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K2 Initial Power up

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KA1YMX

K2 Initial Power up

This post was updated on .

I am having an issue powering the K2 on. I am on page 43 of the K2 manual. I do not have any display, audio, and I cannot hear any of the relays clicking. I measured the power at the dc jack and have 13vdc. I also measured the 5vdc and 8vdc power at the regulators. Both were good. I then proceded to follow the troubleshooting instructions in the book and everything else checks out.

Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions.

Thank you,

Nate
KA1YMX

Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 Initial Power up

Nate,

Check to see if you have Control Board U6 in the right way 'round. If
it is backwards, the symptoms you report will be present along with the
5 volt regulator getting warm (hot if you leave it that way enough time).
U6 usually survives that abuse.

73,
Don W3FPR

dogbulter wrote:

> I am having an issue powering the K2 on. I am on page 43 of the K2 manual. I
> do not have any display, audio, and I cannot hear any of the relays
> clicking. I measured the power at the dc jack and have 13vdc. I also
> measured the 5vdc and 8vdc power at the regulators. Both were good. I then
> proceded to follow the troubleshooting instructions in the book and
> everything else checks out. I listened to the 4mhz signal on another
> receiver and heard it.
>
> Please let me know if anyone has any suggestions.
>
> Thank you,
>
> Nate
> KA1YMX
>

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 Initial Power up

In reply to this post by KA1YMX

Nate,

One other thing to check - pin 1 on the socket for CB U6. It is easy to
overlook that round solder pad, the rectangular ones are easy to see.

73,
Don W3FPR

dogbulter wrote:

KA1YMX

Re: K2 Initial Power up

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

I double checked all of the connectors and compared them with the manual. They are Installed correctly.
I do have an o-scope and I cannot get the 4 mhz signal around x2. I tried adjusting c22 and it did not help. I also checked all the components around x2.

Nate

----- Reply message -----
From: "Don Wilhelm-4 [via Elecraft]" <[hidden email]>
Date: Mon, Aug 16, 2010 9:51 pm
Subject: K2 Initial Power up
To: "dogbulter" <[hidden email]>

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KA1YMX

Re: K2 Initial Power up

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

Since I cannot detect the 4mhz oscillator at the MCU (U6), I was wondering if I could use an external clock to make sure everything else is working. I would use a Pongrance Digital VFO to inject a 4mhz signal into pin 14 (OSC1) and remove C21, C22, and X2. If this works I could at least determine something is wrong with the oscillator section.

Please let me know what you think.

Nate

Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 Initial Power up

Nate,

I cannot say whether that would help or not - while it is possible that
it would work, if it does not work with the external oscillator, then
you have not discovered much of anything. There are several
possibilities. First is that you just may not be hearing the 4 MHz
oscillator.
Even if the 4 MHz oscillator does not start, you will still see the K2
try to power on - yes, it will not be successful, but at least you
should detect a "blink".

Substitution is the quickest way to localize a problem.
Do you have any other K2 owners around? If so, perhaps they would let
you temporarily swap their Control Board for theirs. If it works, you
know that the problem is on your Control Board. Next step would be to
put their firmware chip on your Control Board. If yours works, then you
will know that the firmware chip has been damaged.
Use good anti-static measures when changing out a firmware chip, they
can be damaged by mishandling.

I would rather see you checking the components in you 4 MHz crystal
area, C21, C22 and X2 for proper values and good soldering. While
anything can be faulty, the chance that the crystal is bad is small.

73,
Don W3FPR

dogbulter wrote:

> Since I cannot detect the 4mhz oscillator at the MCU (U6), I was wondering if
> I could use an external clock to make sure everything else is working. I
> would use a Pongrance Digital VFO to inject a 4mhz signal into pin 14 (OSC1)
> and remove C21, C22, and X2. If this works I could at least determine
> something is wrong with the oscillator section.
>
> Please let me know what you think.
>
> Nate
>

KA1YMX

Re: K2 Initial Power up

This post was updated on .

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 Initial Power up

Nate,

It sounds like the only thing you have to check is the temperature on
your soldering station. Bump it up to 750 deg/F if you can. Make
certain you give the solder pads enough heat - you should see the solder
flow out to an almost invisible edge on the pad in 2 to 3 seconds for
normal pads and lead sizes - the large diode leads and ground pads take
a bit longer because they wick heat away from the junction.

73,
Don W3FPR

KA1YMX wrote:
> I bellowed all of the solder joints and it works now. I did get info 80 error code when I switched the band to 80m. I turned the power off and the code went away. I cannot get the error code to repeat. I followed the troubleshooting procedures in the book and everything looks good. Do you think i should check anything else?
>
> Nate
>
>
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KA1YMX

Re: K2 Initial Power up

I inspected all of my solder joints and found a few pins that did not have proper wetting. The solder was not touching the pin. I was using a different type of solder and wanted to try it on the K2. I ended up removing all of the solder from the pins without proper wetting and used no-clean solder that I normally use. Now the joints look perfect. I have always used no-clean solder without any flux at a temp of 650f and I have never had a problem before. I guess that's what I get for using something new.

I did get an info 80 error code when I switched to the 15m band. I turned the power off several times to try to repeat the error but could not repeat the code. I followed the troubleshooting procedures in the book for the info 80 code and all of the signals checked out fine. What is your opinion on info 80 showing up once?

Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 Initial Power up

If you were using a lead-free solder, all those I am familiar with
require a higher temperature, and are more difficult to work with.
650 degrees F is too low for most thru-hole soldering. Try at least 700
deg F, I prefer 750 deg/F.

An info 80 message indicates that there is a problem with the AUXBUS
communication path between the various firmware chips. At this stage,
you have only the KIOC chip on the RF Board installed, so check the
soldering there and at RF Board R64, Control Board R6 and the connectors
RF J8 pin 28 and CB P3 pin 28.

73,
Don W3FPR

KA1YMX wrote:

> I inspected all of my solder joints and found a few pins that did not have
> proper wetting. The solder was not touching the pin. I was using a different
> type of solder and wanted to try it on the K2. I ended up removing all of
> the solder from the pins without proper wetting and used no-clean solder
> that I normally use. Now the joints look perfect. I have always used
> no-clean solder without any flux at a temp of 650f and I have never had a
> problem before. I guess that's what I get for using something new.
>
> I did get an info 80 error code when I switched to the 15m band. I turned
> the power off several times to try to repeat the error but could not repeat
> the code. I followed the troubleshooting procedures in the book for the info
> 80 code and all of the signals checked out fine. What is your opinion on
> info 80 showing up once?
>