Hi group,
I have the same problem K3ESE below had with the KX1 ATU. Same conditions, 12V external, 4-5W, good SWR match, start sending CW, hear the ATU grind a little, and then the SWR goes to 5.0 or 9.9. Then another tune and it does not grind, but tells me it is back to 1.0. I did a little digging and found that when it goes into this bad state, the ATU mode has gone from TUN to CAL on its own. When I do the 2nd tune to get it out, all that is happening is that it is resetting from CAL back to TUN. I see this with a 28' wire in a tree with two 16' and one 24' counterpoise. When it tunes, it tunes to 1.0 on 30M and 20M and about 1.5 on 40M. Then on all bands, after I send CW for a few characters, I hear this clicking and the SWR jumps to a high number and the power out goes down. Then double-check the ATU state, and sure enough, it has been reset from TUN to CAL. Basically, the high SWR problem is only because it is bypassing the ATU and giving me whatever the random wire shows. I can reproduce this on a dummy load. However, the SWR does not jump up, because the dummy load has 1.0 to begin with, even when it automatically moves itself from TUN to CAL on its own. But I hear the same clicking happen when I start to send CW, and I can verify that it is resetting to CAL mode. When I turn the KX1 off in this funny state, and turn it back on, it has not remembered the last frequency I was on and starts at a different frequency. Was there ever a cause/fix to this problem ever found? It makes having a QSO really difficult when the SWR keeps jumping back and forth. Thanks and 73, Mike N9OHW ----- (original problem statement) ----- Lately, there have been a bunch of times when I power my KX1 with a 12V supply, activate the tuner to get a match, and the result is 4-5W and a good match. Then, while operating, or just while it's sitting, not being operated, I'll sometimes hear a few relays chatter for a split second, and the match seems to have been lost. When I transmit, I see that the power out is down to 2W or so. I need to activate TUN again, which will restore the match and the higher power out. Where can I look for the answer to this one...? thanks, LL/K3ESE K1#379,KX1#11,K2#4442(in the works) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
Just a follow-up to my previous post... It does not
always reset from TUN to CAL. I have seen it reset from TUN to other ATU settings like G03 or some other random fixed ATU state. When I use only the internal AA's, I don't see this problem happening. Only on external 12V from 10 NiMH's. But I don't want to have to give up those nice 3dB I get from the 12V and 4W vs. 2W! Thanks, Mike N9OHW --- Michael Madden <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi group, > > I have the same problem K3ESE below had with the KX1 > ATU. Same conditions, 12V external, 4-5W, good SWR > match, start sending CW, hear the ATU grind a > little, > and then the SWR goes to 5.0 or 9.9. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
That sounds a lot like RF getting back into the controller in the ATU.
Handling RF around a tuner is tricky. A whole lot depends upon the impedance presented by the antenna. The higher the impedance (which depends upon the electrical length of the wire) the more RF voltage and the more easily RF voltage can be capacitively coupled into the wrong circuits. It doesn't take a whole lot of RF to cause the controller to misbehave. Suggest you take a close look at the RF filtering provided in the design first, to make sure none of it has been bypassed accidentally by a solder bridge or unsoldered connection. That would include the 6V line filter C4, RFC1 and C5. If either C4 or C5 isn't grounded, it would greatly reduce the effectiveness of the filter without interfering with the operation of the tuner otherwise. A solder bridge across RFC1 would have the same effect. The other critical item is C11 which bypasses one side of the relay coils to ground for RF. Unwanted RF feedback usually goes away when the power is reduced simply because lower power levels reduce the RF voltages present. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- Just a follow-up to my previous post... It does not always reset from TUN to CAL. I have seen it reset from TUN to other ATU settings like G03 or some other random fixed ATU state. When I use only the internal AA's, I don't see this problem happening. Only on external 12V from 10 NiMH's. But I don't want to have to give up those nice 3dB I get from the 12V and 4W vs. 2W! Thanks, Mike N9OHW _______________________________________________ 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 |
Hi Ron and the group,
