wrote: FWIW #345 draws 39mA. The two radios I measured are s/n 935 and 1606. They've got a lot of good miles on them. :) I'm measuring with a cute little inline meter that looks at volts, amps, Ah, etc. Called Watts Up. Several ham vendors, including Power Werx, sell it, in the range of $65, with Power Poles on both ends. Bought a second one at Pacificon for $59, tax included. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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] kx3 internal batteries question
Richard,The one place that the KX3 Owners Manual seems to be short on is an explanation of the various KXBC3 Charger error messages. They are all in the KXBC3 Installation and Operation guide which most owners of factory built KX3's never look at. There needs to be a note to look up battery charge related error messages in the KXBC3 manual, or merge all error messages into the KX3 owners manual. (Ron, AC7AC: I am not a Tech Writer, so this is just a suggestion).The KXBC3 Installation and Operation guide says that the BAT ERR message is due to Battery missing or battery voltage out of range due to a fully charged pack or a defective or missing cell...I suspect your cells that drifted down to zero volts look like defective or missing cells to the KXBC3. They would certainly cause the voltage to be out of range resulting in the KXBC3 issuing that error message.I don't have much experience with regular NiMH cells (as opposed to Low Self Discharge NiMH cells), but I did try a set of them (Rayovac) a month or so ago with poor results. After a couple of weeks of no usage, I had to recharge them. One had dropped well below 1v, and the others varied some, but were near 1v. In my case, the KXBC3 was able to recharge them, but I wondered what would happen if I had left them in the KX3 longer until the voltage dropped well below 1v per cell. I think I know now, based on your experience.I am certain you will be much happier with the Eneloops. There are a couple of other good brands NiMH cells out there, but you must be certain they are Low Self Discharge cells unless you are willing to recharge them often.MarkKE6BB From: Richard Gagnon rich...@gagnonconsulting.comSent: Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 4:40 PMTo: elecraft@mailman.qth.netSubject: [Elecraft] kx3 internal batteries questionI have a question about the batteries in my KX3. I purchased and installed 8 Anasman 2850 NiMH batteries in the KX3 andhave used the radio successfully on these batteries for several months,including several recharge cycles with the KX3 internal charger. I lastused the KX3 several months ago, so the batteries were understandablydead when I went to try it out the other day... __ 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 Current Drain When Off
I disconnected the PA in my K3 at the circuit breaker and the parasitic current from the 13.8V supply dropped from 38mA to nearly zero. There's no sign of unusual behavior of the amp. No errors. Full output. All operation suggests that it's quite normal. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- On 10/16/2013 1:33 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote: Here's one possible explanation: Thanks Wayne. Battery voltage is in the range of 12 - 13.8 V, depending on what the solar panels are doing. As to residual on accessories -- I've got I/O for the Yankee Clipper SO2R box plugged into both radios. That has a WinKey emulator, which feeds the Key input, a paddle which it switches to the paddle input, a CM500 mic, which it switches to the rear panel input (and for which the K3 is providing bias), and headphones, switched to the rear panel phones. I tried unplugging it from one of the radios and nothing changed. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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] [KX3] Re: KX3 2-meter module progress report
Wayne/Eric: I'm not trying to reply for David, but we have similar objectives for our KX3. Using 50-54 MHz as IF for the 2M module is genius in my thinking. 28-30 MHz too often used as IF for higher bands limits use to few frequencies. Having the full 2m band is very nice for multiple uses on this band. I am not subjected to strong out of band signals as many are so this is not as important to me. In many of my applications I will have a preamp ahead of the radio so use of a band-pass filter could be used. Of course one must provide protection of a preamp when transmitting since the KX3 does not provide separated Rx antenna. RF switched preamps are available. I have on in use on a 2m yagi dedicated to FM use. I think if overall frequency stability is 10-Hz is will suffice for use with JT65 sw. The lowest decode window I use is 20-Hz and that will work on 2m-eme. For use with mw transverters one must remember that the frequency error of the IF radio is additive to the overall frequency error. This is not as bad as freq. stability issues for LO's driving mw multiplier chains. PLL synthesizers are gaining acceptance with mw'ers as super stable LO's. Since historically freq drift on mw frequencies was measured in terms of KHz's, an overall error of 10-20 Hz is a huge improvement. Knowing your mw frequency accurately improves chances of detecting mw signals since one is not tuning over half the band for below noise signals while pointing antennas with 3 degree beamwidths. JT65 and its variants are what I have in mind for weak-signal use on mw's up to 10-GHz. Again the 144-MHz IF error is added/subtracted to the LO+multiplier chains freq. error. I am using phase-locked LO's above 1296 MHz so essentially all error is that of the KX3-2M, alone. 73, Ed - KL7UW, 600m to 3cm -- Subject:[KX3] Re: KX3 2-meter module progress report Date: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 11:20:44 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com David Anderson gm4...