[K3] KAT3 Hiccup

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[K3] KAT3 Hiccup

KD0Q
The CQ 160M CW contest last weekend was the first contest for my K3 SN 4518.  First time I've heard the fans kick in, same for the Samlex PS.  And I have to say I am very pleased with the receive performance - with filter bandwidth set to 200 HZ and fine tuning, the band didn't seem crowded at all.  Very few times did I have any trouble with adjacent signals.  But I did have one scare.

The KAT3 has always auto tuned my OCF dipole to a reasonable match.  But about 7 hours into the contest I experienced a pop in the earphones and the K3 went deaf.  The SWR was high and the KAT3 wouldn't tune better than 5.3:1.  Thinking maybe I lost a leg off the dipole, I went outside and checked the antenna.  All looked OK.  I tested the antenna with another rig and a manual tuner and it seemed OK.  Not knowing what else to do, I checked the OCF dipole on several other bands with the K3, and the KAT3 tuned to a good match.  Then when I went back to check 160, all was well again.  Needless to say, I was relieved.  Went back to the contest and had no more problems.

Anyone else ever experience anything like this?

73, Glenn / KD0Q
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