Re: [Elecraft] K2 Current Draw vs. Options
John, The typical receive current for a K2/10 is 240 to 300 ma. depending on the option set. If the KDSP2 is added, it will be higher by about 50 ma. A fully loaded K2 I am currently working on draws 300 ma. with all options connected (with KAF2 not the KDSP2). Removing the KAT2 and the KIO2 plug drops the current to 280 ma. That is with 13.8 volts supplied from the power source. 73, Don W3FPR On 5/26/2011 10:25 PM, John wrote: > Hello, > > I hope to learn the typical current consumption of the K2/QRP with and > without various options installed. I understand the K2 has a built in > radio current drain and voltage monitor. If you have a K2 and a moment, > could you please jot down the reported voltage applied and current > consumption while receiving along with a list of options you have > installed in your K2 and send to me via email? > __ 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] K2 Current Draw vs. Options
John The lowest I can get the current down to is 200 mA. That's in battery saver mode (LED graph = off, performance = battery, and LCD backlights = day (off). If I start to turn those options on, I get: LCD = nite = 240 mA Opt = Perf = 300 mA LED = Bar = 320 mA My options are: KAF2 Filter KAT2 tuner KNB2 160m module Internal battery (not used for these tests) SSB Module External PS set so that the internal meter reads 12.4 V. Let us know what the results are. I would love to be able to get below 200 mA. 73, John W2XS __ 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] K2 current draw
Vic, There are only 2 things that have potential for causing higer drive requirements on 20 meters - the base K2 low pass filter and the base circuit of the KPA100. I have not noticed any problem with 20 meters on all the KPA100s that I have worked on (but I follow the manual recommendation to set CAL CUR to 3.5 Amps, and I look no further), so I suggest that you look carefully at the resistors and capacitors in the base circuit of the KPA100 and count the turns on the toroids for the 20/30 meter portion of the K2 LPF - my bet is that you can 'tweak' the windings in the K2 LPF to improve the situation - one extra turn on a toroid (L18, L19 or L20) can lower the frequency enough to reduce to power output per ampere (actually increse the current draw) from the base K2 on 20 meters, and not be noticable under any other conditions - the load presented by the KPA100 is not precisely 50 ohms on all bands, hence my suggestion to investigate the base circuit. OTOH, the KPA100 manual recommends that the CAL CUR be increased to 3.5 Amps when the KPA1000 is installed, so things are still within expectations, but with fine tuning, you may be able to do better than average. 73, Don W3FPR > -Original Message- > > I just noticed an interesting thing about my K2/100: the current > drawn by the > low-power part of the K2 (that's the current measured when you > tap DISPLAY) is > extra high on one band: 20 meters. When I'm running 100 watts > out, the current > displayed varies from about 2.2-2.8 amps on all bands other than > 20. On 20, > it's 3.5 amps. > > My first thought was that the bandpass filter was misaligned on 20. Sure > enough, after adjusting L7 and L8 on 30 meters, the 20-meter > trimmers were at > minimum capacity when the output peaked. I had to add an 8 pf > capacitor across > one of them and a 27 pf capacitor (!) across the other in order > to have the peak > fall in the adjustment range of the trimmer. Very suspicious. > > After doing this, I verified that the current draw when running > 10 watts on 20 > meters was in line with the other bands. But when running 100 > watts, I still > get 3.5 amps! > > Something funny is going on. Why was I unable to get a peak on > 20 without extra > capacity across the bandpass filter trimmers? And why is the > current drawn at > 10 watts normal, but high at 100 watts? > > This is not something new, I've just ignored it until now! > > -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.10 - Release Date: 5/13/2005 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 current draw
Vic The bandpass filter alignment merely assures you have adequate drive to the PA. The LPF will have more effect on the PA current, as it determines whether you have a match between the load the and PA. 73, Bob N6WG -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of Vic Rosenthal Sent: Sunday, May 15, 2005 3:39 PM To: Elecraft Reflector Cc: Gary Surrency Subject: [Elecraft] K2 current draw I just noticed an interesting thing about my K2/100: the current drawn by the low-power part of the K2 (that's the current measured when you tap DISPLAY) is extra high on one band: 20 meters. When I'm running 100 watts out, the current displayed varies from about 2.2-2.8 amps on all bands other than 20. On 20, it's 3.5 amps. My first thought was that the bandpass filter was misaligned on 20. Sure enough, after adjusting L7 and L8 on 30 meters, the 20-meter trimmers were at minimum capacity when the output peaked. I had to add an 8 pf capacitor across one of them and a 27 pf capacitor (!) across the other in order to have the peak fall in the adjustment range of the trimmer. Very suspicious. After doing this, I verified that the current draw when running 10 watts on 20 meters was in line with the other bands. But when running 100 watts, I still get 3.5 amps! Something funny is going on. Why was I unable to get a peak on 20 without extra capacity across the bandpass filter trimmers? And why is the current drawn at 10 watts normal, but high at 100 watts? This is not something new, I've just ignored it until now! -- 73, Vic, K2VCO Fresno CA http://www.qsl.net/k2vco ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