@yahoo.co.uk wrote: What is the planned receive frequency coverage of the 2m module? 144-148 MHz, minimum, for full sensitivity. However, we allow tuning well above and below this range (at least 20 MHz), even though sensitivity gradually falls off. For example, this allows copy of weather-band stations at 162 MHz which are generally very strong, at least at my QTH near San Francisco. Is there any 144-146 band pass filter to limit strong out of band signals from pagers and other fixed services outside the band? I have in the past studied our RF environment on the band. http://www.gm4jjj.co.uk/preamp/index.html Filtering is included at all stages of the receive path, including a 10-element band-pass filter ahead of the mixer. But because the module is so small, there's no room for a high-Q, tuned band-pass filter at the input; instead, we use low-loss low- and high-pass filters to preserve sensitivity. To reduce the need for narrow input filtering, we used a high-intercept LNA that is likely to do OK in all but the very worst RF environments. This increases current drain of the radio on 2 meters somewhat compared to other bands, but we felt it was an acceptable tradeoff. Since the KX3-2M module has its own antenna jack, you could use an external high-performance 144-148 BPF if required. It isn't clear from your sweeps (the URL above) whether this would be necessary for your use of the module, though it certainly wouldn't hurt. Is the frequency stability basically the same as that of the KX3? HF/6-m and 2-m stability are correlated since they're referenced to the same LO. For CW/SSB, we strongly recommend performing the KX3's extended VFO temperature compensation procedure, providing typical stability of +/- 2 to 3 Hz on 6 meters and +/- 5 to 10 Hz on 2 meters. The standard compensation (done at the factory) yields greater variance, but is entirely sufficient for FM or AM operation. We hope to simplify the extended compensation procedure in conjunction with the KX2-2M product release. In both transmit and receive mode, the operating frequency is subject to small asynchronous corrections arising from temperature changes. On 6 meters and lower these corrections have a granularity of 1 Hz. On 2 meters they're about 3 Hz due to the conversion scheme used. We're looking into improving the granularity on 2 meters, but the overall range of corrections--about +/- 5 to 10 Hz--is about as good as it gets on this band with a conventional temperature-sense IC.) You will have gathered that my interest is weak signal work on 144 and as an IF for microwave transporters. What modes do you plan to use? 73, Wayne N6KR 73, Ed - KL7UW http://www.kl7uw.com dubus...@gmail.com Kits made by KL7UW __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post:
Re: [Elecraft] kx3 internal batteries question
All: Sorry about the previous message. Looks like all my CR/LF's got stripped out and a couple were added as well. Even the part of the message I responded to was stripped. Mark KE6BB From: Mark Petiford rv6am...@yahoo.com Sent: Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 9:00 PM To: Richard Gagnon rich...@gagnonconsulting.com; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] kx3 internal batteries question Richard,The one place that the KX3 Owners Manual seems to be short on is an explanation of the various KXBC3 Charger error messages. They are all in the KXBC3 Installation and Operation guide which most owners of factory built KX3's never look at. There needs to be a note to look up battery charge related error messages in the KXBC3 manual, or merge all error messages into the KX3 owners manual. (Ron, AC7AC: I am not a Tech Writer, so this is just a suggestion).The KXBC3 Installation and Operation guide says that the BAT ERR message is due to Battery missing or battery voltage out of range due to a fully charged pack or a defective or missing cell...I suspect your cells that drifted down to zero volts look like defective or missing cells to the KXBC3. They would certainly cause the voltage to be out of range resulting in the KXBC3 issuing that error message.I don't have much experience with regular NiMH cells (as opposed to Low Self Discharge NiMH cells), but I did try a set of them (Rayovac) a month or so ago with poor results. After a couple of weeks of no usage, I had to recharge them. One had dropped well below 1v, and the others varied some, but were near 1v. In my case, the KXBC3 was able to recharge them, but I wondered what would happen if I had left them in the KX3 longer until the voltage dropped well below 1v per cell. I think I know now, based on your experience.I am certain you will be much happier with the Eneloops. There are a couple of other good brands NiMH cells out there, but you must be certain they are Low Self Discharge cells unless you are willing to recharge them often.MarkKE6BB From: Richard Gagnon rich...@gagnonconsulting.comSent: Wed, Oct 16, 2013 at 4:40 PMTo: elecraft@mailman.qth.netSubject: [Elecraft] kx3 internal batteries questionI have a question about the batteries in my KX3. I purchased and installed 8 Anasman 2850 NiMH batteries in the KX3 andhave used the radio successfully on these batteries for several months,including several recharge cycles with the KX3 internal charger. I lastused the KX3 several months ago, so the batteries were understandablydead when I went to try it out the other day... __ 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 suddenly dies
Well, traded out the voltage regulator IC and no joy. Then I tried Deoxit on the adjustment pot, tweaked it a bit and measured voltage at 13.8vdc! Great! Turned it off and on, tried it again, and was ready start bragging to the XYL---but it was back to .8v. Didn't see any suspect components while I had it open. - 73, Gary W7TEA K3 #1001, #5763 -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K3-suddenly-dies-tp7579305p7579964.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