Thanks for the feedback. I checked C4, C5, RFC1, and C11 and they all all have good connections. I can make this happen to a 300W 50 ohm dummy load, so could it still be stray RF from the antenna? Two other builders reported this problem in April 2005, and below I have copied Wayne's reply. Any resolution found? Is the offer to analyze and repair still good? :) Thanks! Mike, N9OHW The KX1 should definitely not lose power output or the KXAT1 change its L-network settings under any normal circumstances. We've tested the tuner and the rig extensively, and I've never seen this happen. The first things that come to mind are intermittent component failures or power supply brownouts that reset the MCU. However, using the tuner with a very poor (or non-existent) ground, and/or an antenna that is close to a half wavelength or a multiple thereof could also cause trouble. RFI in such cases is a challenge for almost any ATU. The usual remedies are (1) better ground counterpoise, (2) adjustment to antenna length, (3) balun. A 4:1 balun can be quite effective at reducing high RF voltages that might be present on the chassis or antenna, in many cases transforming a difficult match into one that's in range of the tuner. If anyone has a KX1 that exhibits a consistent failure pattern, please contact me directly. I would need to know exactly how the failure occurs so I can determine whether it's likely to be due to RFI, a component failure, or some other cause. I'll also need to know what L, C, and network selections were in effect at the time. (The KX1, like the K1 and K2, provide ATU menu entries that allow you to determine how the tuner is configured. See the manual for details.) I will analyze and repair any KX1 that is demonstrated to have such a problem. But let's discuss it by e-mail first ;) I should mention one other possibility. If you have an antenna that you know presents high RFI to the rig, but you'd like to use it anyway, or if you just want to "ruggedize" the KXAT1, you could add a few bypass capacitors. I would place a very small .01 uF capacitor from each of the MCU's relay drive pins to ground. Since relays K1-K3 are so close to the KXAT1's MCU, you could place capacitors directly across the relay coil drive pins. The other four relays (K4-K7) are farther from the MCU, so it would be best to put the bypass capacitors right at the MCU itself, i.e. from pins 10, 11, and 12 to pin 5 (ground). The Elecraft part number for these bypass capacitors is E530019. Anyone who wants to add these to their KXAT1 can request seven of them at no charge by e-mailing [hidden email]. Note that our new T1 ATU has such bypass capacitors on all relay drive lines (surface-mount capacitors, pre-installed on the board). We felt that the T1 should have this protection because it is a very wide-range tuner, capable of operation on 6 meters where RFI problems can be significantly worse than on the HF bands. Also, the T1 is rated at 20 watts, and has been successfully used at twice this level on 40 meters and up (with "backpacker" amps, usually). The KXAT1, in contrast, is never going to be operated at high power levels and is only intended to cover 40, 30, and 20 meters. But in extreme cases, it too could benefit from the extra bypassing. 73, Wayne N6KR --- Ron D'Eau Claire <[hidden email]> wrote: > That sounds a lot like RF getting back into the > controller in the ATU. > Handling RF around a tuner is tricky. A whole lot > depends upon the impedance > presented by the antenna. The higher the impedance > (which depends upon the > electrical length of the wire) the more RF voltage > and the more easily RF > voltage can be capacitively coupled into the wrong > circuits. It doesn't take > a whole lot of RF to cause the controller to > misbehave. > > Suggest you take a close look at the RF filtering > provided in the design > first, to make sure none of it has been bypassed > accidentally by a solder > bridge or unsoldered connection. That would include > the 6V line filter C4, > RFC1 and C5. If either C4 or C5 isn't grounded, it > would greatly reduce the > effectiveness of the filter without interfering with > the operation of the > tuner otherwise. A solder bridge across RFC1 would > have the same effect. > > The other critical item is C11 which bypasses one > side of the relay coils to > ground for RF. > > Unwanted RF feedback usually goes away when the > power is reduced simply > because lower power levels reduce the RF voltages > present. > > Ron AC7AC > > -----Original Message----- > Just a follow-up to my previous post... It does not > always reset from TUN to CAL. I have seen it reset > from TUN to other ATU settings like G03 or some > other > random fixed ATU state. > > When I use only the internal AA's, I don't see this > problem happening. Only on external 12V from 10 > NiMH's. > > But I don't want to have to give up those nice 3dB I > get from the 12V and 4W vs. 2W! > > Thanks, > Mike N9OHW > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
