Re: [Elecraft] Lightning Protection (was-Re: suggested PC???)

[John Severyn]

As Fred mentioned, MOVs gradually fail.  And the failure mechanism is a 
gradual reduction of the "trigger voltage".  As the trigger voltage 
slowly drops, the MOVs start disappating power at the very peak of the 
AC line voltage.  If you are lucky, you find a warm device.  But most 
often they fail sight-unseen.  Once in a while if installed in a plastic 
"outlet extender", they start a fire. Beware.


John  AF6QO

On 1/6/2016 3:28 PM, Fred Townsend wrote:

I would disagree with the use of MOVs at the service entrance unless there are 
inductors preceding.

The key words in this discussion are protection systems. There is no one 
component or silver bullet that will protect all. The chances are if you take a 
direct strike there will be damage so unplugging is still a good idea. You 
would like any damage to be to cheap things like surge protectors that are  
easily replaced. Having said that MOVs are cheap but they are not lighting 
protectors so it is foolhardy to build your principle lightning defense around 
them. For those wondering a surge is like when the secondary power line falls 
down on the low voltage line or a lightning strike AFTER the leading edge of 
the wave front is diminished. In short MOVs work in milliseconds. The leading 
edge of a lightning burst is in the microsecond range. Transorbs, gas 
protectors, capacitors, and carbon protectors are shunting devices in networks 
that work in the microsecond range and can be used at the service entrance.

Series Inductance is a great way to knock off the leading edge but absolutely 
defeats your protection system when used in the grounding system or green wire. 
Remember ALL conductors have inductance so shorter is better. Never coil or 
square a ground wire.

Maintenance of protection systems is essential too. Transorbs and carbons fail 
shorted. For this reason VDE sometimes requires these type components to be 
protected by fuses as well.  Gas protectors and MOVs fail open. MOVs fail 
gradually too. Capacitors and inductors take physical damage too and can fail 
either open or shorted. After your big lightning storm these components should 
be inspected and replaced if you see black smudges on or around them. MOVs will 
physically deteriorate and are easy to spot defective ones.

73,
Fred, AE6QL
-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Brown
Sent: Wednesday, January 6, 2016 1:35 PM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Lightning Protection (was-Re: suggested PC???)

YES!

Another VERY important thing is to NEVER use "MOV surge protectors" on branch 
circuits. They're great at the service entrance, as Bob recommends, but they CAUSE 
equipment damage when used on branch circuit, because the MOVs dump the lightning spike 
onto the Green wire, which creates a high voltage spike on the Green wire. That voltage 
is different at every outlet and at every piece of gear, and the difference shows up as a 
common mode voltage between interconnected equipment.
THAT'S what blows up stuff connected by wired Ethernet.  We discovered this the 
hard way about 25 years ago in the pro audio industry.

The ONLY safe surge protectors on branch circuits (that is, next to
equipment)  are SERIES MODE protectors. They work by storing the surge in a big 
inductor, then slowly discharging it. They're more expensive, but they won't 
blow up your gear. The only mfrs I know of are Brick Wall, Zero Surge, and 
SurgeX.

Also critical -- bond ALL grounds together, including the shack ground, CATV 
ground, TELCO ground, etc., and back to the power ground.

73, Jim K9YC


On Wed,1/6/2016 11:35 AM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:

Two things I've found to be a big deterrent regarding lightning damage:

(a) all driven grounds must be bonded back to the AC mains ground and
this must be done outside of the house.   I use some 1/2" flexible
copper water line as my bonding conductor.  It is trenched around the
outside of the foundation about 6" deep from the tower ground and coax
lightening protection system back to the AC Mains ground some 50 ft away.

(b)  Install a whole house surge protector at the main breaker panel.
These are sometimes referred to as Secondary Surge Protectors.
Usually should be installed by a qualified licensed electrician.

73
Bob, K4TAX


On 1/6/2016 11:52 AM, Barry Baines wrote:

Neil:



On Jan 6, 2016, at 8:25 AM, Neil Zampella  wrote:

FWIW ... I've got everything setup wired in the shack, but
everything (cable coax, ethernet, power) runs through an
uninterruptible power supply (ups).   Many of the higher end models
provide not only power surge protection and battery, but
lightning/surge protection for coax and ethernet.

