K2 questions
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This is my first post to the reflector. I did not build this K2
(#3575). I do have all the manuals and have read them extensively trying to figure out what to do. The radio has most options installed and I have used it a good bit. I have noticed a the Hi Curr, message on occasion. This morning I checked it on all bands at various power settings. I had previously increased the current setting from 3.5 to 3.8 to try and stop the message from appearing. With the Current set to 3.8 the only bands where the HiCurr message appeared were on 20M when the power was 90W or higher and on 17M when power is 80W or greater. I checked each band starting at 75W and going up in 5W steps. I did this while connected to a 50 ohm dummy load and in CW mode. No message was seen at any power setting on any of the other bands. I did notice a couple of other issues. First, on the higher bands the radio was not putting out full power. It was putting out more than 110 W on some bands. Here is what I found: 10m- 80W 12M-80W 15M-90W 20M-100W 40M-125W 80M-120W As indicated on my external watt meter. And finally, the audio level was approximately the same on all bands except 15m which seemed to have only about 1/2 the volume as all the other bands. Any advise on how to proceed will be appreciated. Thanks in advance for your help. Bruce R. Oxford, MS KF5IMA ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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Bruce,
Welcome. First thing is to reduce the CAL CUR setting back to 3.50. Check your power connections to be sure they are tight and then make sure the voltage is not dropping substantially while transmitting (low voltage can cause HI Cur warnings). The voltage when transmitting should be above 12.5 volts if you are to achieve full output with normal current draw. A HI Cur warning is usually the result of low voltage to the PA transistors (power supply problem), a low pass filter problem, a wattmeter balance and calibration problem, or damaged wattmeter diodes (plus a few other possibilities). You implied that you were running those tests using SSB - for consistency, please use TUNE which is CW. Once the K2 is OK using TUNE, then SSB and/or data modes can be addressed. I suggest you start by removing the KPA100 and test the base K2 alone. If you do not have full power (greater than 10 watts) on all bands from the base K2, then that must be corrected first. Then install the KPA100 but do not power it (power only the base K2) - you should still have greater than 10 watts output on all bands - if Hi-Cur warnings are encountered in either case, stop and investigate. Hi-Cur problems are normally the result of a problem with the Low Pass Filter in the base K2, or T4 or possibly the PA transistors. With the KPA100 installed, there is another set of Low Pass Filters to consider as well as the wattmeter balance and calibration. Try the base K2 alone first to see what happens. Once that is proven OK, move on and add the KPA100 to continue. I am on vacation until the 20th, so if I am slow responding, that is the reason. 73, Don W3FPR On 12/15/2011 1:39 PM, G. Bruce Robinson wrote: > This is my first post to the reflector. I did not build this K2 > (#3575). I do have all the manuals and have read them extensively > trying to figure out what to do. The radio has most options > installed and I have used it a good bit. I have noticed a the Hi > Curr, message on occasion. This morning I checked it on all bands at > various power settings. I had previously increased the current > setting from 3.5 to 3.8 to try and stop the message from appearing. > > With the Current set to 3.8 the only bands where the HiCurr message > appeared were on 20M when the power was 90W or higher and on 17M when > power is 80W or greater. I checked each band starting at 75W and > going up in 5W steps. I did this while connected to a 50 ohm dummy > load and in CW mode. No message was seen at any power setting on any > of the other bands. > > I did notice a couple of other issues. First, on the higher bands the > radio was not putting out full power. It was putting out more than > 110 W on some bands. > Here is what I found: > 10m- 80W > 12M-80W > 15M-90W > 20M-100W > 40M-125W > 80M-120W > > As indicated on my external watt meter. > > And finally, the audio level was approximately the same on all bands > except 15m which seemed to have only about 1/2 the volume as all the > other bands. > Any advise on how to proceed will be appreciated. > > Thanks in advance for your help. > > Bruce R. > Oxford, MS > KF5IMA > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > 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 |
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