Hi, Mike:
No, you should *not* be seeing RF feedback delivering power into a good 50 ohm dummy load, external ground or not! The only other thing that I can think of is whether you are getting any glitches in the external power supply. A loose connection or something that interrupts power for too short of a period of time to see can still cause the controller to "reset". My KX1 has that problem occasionally because I don't have the right size barrel connector for it. There are two sizes around that are so close it's not obvious which is which unless one puts the little barrel into the larger jack. Then wiggling the wire will cause the connection to be intermittent. I suppose it's possible that noise on the dc could do it as well. If you have some other power supply that you can connect temporarily I'd suggest trying that to eliminate anything external to the KX1 itself. If those things don't do it, I recommend contacting Wayne directly as he asked. If something is marginal in the KXAT1 that allows even one unit to act up for no reason, he'll want to know about it! Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- From: Michael Madden [mailto:[hidden email]] Sent: Saturday, August 19, 2006 12:07 PM To: Ron D'Eau Claire; [hidden email] Subject: RE: [Elecraft] KX1 ATU is resetting from TUN to CAL by itself Hi Ron and the group, Thanks for the feedback. I checked C4, C5, RFC1, and C11 and they all all have good connections. I can make this happen to a 300W 50 ohm dummy load, so could it still be stray RF from the antenna? Two other builders reported this problem in April 2005, and below I have copied Wayne's reply. Any resolution found? Is the offer to analyze and repair still good? :) Thanks! Mike, N9OHW The KX1 should definitely not lose power output or the KXAT1 change its L-network settings under any normal circumstances. We've tested the tuner and the rig extensively, and I've never seen this happen. The first things that come to mind are intermittent component failures or power supply brownouts that reset the MCU. However, using the tuner with a very poor (or non-existent) ground, and/or an antenna that is close to a half wavelength or a multiple thereof could also cause trouble. RFI in such cases is a challenge for almost any ATU. The usual remedies are (1) better ground counterpoise, (2) adjustment to antenna length, (3) balun. A 4:1 balun can be quite effective at reducing high RF voltages that might be present on the chassis or antenna, in many cases transforming a difficult match into one that's in range of the tuner. If anyone has a KX1 that exhibits a consistent failure pattern, please contact me directly. I would need to know exactly how the failure occurs so I can determine whether it's likely to be due to RFI, a component failure, or some other cause. I'll also need to know what L, C, and network selections were in effect at the time. (The KX1, like the K1 and K2, provide ATU menu entries that allow you to determine how the tuner is configured. See the manual for details.) I will analyze and repair any KX1 that is demonstrated to have such a problem. But let's discuss it by e-mail first ;) I should mention one other possibility. If you have an antenna that you know presents high RFI to the rig, but you'd like to use it anyway, or if you just want to "ruggedize" the KXAT1, you could add a few bypass capacitors. I would place a very small .01 uF capacitor from each of the MCU's relay drive pins to ground. Since relays K1-K3 are so close to the KXAT1's MCU, you could place capacitors directly across the relay coil drive pins. The other four relays (K4-K7) are farther from the MCU, so it would be best to put the bypass capacitors right at the MCU itself, i.e. from pins 10, 11, and 12 to pin 5 (ground). The Elecraft part number for these bypass capacitors is E530019. Anyone who wants to add these to their KXAT1 can request seven of them at no charge by e-mailing [hidden email]. Note that our new T1 ATU has such bypass capacitors on all relay drive lines (surface-mount capacitors, pre-installed on the board). We felt that the T1 should have this protection because it is a very wide-range tuner, capable of operation on 6 meters where RFI problems can be significantly worse than on the HF bands. Also, the T1 is rated at 20 watts, and has been successfully used at twice this level on 40 meters and up (with "backpacker" amps, usually). The KXAT1, in contrast, is never going to be operated at high power levels and is only intended to cover 40, 30, and 20 meters. But in extreme cases, it too could benefit from the extra bypassing. 