[Elecraft] K3/KAT500

Probably a few dumb questions but... I’ve been trying to setup our club’s K3/KAT500 combination and it’s not performing as expected. At present, it’s just the K3 and KAT500, no linear involved. I’ve connected the AUX data cable to the K3 and KAT500 and I have a patch cable between

Re: [Elecraft] Leaded or non-leaded solder

Hi Don, Thank you for your mail. I'm happy with your recommended solution. But I have an additional question : what temperature do you recommend for soldering a part with leaded solder on a ROHS board ? I my personal notes, inspired by what I read on the Elecraft Web site when I built my K2-100 in

[Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

Recently I was doing something requiring that K3 not transmit power. TX test was selected. I expected that it would retain this setting after shutdown and subsequent restart. It does NOT stick with a K3 S/N 8XXX and FW 5.38. Is this the way it is supposed to work? Fortunately we didn't trans

Re: [Elecraft] Leaded or non-leaded solder

Raymond, I typically set my soldering station at 750 degF and have not had a problem regardless of the board. If you are soldering temperature sensitive ICs, you may want to lower the temperature a bit, but for normal soldering of passive components, the higher temperature makes the task quick

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500

Alan, I am going to guess - the difference may be the result on the KAT3 present in the K3 or not present. My perusal of the K3 manual indicates that the ATU TUNE button refers to the KAT3 - I see no exceptions for the KAT500. I really don't know what happens if the KAT3 is not present. S

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

Brian, Yes, TX TEST will not survive a power cycle. 73, Don W3FPR On 8/11/2016 10:59 AM, brian wrote: Recently I was doing something requiring that K3 not transmit power. TX test was selected. I expected that it would retain this setting after shutdown and subsequent restart. It does NOT s

[Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

I just bought 20' of what was supposed to be 10GA zip wire from that auction site. It is clearly marked as "Audiopipe 10 Gauge speaker cable". The conductor is actually 12GA at best. Is this becoming common practice or is wire going the way of 2X4 lumber? Suggestions for a reputable source of tr

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

I wonder if this is an oversight or difficult to implement? The potential $$ it could save are large. 73 de Brian/K3KO On 8/11/2016 15:12 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: Brian, Yes, TX TEST will not survive a power cycle. 73, Don W3FPR On 8/11/2016 10:59 AM, brian wrote: Recently I was doing somethin

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

I would not want it to survive power off and restart. It is too easy to be in TEST mode at the end of the day, shut down and forget it. Then on restarting the next day one spends time trying to figure out why the rig will not transmit ... no thanks! 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 8/11/2016 11:25 A

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

Not a chance :>). Not an oversight. Deliberate choice. Turning a rig off/on is supposed to reset everything except configuration settings and start it over after such things as power spikes, yada, yada. Having test mode persist across power cycles would create a lot of confusion. Same kind of an

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

I would suggest buying from The RF Connection http://www.therfc.com/zipcord.htm or Powerwerx https://powerwerx.com/red-black-bonded-zip-cord. 73, Don W3FPR On 8/11/2016 11:21 AM, rick jones via Elecraft wrote: I just bought 20' of what was supposed to be 10GA zip wire from that auction site.

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Is 10 gauge necessary? Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 11, 2016, at 10:41 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote: > > I would suggest buying from The RF Connection > http://www.therfc.com/zipcord.htm or Powerwerx > https://powerwerx.com/red-black-bonded-zip-cord. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > >> On 8/11/2016 11:21 AM,

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Ronnie, It "all depends" I use 12 gauge myself, but the runs are less than 6 feet. For longer power cables, I would use 10 gauge or larger. #10 is .000999 ohms per foot #12 is .001588 ohms per foot. For 12 feet of conductor (yes, you have to count the resistance both directions) - at 18 amps

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Depends on the run length and the voltage drop you are willing to tolerate. 10’ of 10 gauge for 13.8 VDC @ 20A has a drop to 13.4V vs a drop to 13.16 for 12 gauge. Source: http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html Joe KO8V > On Aug 11, 2016, at 10:43 AM, Ronnie Hull wrote: > > I

Re: [Elecraft] K3s audio problem

It works! When I set up for the mic I apparently got those settings tangled up with Data Mode too! Not sure how I did that. Don, W3FPR started me in the right direction by noting that Mic-select was mode specific. Then, more of you guys asked.me why I wasn't using the internal sound card (I

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Bad analogy. The 2 X 4 inch measurement of a piece of construction lumber is before planning, or rough cut lumber. The finished dimension is more like 3½ X 1½ which hasn't changed. However, you might be right on the speaker wire. Maybe some "secret" wire formula that is equivalent to 10 gauge.