By ‘coax’ do you mean cable TV coax or are you suggesting RF coax for
amateur radio transceivers?  Clearly, UPS surge protection is not
designed for anything on the order that an amateur transmitter (even
QRP) can produce.  Further, UPS devices presume 75 ohm coax sys

Re: [Elecraft] Slighty off topic - 80 meter second harmnic how to stop

[John Severyn]

Don't forget rain gutters and downspouts that may be slightly corroded 
at the joints, forming a diode.

They make nice frequency doublers due to the non-linear element.
John  AF6QO

On 2/22/2016 11:58 PM, Ian White wrote:

I feel sure that Jim and W3LPL are right. That rasping note is a big,
big clue that some *other* electronic device is also involved -
something else, in addition to your two K3s.

That "unknown third party" device is what you need to find. Begin by
switching off power to whole sections of the house,  and then go around
methodically unplugging individual devices. Murphy says: it's something
of yours, and it's right there in the shack.


73 from Ian GM3SEK


-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
Jim Brown
Sent: 23 February 2016 04:42
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Slighty off topic - 80 meter second harmnic how

to

stop

When I posted on this issue to another list, W3LPL responded that it's
fairly common for harmonics with this sort of characteristic to be
generated in active electronics like switching power supplies.  Sort of
identifying which is the culprit and choking every cable connected to
it, there's no solution.

73, Jim K9YC

On Mon,2/22/2016 8:34 PM, paulb wrote:

For what ever reason the harmonic is still very present..darn..
oddly has a rasping note not pure carrier.

A close ham about 400 meters away can also hear the 2nd hamonnic,
band pass in or out makes little change.

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Re: [Elecraft] 10 MHz external reference - GPSDO

[John Severyn]

Thank you David.  That article is very good and answered a lot of 
questions for me.

73
John AF6QO

On 3/11/2016 8:03 AM, David Anderson wrote:

You may want to have a look at this for some background on real world frequency 
stability, and remember that the K3 isn't phase locked to the external 
reference and is only going to be within 2Hz.

https://www.febo.com/pages/stability/

73 from David GM4JJJ

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Re: [Elecraft] mic - David Clark

[John Severyn]

Hi Fred,
Aviation headsets come with a variety of mikes, some dynamic, but most 
today are electret.  "Noise Cancelling" in aviation lingo usually means 
some sort of seal over or in the ear.  "Electronic Noise Cancelling" 
means the earpieces have active noise cancelling circuitry in addition 
to the ear-seal.  (the seal can be over the ear or in the ear, like a 
hearing aid, but most David Clark models are "over the ear").  The 
microphone is also most probably of a noise cancelling design.

The David Clark line is considered to be fairly high quality and has 
been around for a long time, since 1941.  They make a wide variety of 
gear, from G-suits, high altitude pressure suits, helmets, headsets etc.

http://www.davidclarkcompany.com/aviation/fixed-wing-passive.php

Various connectors are available, from LEMO to larger phone jacks and 
some specialized models.

The above link is for their present line of fixed wing headsets.  I have 
several pairs of older H10-40 units, no longer made.  The mike is a 
electret with very good noise cancelling and made to perform in a very 
high noise environment, with passive noise reduction, over the ear 
seals.  Fidelity is not the goal.  Voice communication in a very high 
noise environment of a piston engine propellor aircraft is the goal.

Other models are made for helicopter use (different connector became 
standard in helicopters).

No connection to David Clark.  Just a satisfied customer.

73
John AF6QO

On 6/11/2017 2:44 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
> Hmmm ... I've had it for several years and it saw some use before I got 
> it but I doubt it's old enough to be a carbon mic like the WW2 T-17.
> 
> I just assumed the "noise cancelling" part applied to the headphones.  I 
> didn't know it might apply to the mic.  There's no external noise in my 
> shack to cancel anyway.
> 
> The connector is round and the contacts stick out of the face.  I think 
> there are 6, maybe Headphones, Mic, and PTT?  There's a push-switch in 
> the cable.  It looks like the connector fits over the panel connector 
> and you twist is to lock it ... like a BNC.  I don't think the 
> headphones are stereo which is a big negative with my K3.
> 
> I was just curious.  This sounds like a project for some time when I 
> have exactly nothing else to do. [:-)  Thanks for the info
> 
> 73,
> 
> Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
> Sparks NV DM09dn
> Washoe County
> 
> On 6/11/17 1:51 PM, Jack Spitznagel wrote:
>> Fred,
>>
>> I have a widget that adapts a Sennheiser S1 av-noise canceler to my 
>> KX3. Use it for hi noise situations and it works like charm, even 
>> Massey-Ferguson mobile.🙂
>> Try it with the David Clarks.
>> Was connector a mismatched size pair of phone jacks or a complex 
>> military looking connector?
>>
>> Jack -KD4IZ
>>
>>
> 
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Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft utilities configuration files?

