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K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

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Dale - K7DNH

K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

K3 # 2825 had a meltdown of the power transistor near the front panel - left side. Elecraft repaired it and sent it back with several pages of tests and calibrations they performed.

Thought all was well - set the K3 in the Pelican transport case and came to So. Cal for family vacation and set up rig - only to discover no transmit power. Can hear fine - but nothing going out. Tx led lights up - power has only a single bar that comes on. If tune is used the power scale goes to 100.

Thought I might try the power calibrations - even though the shops papers stated they performed that - but forgot to pack a dummy load. Drove an hour to HRO in Anaheim - but they had no dummy loads whatsoever in stock - and they stated their "in house" one was burnt up.

Any ideas what I can try to get things going? I am very new to ham radio so everything needs to be spelled out fairly clearly.

At least I'm glad I brought another radio - but sure miss the better performance of the K3.

thanks

Dale
K7DNH

Jack Smith-6

Re: K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

In the days of vacuum tube transmitters, we commonly used a 100 watt
incandescent light bulb as a dummy load. It has the advantage of giving
an immediate indication of output power. And, because the usual
arrangement was to use a few feet of zip cord between the transmitter
and bulb, one could easily work a couple miles with the "dummy" antenna.

The vacuum tube transmitters would match a wide range of loads, so the
non-50 ohm nature of the bulb wasn't a problem. The actual bulb
impedance will vary with power, of course.

For an expedient dummy load with the K3, I believe a 100 watt bulb will
still work, but I would keep the power down in the 50 watt range. If you
have the antenna tuner option, it should match the light bulb's
impedance without too much trouble.

Jack K8ZOA

Dale Harding K7DNH wrote:

> K3 # 2825 had a meltdown of the power transistor near the front panel - left
> side. Elecraft repaired it and sent it back with several pages of tests and
> calibrations they performed.
>
> Thought all was well - set the K3 in the Pelican transport case and came to
> So. Cal for family vacation and set up rig - only to discover no transmit
> power. Can hear fine - but nothing going out. Tx led lights up - power has
> only a single bar that comes on. If tune is used the power scale goes to
> 100.
>
> Thought I might try the power calibrations - even though the shops papers
> stated they performed that - but forgot to pack a dummy load. Drove an hour
> to HRO in Anaheim - but they had no dummy loads whatsoever in stock - and
> they stated their "in house" one was burnt up.
>
> Any ideas what I can try to get things going? I am very new to ham radio so
> everything needs to be spelled out fairly clearly.
>
> At least I'm glad I brought another radio - but sure miss the better
> performance of the K3.
>
> thanks
>
> Dale
> K7DNH
>
>

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wayne burdick

OT: light bulb antenna

Administrator

Jack,

I once worked Illinois from California on 15 meters using a 60-W light
bulb fed with three feet of zipcord. At that time (age 13) my shack was
a 4' x 5' pool-equipment closet in the garage. The bulb was mounted on
a shelf, pulling the zip cord straight up and taut -- a "short
vertical."

The rig was a Heath DX20. What I wouldn't have given for a K3 :)

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On Jun 7, 2009, at 10:55 AM, Jack Smith wrote:

> In the days of vacuum tube transmitters, we commonly used a 100 watt
> incandescent light bulb as a dummy load. It has the advantage of giving
> an immediate indication of output power. And, because the usual
> arrangement was to use a few feet of zip cord between the transmitter
> and bulb, one could easily work a couple miles with the "dummy" antenna

> ---

http://www.elecraft.com

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Jack Smith-6

Re: OT: light bulb antenna

That's certainly better than my best DX with a light bulb, which was
around 4 or 5 miles if I recall.

At the time, I had a Globe Scout 65B transmitter and a National NC109
receiver, which was incredibly deaf above 10 MHz - to the point where I
though 20 meters was something like 1296 MHz where you scheduled a
contact across town by telephone and hoped for the best.

When I see gear of the era at a swap and shop, it brings back mixed
memories - good ones for being a newly licensed teen age ham in the
early 1960's and bad one when I think of the drift, poor sensitivity and
selectivity of much of the equipment of the era.

