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KAT500 failure

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ANDY DURBIN

KAT500 failure

My KAT500 has stopped communicating with my controller and does not power up normally. With PC data cable removed, when I pull and replace the power plug the KAT500 powers up with a relay clunk and with MAN and ANT 1 LED lit. All front panel buttons are unresponsive. The same thing happened a few weeks ago but it recovered after disconnecting and re-connecting power.

If I leave it disconnected for a while sometimes the KAT500 will power up and allow the mode to be changed once or twice then it locks up again. I was once able to connect to the Utility but normally Utility does not see the KAT500. Most of the time KAT500 powers up showing MAN and ANT-1 and is completely unresponsive.

I took a break from composing this email and powered it again. This time I was able to cycle the mode and antenna several times before it locked up showing MAN and ANT-3.

AZ is warming up and room temperature is nearly 29 deg C. I'm suspecting the KAT500 has a thermal problem. Does anyone recognize these symptoms and know a probable cause?

Thanks and 73,
Andy, k3wyc

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ANDY DURBIN

Re: KAT500 failure

"I'm suspecting the KAT500 has a thermal problem. Does anyone recognize these symptoms and know a probable cause?"

I put it in the fridge for 30 minutes and now it powers up normally, connects to KAT Utility and responds to utility commands. It's clear it's a thermal problem but which component?

Wish I still had a can of freezer spray.

Andy, k3wyc

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jh3sif

Re: KAT500 failure

I guess that the 10uF electric capacitor connected to LM7805 output is a possible cause.

73 de JH3SIF, Keith

> 2021/04/09 7:35、Andy Durbin <[hidden email]>のメール:
>
> "I'm suspecting the KAT500 has a thermal problem. Does anyone recognize these symptoms and know a probable cause?"
>
> I put it in the fridge for 30 minutes and now it powers up normally, connects to KAT Utility and responds to utility commands. It's clear it's a thermal problem but which component?
>
> Wish I still had a can of freezer spray.
>
> Andy, k3wyc
>
>
>
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ANDY DURBIN

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

"I guess that the 10uF electric capacitor connected to LM7805 output is a possible cause."

All the front panel LED seem to be on that same 5V rail and they stay normal brightness in the fault condition. I suspect something, other than low voltage is killing the MCU.

It's still working over 30 minutes after the fridge cold soak.

73,
Andy, k3wyc
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Vic Rosenthal

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

ANDY DURBIN

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

"It's still working over 30 minutes after the fridge cold soak."

I was tricked by confirmation bias. The cold soak was not what fixed the problem.

My controller sent a valid command that the KAT500 firmware took exception to. I'll withhold the details but other KAT500 users will not experience this problem.

73,
Andy, k3wyc

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Julia Tuttle

Re: KAT500 failure

Would you be willing to share it? I'm morbidly curious at this point.

On Thu, Apr 8, 2021, 23:02 Andy Durbin <[hidden email]> wrote:

> "It's still working over 30 minutes after the fridge cold soak."
>
> I was tricked by confirmation bias. The cold soak was not what fixed the
> problem.
>
> My controller sent a valid command that the KAT500 firmware took exception
> to. I'll withhold the details but other KAT500 users will not experience
> this problem.
>
> 73,
> Andy, k3wyc
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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KK1W

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

ANDY DURBIN wrote

> Elecraft@.qth

>
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> lists+1215531472858-365791@.nabble

Please share if possible. I'm having similar problems with my KAT500. Locks
up for no discernable reason, can't power down. Removing power for just a
few seconds and it's back to normal until the next random lockup.

In my case I'm feeding frequency info to the KAT500 from a RemoteQTH Band
decoder II. I'm running KAT500/KPA500 combo with an IC7610.

Lockups seem to be totally random but the behavior just started recently,
the setup has been in place for over a year

Thanks,
Jim/KK1W.

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ANDY DURBIN

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

"My controller sent a valid command that the KAT500 firmware took exception to. I'll withhold the details but other KAT500 users will not experience this problem."

Several have asked for more detail. All I can share is that the command that repeatably caused my KAT500 to lockup does not cause a lockup when KAT firmware version 1.75 (current released version) is in use.

If others are experiencing problems with their KAT500 I'd suggest providing as much detail as possible to Elecraft. I log every command I sent to my KAT500 so, once I had dismissed thermal failure, it was not difficult to isolate the lockup to a single command and to reproduce the lockup by sending that command with the KAT utility.

Full details have been shared with KAT500 firmware developer.

73,
Andy, k3wyc

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Julia Tuttle

Re: KAT500 failure

Is there a reason to keep this a secret?

On Fri, Apr 9, 2021, 09:13 Andy Durbin <[hidden email]> wrote:

> "My controller sent a valid command that the KAT500 firmware took
> exception to. I'll withhold the details but other KAT500 users will not
> experience this problem."
>
> Several have asked for more detail. All I can share is that the command
> that repeatably caused my KAT500 to lockup does not cause a lockup when KAT
> firmware version 1.75 (current released version) is in use.
>
> If others are experiencing problems with their KAT500 I'd suggest
> providing as much detail as possible to Elecraft. I log every command I
> sent to my KAT500 so, once I had dismissed thermal failure, it was not
> difficult to isolate the lockup to a single command and to reproduce the
> lockup by sending that command with the KAT utility.
>
> Full details have been shared with KAT500 firmware developer.
>
> 73,
> Andy, k3wyc
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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w4sc-2

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

Andy reported.

“Several have asked for more detail. All I can share is that the command that
repeatably caused my KAT500 to lockup does not cause a lockup when KAT firmware
version 1.75 (current released version) is in use.”

The possible paths to take are obvious:

1) UPDATE your firmware if older than rev 1.75.
2) If you have 1.75 installed AND experiencing a “lockup”, report the particulars to Elecraft support. Include complete and accurate detail.

Read the firmware release notes for changes made that may have a bearing on your issue.

73 de Ben W4SC

Sent from Mail for Windows 10

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KK1W

Re: KAT500 failure

I've been at V1.75 firmware for quite some time but random lockups of the
KAT500 started recently.

It might be helpful knowing what command caused the problem.

Jim/KK1W

w4sc-2 wrote

> Andy reported.
>
> “Several have asked for more detail. All I can share is that the command
> that
> repeatably caused my KAT500 to lockup does not cause a lockup when KAT
> firmware
> version 1.75 (current released version) is in use.”
>
> The possible paths to take are obvious:
>
> 1) UPDATE your firmware if older than rev 1.75.
> 2) If you have 1.75 installed AND experiencing a “lockup”, report the
> particulars to Elecraft support. Include complete and accurate detail.
>
> Read the firmware release notes for changes made that may have a bearing
> on your issue.
>
> 73 de Ben W4SC
>
>
> Sent from Mail for Windows 10
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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> Elecraft@.qth

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ANDY DURBIN

Re: KAT500 failure

In reply to this post by ANDY DURBIN

"I've been at V1.75 firmware for quite some time but random lockups of the KAT500 started recently. It might be helpful knowing what command caused the problem."

Please establish a repeatable test method and report to Elecraft. As I have said more than once, the issue I experienced does NOT happen in ver 1.75. It would not be helpful to know what command caused the problem.

Andy, k3wyc

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