[John Severyn]

Ron,

The files may be labeled as "hidden".   To see the files, right click on 
the folder (select it), then "View", then make sure "Hidden Files" is 
checked.

John AF6QO


On 7/22/2018 7:30 PM, Ronald Genovesi wrote:
>  This may be more of a Windows problem than a Elecraft utilities problem, 
> I’m not really sure,  since I’m an Apple user with the exception of the 
> computer in my shack, and I just got that for use with my  Elecraft 
> equipment. I’ll ask anyways.
>   I’m running Windows 10 and the Elecraft K3, P3 & KPA1500 utilities and 
> for the life of me I cannot find where the utility programs are putting the 
> configuration file on my computer. If I look at the properties of the file 
> during the utility  save process (Let's use the K3 utility as an example)  it 
> tells me there being saved in 
> C:\users\user\appdata\roaming\elecraft\k3\configuration but I can not find 
> any of these config files except from the utility programs.   The reason I 
> think this could be a Windows problem and not a utilities problem is that I 
> can’t even find the “Appdata" folder. Just  “C:\users\user”  The utility 
> programs can find them, but I can’t!   I'd like to back them up to a 
> thumbnail drive.
> Anyone have an idea of what I’m missing or doing wrong?
>  Thanks
>
>   Ron Genovesi
>   n3...@coastside.net
>
>
>
>
>
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Re: [Elecraft] Reflector change?

[John Severyn]

Ditto.  I like it the way it is.  Filtering is easy-peasy with any 
number of mailers.  I use Thunderbird, but most have similar capabilities.
73   John AF6QO

On 8/19/2017 11:09 AM, Richard Fjeld wrote:
> Ditto
> 
> Rich, n0ce
> 
> 
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
> 
> From: Charlie T, K3ICH
> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2017 11:24 AM
> To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Reflector change?
> 
> Don't change a thing...
> 
> Charlie k3ICH
> 
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Ken G Kopp
> Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2017 11:41 AM
> To: Elecraft 
> Subject: [Elecraft] Reflector change?
> 
> Wayne, Eric,
> 
> Rose and I much prefer the reflector as it is now.  Please, no changes.
> 
> 73
> 
> K0PP
> N7HKW
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Re: [Elecraft] Cleaning a K3

[John Severyn]

I will second Dick's caution of using any high pressure air or gas.  The 
high flow rates can cause static charge buildup on higher impedance 
parts, causing over-voltage failures.  Keep the flow rate and pressure 
lowdo not use an air compressor hose. The static buildup can happen 
no matter if the hose is conductive or insulating.  The flow of air over 
the component leads generates a static charge.

John  AF6QO


On 7/27/2016 6:56 AM, Richard Fjeld wrote:
> Be careful if using a vacuum cleaner.  A static build-up can develop.  
> I have seen it cause arcing.  That may have been a hose with metal 
> fittings.
> There is also a metal spring inside the hose that can conduct. Perhaps 
> an attachment with a brush for the hose will avoid a discharge.
>
> Dick, n0ce
>
>
> On 7/27/2016 2:07 AM, Bill Frantz wrote:
>> My K3 (and P3) were used in a very dusty environment in eastern 
>> Nevada. Some people there compared the dust levels to those at 
>> burning man. Does anyone have any advice about cleaning the equipment?
>>
>> 73 Bill AE6JV
>>
>> --- 
>>
>> Bill Frantz| Re: Computer reliability, performance, and 
>> security:
>> 408-356-8506   | The guy who *is* wearing a parachute is *not* the
>> www.pwpconsult.com | first to reach the ground.  - Terence Kelly
>>
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