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

“Is this becoming common practice or is wire going the way of 2X4 lumber?” “Bad analogy. The 2 X 4 inch measurement of a piece of construction lumber is before planning, or rough cut lumber. The finished dimension is more like 3½ X 1½ which hasn't changed.” Not so bad an analogy. A pl

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Well, I don't use "zip wire" for anything anymore... But if you want a good selection of wire at reasonable prices, and great quality... http://wesbellwireandcable.com/index.html I've bought by the foot and by the spool from these folks. Tell Matt I sent you. :) I suggest using 10 GA THHN/THW

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

How do you define "necessary". Paraphrasing K9YC, Jim "Big wire is your friend". I agree... I typically use wire at least 2 sizes larger than "required" Often the wire size is determined by how big of a wire I can FIT in the application and how much money I can part with at the time.

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500

Hi Don & Alan, Without the KAT3 present the ATU TUNE button has no effect other than displaying the "NO ATU" message briefly. This goes for both tap and hold. As you say, use the TUNE button to generate a medium power (set by "TUN PWR" in config) carrier. This will cause the KAT500 to recall a sto

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

I guess we can agree to disagree. It is not as if the K3 doesn't tell you it's in the TX test mode. Pretty obvious -- especially if you set it purposely. It is far less destructive in the TX test mode! If you also have to turn the power manually to zero, what's the point of having a TX test

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Over the years, I've bought some of the red/black zip cord at hamfests. While I have not measured any of it with a micrometer, my strong impression has been that it IS smaller than labeled. More to the point -- zip cord is TERRIBLE cable for loudspeaker wiring because it has very poor RF rejec

[Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

I'm making up a 20' cord to go from my car battery to any given picnic table for portable ops so 10 gauge would probably be appropriate when I want to go QRO. Yes someday I'll get a deep cycle and/or solar panel and someday later I'll put it all in an RV but for now I just want to go to the park

[Elecraft] Real 2" x 4" Lumber

Indeed the finished dimension of lumber HAS changed. Renovating the wood frame home I owned in Chicago, built around the turn of the century, after the Great Chicago Fire, I found REAL 2" x 4" and 2" x 6" lumber. I also removed at least 100 ft of gas pipe used for lighting. When first wired fo

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

If the feed to the sub-panel has 60 amp breakers in the main panel, then #6 AWG feed to the sub-panel is required by the NEC code. That you estimate at this time you do not ever use more than 20 amps out of the sub-panel has no bearing on the ampacity requirement for the sub-panel. A subsequent occ

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Guy, I am intimately aware of the code... I started out with a 40 Amp breaker at the service to the sub... I changed it to a 60Amp to "match" the 6AWG run... I would never install anything that was not up to code or use non-UL materials... And I always have my work double-checked by a respecte

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

Setting power to zero is a very simple way to set a persistent no-power state that bridges transceiver on/off, which gives you your work-around. I would assume that kind of usage is very rare. Turning off the power just long enough to try out all the macro settings before jumping into a contest is

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

No Rick, they have developed a new plating process [Cu on Cu] that makes 12 ga wire perform like 10 ga wire. Now, if you wanted to use it for speaker wire, you would need yet another plating to prevent audio distortion and achieve the highest fidelity. That makes it more expensive. At least

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500

Hi Don and Knut. Thank you both for your replies, most helpful. In this particular case the KAT3 is present, which is exactly the same as my own K3. The club bought one from a SK club member estate and I bought from another. Sad, but life's like that! Anyway, both K3s came with a KAT3 install

Re: [Elecraft] K3/KAT500

Knut, The KAT500 in manual mode will recall the tuner settings that were last used for a particular band segment and antenna. Hence the strong suggestion that you "train" the KAT500 - set it to AUTO and do a TUNE on each band segment and each antenna that you intend to use for that band segm

[Elecraft] 60 metre issue

Further to my messing about with tuners, I've just discovered that the K3 will not allow me to tune an antenna below about 5.350MHz which appears to be the band edge in the USA. In the UK, we're allowed to use 60M down to 5.258MHz, so it would be helpful to be able to tune the TX down to that. I

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

The added cost of a 3x over-build seems like it would be awfully high. Is this good engineering practice (seriously, I don't know)? Kevin K4VD On Thu, Aug 11, 2016 at 12:38 PM, Clay Autery wrote: > How do you define "necessary". > > Paraphrasing K9YC, Jim "Big wire is your friend". > > I a

Re: [Elecraft] 60 metre issue

Alan, Contact k3supp...@elecraft.com and they should be able to help you with it. There is firmware to change the band edges. Run it once and it is done. 73, Don W3FPR On 8/11/2016 2:07 PM, G4GNX wrote: Further to my messing about with tuners, I've just discovered that the K3 will not all

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Same with shoe sizes. I've gone from a Size 9 to a Size 11 and nothing I have related to shoe size got any bigger. Eric KE6US On 8/11/2016 9:17 AM, Charlie T, K3ICH wrote: Bad analogy. The 2 X 4 inch measurement of a piece of construction lumber is before planning, or rough cut lumber. The

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements (was: Zip Wire Misrepresentation?)

