[K2] Very Low SSB on 20 Meters

[James Doty]

Hi all:

I didn't build my K2, I bought it second hand in excellent condition a
few years ago and really love it.

My K2 came with all the trimmings, Jessie (KB7PSG) and I added a 6 meter
transverter plus the 60 meter transverter and until recently everything
worked fine.

During Field Day this year I was working 20 watts SSB and noticed I had
almost no output power, I switched to an old Alinco we have as a backup
radio.

After Field Day we set my radio back up on my desk and it was working
great.  I figured bad connection, at least at first.  I was working 40
meters no problem, but when I switched to 20 meters, again almost no
output power.

I played with all the bands I have antennas for and found that from 6 to
80 meters, 80 being marginal for my antennas, everything was good except
20 meters.

The problem doesn't affect CW at all on any band so I figured it has to be
a problem on the SSB board, but I don't know where to look.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.
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[Don Wilhelm]

James,

There is no band dependency on the KSB2 option board, if it works on one
band, it will work on other bands.  Although it could be a LSB is OK,
but USB is not - try it on 17 meter SSB.  Try it on 17 meter SSB.

Try a Direct Frequency Entry to anywhere in the 20 meter band to be
certain one of your FD "friends" did not tune the VFO from one band to
another without using the band buttons.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/25/2019 12:29 PM, James Doty wrote:

> Hi all:
>
> I didn't build my K2, I bought it second hand in excellent condition a
> few years ago and really love it.
>
> My K2 came with all the trimmings, Jessie (KB7PSG) and I added a 6 meter
> transverter plus the 60 meter transverter and until recently everything
> worked fine.
>
> During Field Day this year I was working 20 watts SSB and noticed I had
> almost no output power, I switched to an old Alinco we have as a backup
> radio.
>
> After Field Day we set my radio back up on my desk and it was working
> great.  I figured bad connection, at least at first.  I was working 40
> meters no problem, but when I switched to 20 meters, again almost no
> output power.
>
> I played with all the bands I have antennas for and found that from 6 to
> 80 meters, 80 being marginal for my antennas, everything was good except
> 20 meters.
>
> The problem doesn't affect CW at all on any band so I figured it has to be
> a problem on the SSB board, but I don't know where to look.
>

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[James Doty]

Those are excellent suggestions, especially about trying USB on another
band.  That hadn't even occurred to me.  Thank you, I'll try your
suggestions.

On Thu, 25 Jul 2019, Don Wilhelm wrote:

> James,
>
> There is no band dependency on the KSB2 option board, if it works on one
> band, it will work on other bands.  Although it could be a LSB is OK, but USB
> is not - try it on 17 meter SSB.  Try it on 17 meter SSB.
>
> Try a Direct Frequency Entry to anywhere in the 20 meter band to be certain
> one of your FD "friends" did not tune the VFO from one band to another
> without using the band buttons.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 7/25/2019 12:29 PM, James Doty wrote:
>> Hi all:
>>
>> I didn't build my K2, I bought it second hand in excellent condition a
>> few years ago and really love it.
>>
>> My K2 came with all the trimmings, Jessie (KB7PSG) and I added a 6 meter
>> transverter plus the 60 meter transverter and until recently everything
>> worked fine.
>>
>> During Field Day this year I was working 20 watts SSB and noticed I had
>> almost no output power, I switched to an old Alinco we have as a backup
>> radio.
>>
>> After Field Day we set my radio back up on my desk and it was working
>> great.  I figured bad connection, at least at first.  I was working 40
>> meters no problem, but when I switched to 20 meters, again almost no
>> output power.
>>
>> I played with all the bands I have antennas for and found that from 6 to
>> 80 meters, 80 being marginal for my antennas, everything was good except
>> 20 meters.
>>
>> The problem doesn't affect CW at all on any band so I figured it has to be
>> a problem on the SSB board, but I don't know where to look.
>>
>

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[James Doty]

It appears that USB is bad across the bands.  I tried USB on 6, 10, 15,
and 20 meters.

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[Don Wilhelm]

James,

Is this a K2 or a K3?
In the K2, the sidebands are reversed on 15 meters and above, and there
is no 6 meters in the K2.

What I am saying is that if LSB works on the lower bands, then USB
should work on 15 meters and above - if this is a K2.  If it is a K3,
then ignore my responses.

If A K2, then try 17 meters USB.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/26/2019 11:19 AM, James Doty wrote:
> It appears that USB is bad across the bands.  I tried USB on 6, 10, 15,
> and 20 meters.
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[James Doty]

It's a K2 with a 6 meter transverter.

I'll try your suggestion after work.

Thanks.

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[Don Wilhelm]

James,

As I indicated, with the K2, the LSB used on 17 meters and below is the
same sideband as used for USB on 15 meters and above. Since the 6 meter
transceiver uses a 28 MHz IF (assuming it is an Elecraft XV50), then the
USB transmission will be the same as the LSB transmission on the lower
bands.

In other words, you need to look for a problem different than a LSB/USB
problem.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/26/2019 12:20 PM, James Doty wrote:
> It's a K2 with a 6 meter transverter.
>
> I'll try your suggestion after work.
>
> Thanks.
>
>

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[James Doty]

Oh, okay.

I honestly don't know what to look for though.

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[Don Wilhelm]

Check everything in CW transmit first, including the VFO frequencies at
the band edges.
Then check your SSB filter alignment (and CW too) with Spectrogram to
make certain the filter passbands are aligned correctly.  The FL1 filter
for both USB and LSB must be set to OP1.

Set things properly in receive and then check transmit.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/26/2019 12:39 PM, James Doty wrote:
> Oh, okay.
>
> I honestly don't know what to look for though.
>
>

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[James Doty]

Thanks, I'll do that.

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