K2: KPA100 Trouble
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Good Morning,
My K2 Twins have been working great for the past 11 months. I usually run about 90-95W. This morning when I turned on the rig the room was probably about 55F. I immediately worked a loud DX station. The second QSO a few minutes later was going just fine, but after about a minute, I received a brief "Hi Refl" error, followed by "Hot PA" - which wouldn't go away until I pressed a button (menu, I think). There is no power output. The fan runs constantly on "Hi", and will not shut off. Resetting the power by turning off the K2 and the power supply has no effect. When I attempt to tune @20W, I will get the same error message (sometimes "Hot PA" only), or the K2's display either shows "20" and nothing else, or "20" plus a brief SWR reading. The KAT100 makes no noise, and it's tuning lights are either erratic, or off. Sometimes it comes out of "Tune" after a few seconds, sometimes I have to press the button a second time. I turned the power down to ~8W, and the KAT100 tunes the antenna normally (@2w). I attached my 61ohm dummy load, and behaviors at both power levels are the same as with the antenna. I opened up the KAT100, and found the final transistor mounting screws a bit loose (~1/8 of a turn - I had re-tightened them several months ago). I checked the diodes, and they were all OK. I thought that maybe the loose screws might be the trouble, but there was no change. I have seen references to cold temps causing trouble with the logic, but 55F doesn't seem that cold - or does it? I thought I would ask for some advice before I start troubleshooting. I think the K2, and KAT100 are fine. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. 73, Jim KO5V ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Jim,
Did you check to see where CAL TPA is set in the menu? Set it as indicated in the KPA100 manual. 73, Don W3FPR On 11/12/2019 12:39 PM, Jim KO5V wrote: > Good Morning, > > My K2 Twins have been working great for the past 11 months. I usually run about 90-95W. > > This morning when I turned on the rig the room was probably about 55F. I immediately worked a loud DX station. The second QSO a few minutes later was going just fine, but after about a minute, I received a brief "Hi Refl" error, followed by "Hot PA" - which wouldn't go away until I pressed a button (menu, I think). There is no power output. The fan runs constantly on "Hi", and will not shut off. Resetting the power by turning off the K2 and the power supply has no effect. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Jim KO5V-2
Hi again Don,
I just finished that. I found the setting to be 143C. something must be bad; possibly R6 or the temp sensor? So, I set it to the ambient temp (in C), and checked the current limit setting - it was correct at 3.50A. I toggled the power, and it's now working. Power out is OK, and no error messages. I just talked to a guy on OR and he said it sounds good, but that will be all until I understand what is happening. It was cold this morning, so maybe something was stressed as it warmed up (?). I don't have a warm and fuzzy felling about this. That's a big, sudden error in calibration. Thank you. 73, Jim KO5V -----Original Message----- >From: Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> >Sent: Nov 12, 2019 12:03 PM >To: Jim KO5V <[hidden email]>, elecraft list <[hidden email]> >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2: KPA100 Trouble > >Jim, > >Did you check to see where CAL TPA is set in the menu? Set it as >indicated in the KPA100 manual. > >73, >Don W3FPR > >On 11/12/2019 12:39 PM, Jim KO5V wrote: >> Good Morning, >> >> My K2 Twins have been working great for the past 11 months. I usually run about 90-95W. >> >> This morning when I turned on the rig the room was probably about 55F. I immediately worked a loud DX station. The second QSO a few minutes later was going just fine, but after about a minute, I received a brief "Hi Refl" error, followed by "Hot PA" - which wouldn't go away until I pressed a button (menu, I think). There is no power output. The fan runs constantly on "Hi", and will not shut off. Resetting the power by turning off the K2 and the power supply has no effect. Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Jim,
Likely nothing wrong. If the K2 is ever powered when that menu parameter (which follows the heatsink temperature) is set to a low value, the parameter will try to go below 0 degC - but the math cannot handle negative values, so it instead goes to a high value. It is wise to check the CAL TPA parameter periodically if one has the KPA100. 73, Don W3FPR On 11/12/2019 2:28 PM, Jim KO5V wrote: > Hi again Don, > > I just finished that. I found the setting to be 143C. something must be bad; possibly R6 or the temp sensor? > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by Jim KO5V-2
Great, I'll take that answer!
It seems to be working just fine, so now I'll just have to remember to check that calibration more frequently. Thanks again, Don! 73, Jim KO5V -----Original Message----- >From: Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> >Sent: Nov 12, 2019 12:41 PM >To: Jim KO5V <[hidden email]>, elecraft list <[hidden email]> >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2: KPA100 Trouble > >Jim, > >Likely nothing wrong. If the K2 is ever powered when that menu >parameter (which follows the heatsink temperature) is set to a low >value, the parameter will try to go below 0 degC - but the math cannot >handle negative values, so it instead goes to a high value. > >It is wise to check the CAL TPA parameter periodically if one has the >KPA100. > >73, >Don W3FPR > >On 11/12/2019 2:28 PM, Jim KO5V wrote: >> Hi again Don, >> >> I just finished that. I found the setting to be 143C. something must be bad; possibly R6 or the temp sensor? >> >> > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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