K-2 observation

The other day I was operating my K-2 at about 10 watts on 20 meters. After operating without troubles for a couple of years suddenly the meter display stopped showing any information, meaning there was no indication of power and no indication of even strong received signals. The rig itself was operating fine other than the meter. This didn't happen on any other band just 20 meters. I turned the rig off and back on several times with no change. Then while the rig was receiving on 20 meters the meter display came back on. It seems to be operating fine again however I thought I would ask for any advic e on what problem I might have. Thank you.

Vern Lovelace

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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Vern,

The display has no relationship to any band.  My guess is that there is
a bad solder connection on the front panel - unfortunately, it is
intermittent and that makes it difficult to fine.
If it happens again, you might try re-flowing the solder on the Front
Panel board with a hot iron (750 degF) and add just a touch of solder -
actually all you need is the flux.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/26/2013 1:04 PM, Vern%2C AA7VW%40comcast.net wrote:
>
>
> The other day I was operating my K-2 at about 10 watts on 20 meters. After operating without troubles for a couple of years suddenly the meter display stopped showing any information, meaning there was no indication of power and no indication of even strong received signals. The rig itself was operating fine other than the meter. This didn't happen on any other band just 20 meters. I turned the rig off and back on several times with no change. Then while the rig was receiving on 20 meters the meter display came back on. It seems to be operating fine again however I thought I would ask for any advic e on what problem I might have. Thank you.
>
>

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[Gary W. Hvizdak]

Moments ago Don (W3FPR) wrote ...
 
... you might try re-flowing the solder on the Front Panel board with a hot
iron (750 degF) and add just a touch of solder - actually all you need is
the flux.
 
--
 
Vern,
 
Just to emphasize what Don means, you should NEVER REHEAT/REFLOW A SOLDER
JOINT WITHOUT ADDING SOME "FRESH" FLUX as this will result in a very poor
and very unreliable solder joint.  And a flux pen is a better source than
using additional solder, because you don't want too much solder.  Yes,
solder can be used as a source of "fresh" flux in a pinch -- in the absence
of a flux pen -- but you might first want to remove some of the existing
solder.
 
Elaborating a bit further, a blob of solder on the tip of your iron isn't a
solution, as the flux would have already burned off by that point.  Instead,
Don is suggesting that the solder would need to be feed directly into the
joint once it's hot.
 
If you have to resort to reheating every joint on the Front Panel, then I
suggest a flux pen (or other similar flux dispenser) is a must!
 
73,
Gary  KI4GGX
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