I’ve changed the subject line because this discussion has strayed from the original question. At retail rates (e.g. price per foot from lower.com) #6 wire is 89 cents per foot, and #12 wire is 8.2 cents per foot; assuming Clay’s 50 foot run and 3 wires for a 110 VAC circuit with ground, per NE

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements (was: Zip Wire Misrepresentation?)

Sorry, auto spell correct got in the way. That should have read “lowes.com” lew > On Aug 11, 2016, at 12:03 PM, Lewis Phelps wrote: > > I’ve changed the subject line because this discussion has strayed from the > original question. > > At retail rates (e.g. price per foot from lower.com

Re: [Elecraft] 60 metre issue

Thanks Don and Tom, I'll do just that right away. 73, Alan. G4GNX -Original Message- From: Don Wilhelm Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 7:18 PM To: G4GNX ; elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] 60 metre issue Alan, Contact k3supp...@elecraft.com and they should be able

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

Depends on the conduit size. Half inch conduit can only carry two #6 wires per NEC, but 3/4” conduit is OK for four #6 wires. But we weren’t talking here about pulling wire out of an existing conduit, I don’t think.. This was described as a new installation by a code-savvy op, who no doubt is u

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements (was: Zip Wire Misrepresentation?)

It really depends on physical environment particulars, and what it is you are sizing your DC currents for. If you are talking about 4 feet, that's one thing. But if it's an RV and you are wiring up a 13.8 V DC supply circuit run from house batteries, which are where they are, to the only place in

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

The number of tragedies in my life suggest otherwise, but in this case, I must live a charmed life. I have never had RFI issues while using zip cord for speaker wiring in and around my ham shack. I have used the red/black stuff for DC wiring but lately I'm using 10 AWG wire made for low-volta

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

That's what Al Gore said. On 8/11/2016 10:56 AM, Fred Jensen wrote: At least that's what I saw on the Internet and you're not allowed to put anything on the Internet that isn't true ... 73, Fred K6DGW Sparks NV Washoe County DM09dn

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

On Thu,8/11/2016 12:03 PM, Lewis Phelps wrote: So, why go to the extra expense of #6 wire? All the calculators assume sinusoidal current (i.e., a perfect 60 Hz sine wave). That's not the real world -- only un-controlled heating elements draw sine wave current. For at least the past 30+ years,

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements (was: Zip Wire Misrepresentation?)

Also, the number of wires by size in conduit should help the cost equation also.   3 ea #6 conductor requires 1" conduit, while 3 ea, #12 can be put in 1/2" conduit. Mel, K6KBE From: Lewis Phelps To: Elecraft Reflector Reflector Sent: Thursday, August 11, 2016 12:03 PM Subject: Re:

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

In the late 1980’s, we had some cubicle wiring fires at HP Labs caused by computer power supplies. They had to replace all the wiring with bigger conductors and connectors for the neutral. The same thing happened with Project Athena at MIT. wunder K6WRU Walter Underwood wun...@wunderwood.org h

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Well, again, you have to define terms... "good engineering practice". Depends on how you define good... I am known far and wide for my incessant "over-engineering". I don't consider it over-engineering. I am always considering additional factors in my designs beyond IMMEDIATE cost. Cost for u

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

Was this a "shared neutral" type of problem? I thought NEC ruled that out in post-1979 wiring plans. 73, matt W6NIA On 8/11/2016 2:10 PM, Walter Underwood wrote: In the late 1980’s, we had some cubicle wiring fires at HP Labs caused by computer power supplies. They had to replace all the

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

I think it was shared neutral. The cubicle wiring design could well have been from before 1979. On the other hand, one of the graphics boxes for the HP 300 series had two power supplies with two power cords, so we were pushing the cubicle wiring pretty hard. wunder K6WRU Walter Underwood CM87w

[Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

Using my P3 monitor, set to display when TX is going on, sometimes goes into displaying TX for a few seconds while I am receiving. Has anyone else seen this, and know of a fix? Thanks & 73 de W5SV, Dave __ Elecraft mailing list Home:

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

You make a lot of assumptions there: 1) It is not a 50 foot run carrying 120... It's a 50 foot 4 wire run carrying 240 volts to the sub-panel from the service plus the neutral and the green wire. Then a 6-gang box containing 8 x 120 and 4 x 220 receptacles wired independently. 2) IF some day I NE

