PA temperature

[Paul Coverdale]

Hi,

 

I'm now the proud owner of a K3. Among the myriad of features, I notice that
you can monitor the PA temperature. What do the numbers mean? In other
words, when should I reach for the fire extinguisher?

 

Paul, VE3ICV

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[Matt Zilmer]

Hi Paul,

On high-duty cycle modes like PSK31, you will see the PA TEMP climb
into the 40's.  The units are degrees Celsius (C).  Don't worry about
over-temp, the K3 takes care of itself quite ably.

Under idle conditions, the FP TEMP is usually higher than the PA.
Typically something like 35C for the FP, 29C for the PA.

I've seen the PA TEMP as high as 48C, but never beyond that.  This was
under very heavy usage conditions - running MT63 for minutes at a time
at 100W.

73,
matt W6NIA

On Sun, 29 May 2011 12:12:36 -0400, you wrote:

>Hi,
>
>
>
>I'm now the proud owner of a K3. Among the myriad of features, I notice that
>you can monitor the PA temperature. What do the numbers mean? In other
>words, when should I reach for the fire extinguisher?
>
>
>
>Paul, VE3ICV
>
>______________________________________________________________
>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

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[k6dgw]

Paul:

The K3 seems to worry about it's PA temp when it needs to, mine never
has, even in high duty cycle RTTY contests.

My PA temp "idles" around 36C, about the same as the FP.

I've seen my PA at 54C, I asked on this list and discovered that is
pretty much "loafing."  I wouldn't worry about the fire extinguisher.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2011 Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2011
- www.cqp.org

On 5/29/2011 9:18 AM, Matt Zilmer wrote:

> Hi Paul,
>
> On high-duty cycle modes like PSK31, you will see the PA TEMP climb
> into the 40's.  The units are degrees Celsius (C).  Don't worry about
> over-temp, the K3 takes care of itself quite ably.
>
> Under idle conditions, the FP TEMP is usually higher than the PA.
> Typically something like 35C for the FP, 29C for the PA.
>
> I've seen the PA TEMP as high as 48C, but never beyond that.  This was
> under very heavy usage conditions - running MT63 for minutes at a time
> at 100W.

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[David Herring-3]

Someone in the know can correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought I read somewhere where the PA in the K3 is FB until around 65C.

In normal use, I can't imagine what one would have to do to get their PA that hot.  Maybe if the fans failed or airflow was otherwise blocked?  Aside from that, I can't imagine we'd need to worry about it.

73 and Aloha,
Dave  AH6TD


On May 29, 2011, at 6:12 AM, Paul Coverdale wrote:

> Hi,
>
>
>
> I'm now the proud owner of a K3. Among the myriad of features, I notice that
> you can monitor the PA temperature. What do the numbers mean? In other
> words, when should I reach for the fire extinguisher?
>
>
>
> Paul, VE3ICV
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

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