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KSB2 Problem

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Neal Campbell and Sarah Ferrell

KSB2 Problem

Hi all,

I am trying to install the KSBS2 into my K2.

Problem symptoms are that I get the Hi Current warning, plus I get no
variance on my separate receiver when trying the fine balancing.

The rest of the alignment went okay, SSBA on BAL gave me good nulls
with tweaking R1 both on USB and LSB (I just cannot hear any null with
the receiver. I get a very strong carrier (S9+) on my separate receiver
with SSBA at 3.

Doing the voltage checks on rx, everything looks okay with the
exception of:
U1, pin 22 - 5.6v instead of 0.2
U2, pin 5 - 5.95v instead of 0.6
U3, pin 6 - 1.4v instead of 0
U4, pin 3 - 5.95 instead of 0.6

Since I get the hi cur warning I have not tried any tx voltage
measurements.

I looked at the archives and saw some people put RF board Q2 in
backwards but the 'silver' side is facing the front of the rig.

Any ideas?

N

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Don Wilhelm-3

RE: KSB2 Problem

Neal,

The Hi-Cur messages are likely not due to the KSB2 installation.
Torubleshoot the Hi-CUR problem first.

The Hi-CUR problem is most likely associated with either the Low Pass
filter, OR a problem with the RF detection and the related transmit ALC.

Do you get the Hi-CUR warnings at all settings of the Power Control? Do the
Hi-CUR messages appear on only some bands? Do you get the Hi-CUR messages
in CW mode, or only in SSB mode? The answer to those questions will tell
where to begin looking for the problem.

Orientation of Q2 - one side is slightly rounded (or rather the corners are
'cut off'), and that is the only real way to tell which side is which. Do
not rely on which side is silver (and contains the labeling) - I believe
that point is made clear in the K2 manual.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----

> I am trying to install the KSBS2 into my K2.
>
> Problem symptoms are that I get the Hi Current warning, plus I get no
> variance on my separate receiver when trying the fine balancing.
>
> The rest of the alignment went okay, SSBA on BAL gave me good nulls
> with tweaking R1 both on USB and LSB (I just cannot hear any null with
> the receiver. I get a very strong carrier (S9+) on my separate receiver
> with SSBA at 3.
>
> Doing the voltage checks on rx, everything looks okay with the
> exception of:
> U1, pin 22 - 5.6v instead of 0.2
> U2, pin 5 - 5.95v instead of 0.6
> U3, pin 6 - 1.4v instead of 0
> U4, pin 3 - 5.95 instead of 0.6
>
> Since I get the hi cur warning I have not tried any tx voltage
> measurements.
>
> I looked at the archives and saw some people put RF board Q2 in
> backwards but the 'silver' side is facing the front of the rig.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> N
>
> _______________________________________________
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> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
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> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

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Neal Campbell and Sarah Ferrell

Re: KSB2 Problem

Hi Don

The Hi Cur was not happening before (on CW). I also installed the noise
blanker yesterday and did some CW so I think prior to inserting the
KSB2 it was okay.

The Hi cur only happens on 40m SSB. On CW at full output it varies from
3.3 (on 80 &40) to 2.8 (on the rest of the bands).

So, its only 40m SSB. Sorry about the confusion on the Q2 orientation,
I read that in one of the archive emails. It looks like its installed
correctly to me, in viewing from directly above it.

Any clues?

Neal
On Feb 21, 2005, at 10:26 AM, W3FPR - Don Wilhelm wrote:

> Neal,
>
> The Hi-Cur messages are likely not due to the KSB2 installation.
> Torubleshoot the Hi-CUR problem first.
>
> The Hi-CUR problem is most likely associated with either the Low Pass
> filter, OR a problem with the RF detection and the related transmit
> ALC.
>
> Do you get the Hi-CUR warnings at all settings of the Power Control?
> Do the
> Hi-CUR messages appear on only some bands? Do you get the Hi-CUR
> messages
> in CW mode, or only in SSB mode? The answer to those questions will
> tell
> where to begin looking for the problem.
>
> Orientation of Q2 - one side is slightly rounded (or rather the
> corners are
> 'cut off'), and that is the only real way to tell which side is which.
> Do
> not rely on which side is silver (and contains the labeling) - I
> believe
> that point is made clear in the K2 manual.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>
>> I am trying to install the KSBS2 into my K2.
>>
>> Problem symptoms are that I get the Hi Current warning, plus I get no
>> variance on my separate receiver when trying the fine balancing.
>>
>> The rest of the alignment went okay, SSBA on BAL gave me good nulls
>> with tweaking R1 both on USB and LSB (I just cannot hear any null with
>> the receiver. I get a very strong carrier (S9+) on my separate
>> receiver
>> with SSBA at 3.
>>
>> Doing the voltage checks on rx, everything looks okay with the
>> exception of:
>> U1, pin 22 - 5.6v instead of 0.2
>> U2, pin 5 - 5.95v instead of 0.6
>> U3, pin 6 - 1.4v instead of 0
>> U4, pin 3 - 5.95 instead of 0.6
>>
>> Since I get the hi cur warning I have not tried any tx voltage
>> measurements.
>>
>> I looked at the archives and saw some people put RF board Q2 in
>> backwards but the 'silver' side is facing the front of the rig.
>>
>> Any ideas?
>>
>> N
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Post to: [hidden email]
>> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
>> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
>> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>>
>
>

Don Wilhelm-3

RE: KSB2 Problem

Neal,

A normal K2 will have more gain on 40 and 30 meters than on the other bands.
I would check the LPF for those bands carefully - number of turns on the
toroids (count the times the wire goes through the center - counting the
outside turns often results in a toroid with an extra turn), then check each
capacitor for proper value, and check the soldering. i.e. The current draw
on 40 meters will normally be lower than that for other bands - fix that
problem first and your other conditions may just 'go away'.

The KSB2 can sometimes reduce the overall gain through the transmit chain,
which will cause a higher current draw for a given power output. Don't be
overly concerned about it until you have the KSB2 operating properly at
lower power. (the KSB2 has no band dependency, but it can influence the
gain of the transmit chain - so check the soldering there too and check the
values of the resistors on the bottom of the KSB2 for proper values) - not
saying there is necessarily a problem in the KSB2, I am just pointing out
how things normally work.

Even though your current draw is high, it will usually cause no harm (other
than possibly overloading your power supply, so if you need to do testing at
full power output, you can easily bump up the CAL CUR setting in the menu to
get rid of the message while you troubleshoot the real cause of the
increased current draw.

73,
Don W3FPR

> -----Original Message-----
> Hi Don
>
> The Hi Cur was not happening before (on CW). I also installed the noise
> blanker yesterday and did some CW so I think prior to inserting the
> KSB2 it was okay.
>
> The Hi cur only happens on 40m SSB. On CW at full output it varies from
> 3.3 (on 80 &40) to 2.8 (on the rest of the bands).
>
> So, its only 40m SSB. Sorry about the confusion on the Q2 orientation,
> I read that in one of the archive emails. It looks like its installed
> correctly to me, in viewing from directly above it.
>
> Any clues?
>
> Neal
>

G3VVT

Re: KSB2 Problem

In reply to this post by Neal Campbell and Sarah Ferrell

In a message dated 21/02/05 14:53:44 GMT Standard Time, [hidden email] writes:

I am trying to install the KSBS2 into my K2.

Problem symptoms are that I get the Hi Current warning, plus I get no
variance on my separate receiver when trying the fine balancing.

The rest of the alignment went okay, SSBA on BAL gave me good nulls
with tweaking R1 both on USB and LSB (I just cannot hear any null with
the receiver. I get a very strong carrier (S9+) on my separate receiver
with SSBA at 3.

---------------------------------------

It has not come up in any replies to your question, but it looks that you
may be getting problems with RF into your microphone socket and the KSB2 audio
input.

Are the KSB2 tests being carried out into a good 50 ohm dummy load?

There have been various methods described on the list for combatting
problems of RF getting into the microphone input, the main one being to provide a
ground on the microphone socket outer.

Bob, G3VVT
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