73, Wayne N6KR --- Ron D'Eau Claire <[hidden email]> wrote: > That sounds a lot like RF getting back into the > controller in the ATU. > Handling RF around a tuner is tricky. A whole lot > depends upon the impedance > presented by the antenna. The higher the impedance > (which depends upon the > electrical length of the wire) the more RF voltage > and the more easily RF > voltage can be capacitively coupled into the wrong > circuits. It doesn't take > a whole lot of RF to cause the controller to > misbehave. > > Suggest you take a close look at the RF filtering > provided in the design > first, to make sure none of it has been bypassed > accidentally by a solder > bridge or unsoldered connection. That would include > the 6V line filter C4, > RFC1 and C5. If either C4 or C5 isn't grounded, it > would greatly reduce the > effectiveness of the filter without interfering with > the operation of the > tuner otherwise. A solder bridge across RFC1 would > have the same effect. > > The other critical item is C11 which bypasses one > side of the relay coils to > ground for RF. > > Unwanted RF feedback usually goes away when the > power is reduced simply > because lower power levels reduce the RF voltages > present. > > Ron AC7AC > > -----Original Message----- > Just a follow-up to my previous post... It does not > always reset from TUN to CAL. I have seen it reset > from TUN to other ATU settings like G03 or some > other > random fixed ATU state. > > When I use only the internal AA's, I don't see this > problem happening. Only on external 12V from 10 > NiMH's. > > But I don't want to have to give up those nice 3dB I > get from the 12V and 4W vs. 2W! > > Thanks, > Mike N9OHW > > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
Hi Ron and the group,
I took the KX1 out yesterday for more field testing. This time, I wrapped with a torroid the 6" unshielded lead from the external battery holder. The idea here was that RF was getting into the 6" battery lead and somehow the dirty DC was tripping the ATU controller. Well, at first, it seemed like the problem was solved. But after about 1 hr of having the KX1 on, I started getting the problem again. (The problem with the ATU switching from TUN to CAL by itself when I start transmitting.) This time, I only saw it on 30M. But it was intermittent: when it started happening, I shut the rig off, turned it back on, switched bands, and then I wouldn't get it for a while. Again, I can make this happen when transmitting into a 300W 50 ohm dummy load. It only happend when I am on my external battery pack at 4W. I went to Halted and got a beefier power cord with a built-in torroid (from a computer power supply), and I plan to ruggedize my battery supply. Perhaps the dinky leads from the external battery to the KX1 couldn't handle the current? In any case, the problem still exists. The only thing I can do to use the KX1 reliably is to not use my external battery pack. Thanks, Mike N9OHW --- Ron D'Eau Claire <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi, Mike: > > No, you should *not* be seeing RF feedback > delivering power into a good 50 > ohm dummy load, external ground or not! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
In reply to this post by Ron D'Eau Claire-2
Hi Ron and the group,
I took the KX1 out yesterday for more field testing. This time, I wrapped with a torroid the 6" unshielded lead from the external battery holder. The idea here was that RF was getting into the 6" battery lead and somehow the dirty DC was tripping the ATU controller. Well, at first, it seemed like the problem was solved. But after about 1 hr of having the KX1 on, I started getting the problem again. (The problem with the ATU switching from TUN to CAL by itself when I start transmitting.) This time, I only saw it on 30M. But it was intermittent: when it started happening, I shut the rig off, turned it back on, switched bands, and then I wouldn't get it for a while. Again, I can make this happen when transmitting into a 300W 50 ohm dummy load. It only happend when I am on my external battery pack at 4W. I went to Halted and got a beefier power cord with a built-in torroid (from a computer power supply), and I plan to ruggedize my battery supply. Perhaps the dinky leads from the external battery to the KX1 couldn't handle the current? In any case, the problem still exists. The only thing I can do to use the KX1 reliably is to not use my external battery pack. Thanks, Mike N9OHW --- Ron D'Eau Claire <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hi, Mike: > > No, you should *not* be seeing RF feedback > delivering power into a good 50 > ohm dummy load, external ground or not! __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
In reply to this post by Michael Madden-3