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

You are correct... it is new construction add-on to existing... FYI, when using twisted-pair, each pair essentially functions as 4 parallel wires for cross-section... So I had to upsize to 1" RWS FMC to accomodate 2 x 6AWG twisted pairs and not violate the 40% fill limit. Conduit is NOT required

Re: [Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

Dave, What do you see on the display when that happens? If there is no TX RF present, you should see a straight line. If you are seeing an envelope display, then the K3 is actually going into transmit. If you have a computer connection and also have the K3 menu parameter for PTT-KEY set to

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

There are several issues with shared neutrals, one of which is that currents in single phase systems may not balance well. In the large sound systems I designed, I always specified a home run of all three conductors from each duplex that I distributed around a stage or worship area to the panel

[Elecraft] KXPA100 Amp Issue

My KXPA 100 is switching from antenna 1 to antenna 2 on its own when I go from band to band on the KX3.  Anybody know what could be causing this?  Also, I only have one antenna. Thanks,JimW7JHR  Sent from Yahoo Mail. Get the app __ Elec

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] NEC wire size requirements

So off topic - why start this here at all? there are loads of general radio groups, facebook groups etc.. this is getting silly.. Robin G1MHU __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help:

Re: [Elecraft] KXPA100 Amp Issue

Jim, ANT1/ANT2 is a per band setting. If you have not set the antenna port to the antenna you are using, then the antenna selected could be random. Go to each band and set the antenna to whichever antenna is connected, then test the behavior by switching from band to band. If you bought th

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Don't forget the Oxygen impregnation and gold connectors.;-) On 8/11/2016 12:56 PM, Fred Jensen wrote: No Rick, they have developed a new plating process [Cu on Cu] that makes 12 ga wire perform like 10 ga wire. Now, if you wanted to use it for speaker wire, you would need yet another plating

Re: [Elecraft] KXPA100 Amp Issue

Thanks folks. Problem solved! JimW7JHR   Sent from Yahoo Mail. Get the app On Thursday, August 11, 2016 5:15 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: Jim, ANT1/ANT2 is a per band setting.  If you have not set the antenna port to the antenna you are using, then the antenna selected could be random. Go

Re: [Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

Don, thanks for the help; I will answer your questions in line between them... On 8/11/2016 22:29, Don Wilhelm wrote: Dave, What do you see on the display when that happens? If there is no TX RF present, you should see a straight line. If you are seeing an envelope display, then the K3 is

Re: [Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

Dave, Try this from P3 MCU 1.60 / SVGA 1.34 / March 21, 2016 release notes: Enable/disable TX sensing at the TxMon coupler: Added TxSensEn to TxMon sub-menu. This allows enabling/disabling of transmit sensing at the coupler. For K3 and K3S users, TxSensEn can be set to “disabled”, which will use

Re: [Elecraft] K3 -TX test not sticky

I think the current firmware implementation for this (non-sticky) is OK. But, I sympathize with your concern. In my use of the K3 (SN-11, SN-17 and SN-4959, with all the possible K3S upgrades), I sometimes wish TX TEST were sticky through a power cycle, but most times am glad it is not sticky. Ev

Re: [Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

Howard, thanks for the idea; I now have things set as you suggest. Because it was intermittent it may take a while to know if its "fixed" or not, so I will report back after more testing. Thanks again for the idea. 73 de Dave, W5SV On 8/12/2016 01:48, Howard Stephenson wrote: Dave, Try th

[Elecraft] Hum in K3...

Hi, I and another ham live about 900 feet from each other...  Would one consider it normal to hear hum, on the other persons signal when listening to each other, using AM and at one or two watts?  We are both using a a commercial, decent Power supply, both rated at 30 amps? -- 73's, and thanks,

Re: [Elecraft] P3 TXMonitor sometimes displays during receive

I would have guessed that this was it. If you have a strong RF source in the neighborhood, then incoming power reflected back from the K3 would look like forward power from the rig, and might be enough to trigger it. I have a 50 kW AM BC station that I can see from my antenna, and lots of 'funny

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

I have the resistance chart for various wire size but find that the voltage drop is usually more than ohms law predicts so I go up one size just for insurance. I included 4-foot No.10 Red/Black zip wire (from Powerwerx) with each of my 2M80 amplifiers which typically draw 15 amps key-down CW a

Re: [Elecraft] [OT] Zip Wire Misrepresentation?

Two more comments: My station runs on an Astron 50M which I run about 14-foot of #4 welding wire to the master fuse (30A) and my power distribution strips. I see about 13.7v at the fuse. My 150w 2m amp gets about 13.3v under load. I ran about 35-feet of No.8-4 wire from my ac service to a 6