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K3 - ERR PTT

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hf4me

K3 - ERR PTT

Anybody have any ideas? I took the bottom rear cover off and don't see
anything. It looks like it will be a chore to get to it from the top.

Nothing plugged in except the power cable. ERR PTT anytime it is turned on.
One more thing, the last few days, the CW key would NOT work at all, paddle
still OK. Tested on another radio and the key and cable are just fine.

Not that it has turned to a solid problem, I see that it was causing my
previous intermittent problems as well. When I turned it on, it would do
repeated short transmit "pulses" all just a partial second each and random
and not of any significant length to start. I thought it was being caused
my the P3 as it would generally stop when I turned it off. but all was OK
after maybe 20 or 30 seconds as it slowed and then quit. I usually turned it
to test tx as quickly as I could and started it with the dummy load selected
anyway.

Nothing was changed that I can remember and nothing at all had been done
recently, not even the recent updates for the past 2? months. I downloaded
the updates and installed them and then a couple of days later, it turned
solid but I think the intermittent problems I had been having were actually
the same problem and it probably was not being caused by the P3.

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K3 - ERR PTT

Have you emailed [hidden email]? If not, I would encourage
you to do so. They are most capable of giving you some points to test
in an effort to narrow down the problem and suggest whatever resolution
may be necessary.

Yes, they are not available until 8AM California time (or Arizona local
time), but the earlier you get into the email queue, the sooner you can
obtain an answer - they do have to sort through the emails that came in
before yours.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/11/2011 1:49 PM, Jim Miller KG0KP wrote:

> Anybody have any ideas? I took the bottom rear cover off and don't see
> anything. It looks like it will be a chore to get to it from the top.
>
> Nothing plugged in except the power cable. ERR PTT anytime it is turned on.
> One more thing, the last few days, the CW key would NOT work at all, paddle
> still OK. Tested on another radio and the key and cable are just fine.
>
> Not that it has turned to a solid problem, I see that it was causing my
> previous intermittent problems as well. When I turned it on, it would do
> repeated short transmit "pulses" all just a partial second each and random
> and not of any significant length to start. I thought it was being caused
> my the P3 as it would generally stop when I turned it off. but all was OK
> after maybe 20 or 30 seconds as it slowed and then quit. I usually turned it
> to test tx as quickly as I could and started it with the dummy load selected
> anyway.
>
> Nothing was changed that I can remember and nothing at all had been done
> recently, not even the recent updates for the past 2? months. I downloaded
> the updates and installed them and then a couple of days later, it turned
> solid but I think the intermittent problems I had been having were actually
> the same problem and it probably was not being caused by the P3.
>

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Matt Zilmer

Re: K3 - ERR PTT

In reply to this post by hf4me

As Don suggested, you should email k3support(at)elecraft.com ASAP.
However, you probably want to DO something. I would look for a screw
length being wrong. If the K3 has been moved, this may have
re-aligned everything so that some net is grounded to the chassis that
shouldn't be. An incorrect screw length can cause this.

If the rig hasn't been moved around much, this is a less likely cause
but still may exist and be worth looking for.

The last one of these that I worked on (about a month back) grounded
out the synthesizer, somewhere on the PCBA, that caused it to go
intermittent. Complete disassembly revealed the problem, but this
also required measuring all the screw lengths. The ham that did the
building felt foolish, but was also relieved there wasn't any damage.
He went home with all the subassemblies in ESD bags, in a box, and all
the hardware bagged and tagged. The he spent another fun couple of
days rebuilding the K3 (he actually liked this part).

The K3 is almost impossible to kill. No worries. And YES, it could
be a component or subsystem failure, but look for the obvious errors
first.

If you weren't the builder and Elecraft built the K3, the above
scenario is extremely unlikely, but there is always a small
possibility the screw length thing is the problem.

73,
matt W6NIA
K3 #24

On Mon, 11 Jul 2011 11:49:52 -0600, you wrote:

>Anybody have any ideas? I took the bottom rear cover off and don't see
>anything. It looks like it will be a chore to get to it from the top.
>
>Nothing plugged in except the power cable. ERR PTT anytime it is turned on.
>One more thing, the last few days, the CW key would NOT work at all, paddle
>still OK. Tested on another radio and the key and cable are just fine.
>
>Not that it has turned to a solid problem, I see that it was causing my
>previous intermittent problems as well. When I turned it on, it would do
>repeated short transmit "pulses" all just a partial second each and random
>and not of any significant length to start. I thought it was being caused
>my the P3 as it would generally stop when I turned it off. but all was OK
>after maybe 20 or 30 seconds as it slowed and then quit. I usually turned it
>to test tx as quickly as I could and started it with the dummy load selected
>anyway.
>
>Nothing was changed that I can remember and nothing at all had been done
>recently, not even the recent updates for the past 2? months. I downloaded
>the updates and installed them and then a couple of days later, it turned
>solid but I think the intermittent problems I had been having were actually
>the same problem and it probably was not being caused by the P3.
>
>
>
>______________________________________________________________
>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

hf4me

Re: K3 - ERR PTT

Thanks all. Couple of answers to comments. ALL connections to the K3 box
were removed except the power cable. No mic or speakers hooked up either,
nothing. I am the builder and of course I felt I was very careful (hi).

I will try shaking it for rattles and also poking on things (power off) to
see if I can cause a change. Seems like the transmit would be the mic, comm
port, paddles, key, something on the main board, or connectors/cables
between. I guess it will be mostly visible if I remove the second receiver.

The comment about the KIO3 board sounds particularly interesting as that
might have been affected by powering the P3 down as it appeared at one
point.

I will try that first and then contact support when it doesn't fix it, hi
hi.

Thanks everybody es 73, de Jim KG0KP

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