KXBC3 "observations"

[Peter Lambert]

Hello,

 

I'm finding the battery charger operation a little unsettling.

 

I've cycled a new set of batteries (sanyo 2500maH NiMH LSD's) a couple of
times ready for a field trip.

 

After the charge cycle finishes and the KX3 has turned itself off I turn the
KX3 back on and the "*" still shows next to the "BT" voltage indication.

 

If I then turn the KX3 off it goes back into a charging cycle (first time
the power supply was not connected and it briefly flashed up "LO SPPLY",
second time I just noted that the "*" was still displayed).

 

If I go into the menus the battery charge is set to "off" (ie the software
turned it off in the menu even though the "*" was displayed).  When I exit
the menu's the "*" is now gone from the "BT" voltage indication and the KX3
doesn't go back into a charging cycle when turned off.

 

I seem to need to enter and exit the menu (at the battery charge setting)
after every charge cycle to properly terminate the cycle.

 

That finishes the "observation" part of the post.

 

I charged the batteries again overnight.  They were completely flat (8.2V)
when I started the 16 hour charge cycle.  About 2 hours before the cycle was
due to finish the display showed "not0-40C".  The ambient temperature was
27C, the PA 33C and the OSC 42C.  It's about an hour later now and the
display still shows "not0-40C".  Another 15 minutes later and the charge
cycle seems to have continued where it left off.

 

I guess my question is where is the temperature sensor used by the battery
charger ?. (ie is it on the KXBC3 board which would be quite close to the
batteries and this over temp indication really means batteries are in fact
fully charged and starting to self-heat or is using the OSC temp sensor
perhaps ?).

 

The unit has the latest firmware installed (MCU V1.30, DSP V1.02).

 

Thanks,

Peter  VK4JD

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[Rich Heineck]

On 12/15/2012 3:44 PM, Peter Lambert wrote:

> I charged the batteries again overnight.  They were completely flat (8.2V)
> when I started the 16 hour charge cycle.  About 2 hours before the cycle was
> due to finish the display showed "not0-40C".  The ambient temperature was
> 27C, the PA 33C and the OSC 42C.  It's about an hour later now and the
> display still shows "not0-40C".  Another 15 minutes later and the charge
> cycle seems to have continued where it left off.
>
>  
>
> I guess my question is where is the temperature sensor used by the battery
> charger ?. (ie is it on the KXBC3 board which would be quite close to the
> batteries and this over temp indication really means batteries are in fact
> fully charged and starting to self-heat or is using the OSC temp sensor
> perhaps ?).

Hi Peter,

The temperature sensor is on the KXBC3 board and has pretty good thermal coupling to the
side contacting the batteries in about the middle of the pack.  Charging will suspend when
the temp hits 45 degrees C and will resume when it drops below 40 C.  With the specific
conditions you describe, it's pretty likely the batteries are fully charged (or very
close) when you get the "not0-40C" message.

73,
Rich  AC7MA


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[Bill Steffey NY9H]

while we are fortunate to have a K3 which auto drops power for tuning,,,,
what about rigs that tune at higher power  or full power...

what does the rig's output  see at the input to the tuner when the
tuner is clunking/clanking along relays switching C & L
components  ???   50 ohms...??
I would think this could challenge the stability of a set of outputs.

tnx

bill

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[ke9uw]

Seems like I read it, the KAT500, was good up to 100 watts for tuning.

Sent from my iPad
Chuck, KE9UW
(Jack for BMW motorcycles)

On Dec 16, 2012, at 11:00 AM, "Ron D'Eau Claire" <[hidden email]> wrote:

> bill
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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[Mark Bayern]

Maybe, but is the transmitter capable of surviving the power reflected
when that tuner is trying to tune?

Mark


On Sun, Dec 16, 2012 at 12:31 PM, hawley, charles j jr
<[hidden email]> wrote:
> Seems like I read it, the KAT500, was good up to 100 watts for tuning.
>
> Sent from my iPad
> Chuck, KE9UW
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[daleputnam]

 I understand tuning with an auto tuner... it must see some SMALL amount of power to actually tune itself.   What I DON'T understand, so I am looking for a whole lot of help here.... Why would someone want to tune up with FULL power, when a little does the job?   Isn't that generally and specifically called malicous interference?  Also using more power than is neededto communicate? Yes.. you are communicating.. with your tuner! Not the guy on the other side of the world...at least not while tuning.  So.. help me out here... please?

--...   ...--
Dale - WC7S in Wy
     
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[N0AZZ]

Dale

With the KAT500 you need at least 20w for a proper tune at this time, I
really don't think anyone would want to tune with 100w that cared anything
about their equipment. Not needed or useful in any way.

Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Dale Putnam
Sent: Sunday, December 16, 2012 1:38 PM
To: Ron D'Eau Claire; 'hawley, charles j jr'
Cc: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] auto tuners

 I understand tuning with an auto tuner... it must see some SMALL amount of
power to actually tune itself.   What I DON'T understand, so I am looking
for a whole lot of help here.... Why would someone want to tune up with FULL
power, when a little does the job?   Isn't that generally and specifically
called malicous interference?  Also using more power than is neededto
communicate? Yes.. you are communicating.. with your tuner! Not the guy on
the other side of the world...at least not while tuning.  So.. help me out
here... please?

--...   ...--
Dale - WC7S in Wy
     
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[Ignacy]

Good to hear such stories. Charging NiMH is not easy.

I bought 4.8Ah Li-Ion battery for $57. Weighs 10 oz. Six weeks ago charged from 4A 4 oz computer charger in 1.5 h. Traveled to OH, ES and PA and made many contacts from each country. Came back and made many more contacts. 12W all the time. Battery is still 40% full.
Probably 2.4AH battery that weighs 5 oz and costs $30 would be enough.
Ignacy, NO9E