K2 VCO trouble and fix
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OK, here were my symtoms: Just completed Assembly Part II. Performing the VCO alignment... all is well (all voltages well in range)until I get to the 10m band. The Low freq. reading is 3.046... ok so far. But as I tune towards 28,800 I lose lock at about 28,400 or so.... voltage ramps up to 8.4. I checked C71 - C74, D21-D26, T5. all are correct. Soldering looks good. I move the windings of T5 in and out... this just changes the freq I lose lock at, but not by much. Still can't get near 28,800. I rewind T5... just for the fun of it.... (?) NO help there either. I e-mail Gary at Elecraft (3:01pm) Get a reply from Gary (4:33pm) He gave me a PAGE worth of "might be"... one being to check RCF15. He said if it was open it can cause all sorts of odd problems. Well, it WAS open... I must have bent the leads to much or heated it too much, or whatever. Anyway, I bridged across it momentarily to see what effect it would have. Guess what? ALL VCO voltages were well within limits...including 10m high freq. Without even touching L30. So, I ordered a new choke and thanked Gary for a quick and accurate response. My comment to him was: "What a great radio, what a great staff...." It don't get better than this....... Now, back to building the best radio on the market.... by the way, I was able to copy a little CW on 40m while setting up to adjust the IF amp... Thanks Elecraft for a great product and a GREAT staff. Harlan KI4IDA _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
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Hi Harlan,
Quick, prompt and accurate support are the most important to kit building and Elecraft has been doing it. Some of the hams in VR2 commented that the kits were over priced. However, I explained to them that what you got was not only packs of electronic components but also the design concept and excellent support services. I owned quite a range of rigs from IC756pro3 to FTDX9000 but K2 is the only one which I can service it myself. As at today, I have built 10 K2s. Each time I encountered different problems (big or small, oversight or careless). Gary always can cure my problems in the first round. Enjoy your kit building. 73 Johnny Siu VR2XMC ----- Original Message ----- From: <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 9:33 AM Subject: [Elecraft] K2 VCO trouble and fix > > OK, here were my symtoms: > > Just completed Assembly Part II. > Performing the VCO alignment... all is well (all voltages well in > range)until I get to the 10m band. The Low freq. reading is 3.046... > ok so far. But as I tune towards 28,800 I lose lock at about 28,400 or > so.... voltage ramps up to 8.4. > > I checked C71 - C74, D21-D26, T5. all are correct. Soldering looks > good. > I move the windings of T5 in and out... this just changes the freq I > lose lock at, but not by much. Still can't get near 28,800. > > I rewind T5... just for the fun of it.... (?) > NO help there either. > > I e-mail Gary at Elecraft (3:01pm) > Get a reply from Gary (4:33pm) > > He gave me a PAGE worth of "might be"... one being to check RCF15. He > said if it was open it can cause all sorts of odd problems. > > Well, it WAS open... I must have bent the leads to much or heated it > too much, or whatever. Anyway, I bridged across it momentarily to see > what effect it would have. > Guess what? ALL VCO voltages were well within limits...including 10m > high freq. Without even touching L30. So, I ordered a new choke and > thanked Gary for a quick and accurate response. > > My comment to him was: > > "What a great radio, what a great staff...." > It don't get better than this....... > Now, back to building the best radio on the market.... by the way, I > was able to copy a little CW on 40m while setting up to adjust the IF > amp... > > Thanks Elecraft for a great product and a GREAT staff. > > Harlan > KI4IDA Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
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In reply to this post by HSHERRIFF
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:33:17 -0400, [hidden email] wrote:
> I e-mail Gary at Elecraft (3:01pm) > Get a reply from Gary (4:33pm) > > He gave me a PAGE worth of "might be"... one being to check RCF15. He > said if it was open it can cause all sorts of odd problems. > > Well, it WAS open... I must have bent the leads to much or heated it > too much, or whatever. Anyway, I bridged across it momentarily to see > what effect it would have. > Guess what? ALL VCO voltages were well within limits...including 10m > high freq. Without even touching L30. So, I ordered a new choke and > thanked Gary for a quick and accurate response. Glad that with Gary's help you found the problem. A search of the reflector shows that there is a high incidence of RFC15 going open circuit. It is such a fragile device (probably too fragile), and I believe that Elecraft should change it for one that is more robust. When assembling my K2, knowing this to be a potential problem, I took particular care in soldering the RFC, only to find that it too had gone open circuit. 73 Stewart G3RXQ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
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I too had RFC15 go open and I also was very careful and didn't think I did
anything to break it. I was even more careful with the replacement and it works fine. I'm not sure if bending the leads made it go open circuit or heat from the soldering process. I didn't yank on the leads but you sure have to bend them a lot to make it fit. I also didn't over heat the device. One of the two processes apparently broke it. It must be really fragile. 73, Roger, W1EM -----Original Message----- From: Stewart Baker Sent: Wednesday, October 05, 2005 4:22 AM To: [hidden email]; [hidden email] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 VCO trouble and fix On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 21:33:17 -0400, [hidden email] wrote: > I e-mail Gary at Elecraft (3:01pm) > Get a reply from Gary (4:33pm) > > He gave me a PAGE worth of "might be"... one being to check RCF15. He > said if it was open it can cause all sorts of odd problems. > > Well, it WAS open... I must have bent the leads to much or heated it > too much, or whatever. Anyway, I bridged across it momentarily to see > what effect it would have. > Guess what? ALL VCO voltages were well within limits...including 10m > high freq. Without even touching L30. So, I ordered a new choke and > thanked Gary for a quick and accurate response. Glad that with Gary's help you found the problem. A search of the reflector shows that there is a high incidence of RFC15 going open circuit. It is such a fragile device (probably too fragile), and I believe that Elecraft should change it for one that is more robust. When assembling my K2, knowing this to be a potential problem, I took particular care in soldering the RFC, only to find that it too had gone open circuit. 73 Stewart G3RXQ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
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