Hello Mike -
I had a similar problem a while ago and Wayne suggested fitting some bypass capacitors in various places around the processor on the ATU board. Unfortunately I am unable to get to either the information or the rig at the moment as the contents of the shack are in storage due to building repairs. In my case, during an over while I was transmitting, the KX1 started retuning the antenna and ended up with a very low power and a high SWR. Fitting the capacitors as Wayne suggested totally cured the problem. 73 David G4DMP In a recent message, Michael Madden <[hidden email]> wrote ... >I took the KX1 out yesterday for more field testing. >This time, I wrapped with a torroid the 6" unshielded >lead from the external battery holder. The idea here >was that RF was getting into the 6" battery lead and >somehow the dirty DC was tripping the ATU controller. > >Well, at first, it seemed like the problem was solved. > But after about 1 hr of having the KX1 on, I started >getting the problem again. (The problem with the ATU >switching from TUN to CAL by itself when I start >transmitting.) This time, I only saw it on 30M. But >it was intermittent: when it started happening, I >shut the rig off, turned it back on, switched bands, >and then I wouldn't get it for a while. _______________________________________________ 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 |
Hi David and the group,
I am on my way to ruling things out as to the source of the bug I am seeing: 1) I can make it happen with a commercial power supply and dummy load. The power supply has nothing homebrew about it, and I checked that the plug fit correctly into the KX1. 2) I took the internal batteries out while testing to rule out that the plug was bad and the power was intermittently reverting back to the 9V internal. I did not see anything reset or power cycle, just the TUN->CAL bug described earlier. 3) When the rig does automatically go from TUN to CAL when I transmit, if I turn the rig off, and then turn it back on, it goes back to TUN, with the correct L and C values from before the glitch. If I purposely turn the ATU to from TUN to CAL and then turn the rig off and on, it stays in CAL mode, as expected. This leads me to believe it is not a problem with the MCU going to a bogus state, but a glitch in a relay control line that is causing a relay to flip. 4) Similar to 3, when I see it switch from TUN to CAL on a transmit, and I switch bands, and then switch back to the original band, the ATU state returns back to the correct TUN state with the correct L and C values. 5) I re-soldered all the caps on the ATU board and any other connections that looked suspect. No change. My next step is to try the add'l bypass caps on the relay control lines, as Wayne suggested. I'm leaving that till last to see if I can pinpoint the cause of the problem before adding extra hardware to mask it. David, G4DMP, thanks for your feedback on the good result from adding the bypass caps. That encourages me that this will solve (mask) the problem. Thanks to all who sent me suggestions so far. 73, Mike N9OHW --- David Pratt <[hidden email]> wrote: > Hello Mike - > I had a similar problem a while ago and Wayne > suggested fitting some > bypass capacitors in various places around the > processor on the ATU > board. Unfortunately I am unable to get to either > the information or the > rig at the moment as the contents of the shack are > in storage due to > building repairs. > > In my case, during an over while I was transmitting, > the KX1 started > retuning the antenna and ended up with a very low > power and a high SWR. > Fitting the capacitors as Wayne suggested totally > cured the problem. > > 73 > > David G4DMP > > In a recent message, Michael Madden > <[hidden email]> wrote ... > >I took the KX1 out yesterday for more field > testing. > >This time, I wrapped with a torroid the 6" > unshielded > >lead from the external battery holder. The idea > here > >was that RF was getting into the 6" battery lead > and > >somehow the dirty DC was tripping the ATU > controller. > > > >Well, at first, it seemed like the problem was > solved. > > But after about 1 hr of having the KX1 on, I > started > >getting the problem again. (The problem with the > ATU > >switching from TUN to CAL by itself when I start > >transmitting.) This time, I only saw it on 30M. > But > >it was intermittent: when it started happening, I > >shut the rig off, turned it back on, switched > bands, > >and then I wouldn't get it for a while. > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 > __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ 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 |
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