Jack K8ZOA

wayne burdick wrote:

> Jack,
>
> I once worked Illinois from California on 15 meters using a 60-W light
> bulb fed with three feet of zipcord. At that time (age 13) my shack was
> a 4' x 5' pool-equipment closet in the garage. The bulb was mounted on
> a shelf, pulling the zip cord straight up and taut -- a "short
> vertical."
>
> The rig was a Heath DX20. What I wouldn't have given for a K3 :)
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
> On Jun 7, 2009, at 10:55 AM, Jack Smith wrote:
>
>
>> In the days of vacuum tube transmitters, we commonly used a 100 watt
>> incandescent light bulb as a dummy load. It has the advantage of giving
>> an immediate indication of output power. And, because the usual
>> arrangement was to use a few feet of zip cord between the transmitter
>> and bulb, one could easily work a couple miles with the "dummy" antenna
>>
>
>
>> ---
>>
>
> http://www.elecraft.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
>
>

Dale - K7DNH

Re: K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

In reply to this post by Jack Smith-6

Thanks Jack -

I was able to perform the TX Gain calibrations using this - both myself and especially my wife thinking you guys are pretty clever.. and it was fun watching the bulb glow during the calibrations.

Sadly - this did not help cure the no transmit problem - with the light hooked up same as with the calibration test - no power out of the K3 to light the bulb

So- guess i will have to wait until tomorrow and contact support on the phone and see what they think.
I have only got to use the K3I hope I dont have to send it back in again.

I wonder if they will extend the warranty a few months for me.

Thanks Jack for trying - I did learn something new today though!!! :-)

Jack Smith-6

Re: K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

Dale:

That's actually good news - it confirms that the transmitter is capable
of functioning and now it's a matter of finding out what is preventing
it from doing so under other conditions.

Odds are it's something simple that will result in you doing the Homer
Simpson "duh" slap to the noggin when you discover the problem.

Jack K8ZOA

Dale Harding K7DNH wrote:

> Thanks Jack -
>
> I was able to perform the TX Gain calibrations using this - both myself and
> especially my wife thinking you guys are pretty clever.. and it was fun
> watching the bulb glow during the calibrations.
>
> Sadly - this did not help cure the no transmit problem - with the light
> hooked up same as with the calibration test - no power out of the K3 to
> light the bulb
>
> So- guess i will have to wait until tomorrow and contact support on the
> phone and see what they think.
> I have only got to use the K3I hope I dont have to send it back in again.
>
>
> I wonder if they will extend the warranty a few months for me.
>
> Thanks Jack for trying - I did learn something new today though!!! :-)
>
>
>

w4nhj

Re: K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

Make sure Config:Tx Inh is not set to HI = Inh.

Frank

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack Smith" <[hidden email]>
To: "Dale Harding K7DNH" <[hidden email]>
Cc: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, June 07, 2009 7:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 no transmit - after Elecraft shop repair

> Dale:
>
> That's actually good news - it confirms that the transmitter is capable
> of functioning and now it's a matter of finding out what is preventing
> it from doing so under other conditions.
>
> Odds are it's something simple that will result in you doing the Homer
> Simpson "duh" slap to the noggin when you discover the problem.
>
>
>
> Jack K8ZOA
>
>
> Dale Harding K7DNH wrote:
>> Thanks Jack -
>>
>> I was able to perform the TX Gain calibrations using this - both myself
>> and
>> especially my wife thinking you guys are pretty clever.. and it was fun
>> watching the bulb glow during the calibrations.
>>
>> Sadly - this did not help cure the no transmit problem - with the light
>> hooked up same as with the calibration test - no power out of the K3 to
>> light the bulb
>>
>> So- guess i will have to wait until tomorrow and contact support on the
>> phone and see what they think.
>> I have only got to use the K3I hope I dont have to send it back in again.
>>
>>
>> I wonder if they will extend the warranty a few months for me.
>>
>> Thanks Jack for trying - I did learn something new today though!!! :-)
>>
>>
>>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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