Elecraft

Power up problem

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Dennis L. Haarsager

Power up problem

I'm unable to power up my KX-3 either with batteries (new) or AC supply.

The batteries had been out for most of the winter and when I put in some
fresh ones and turned the radio on I got some odd readings. Turns out the
flexible cable between the halves wasn't properly seated. I fixed that and
all was fine. About two weeks went by and today I decided to stop
procrastinating and install the battery charger and roofing filter I'd
ordered quite some time ago. Before I even got started, though, I tried to
power up the radio but got nothing. I replaced the batteries, still
nothing. I tried AC power...nothing. With the batteries in, there are two
small LEDs, labeled 0 and 1, lit up toward the upper left of the Control
Panel as it's pictured in the assembly manual (they are approximately
behind the letter R in TRANSCEIVER on the front panel). That's the only
sign of life in the transceiver. It says DEBUG under the LEDs, so they're
probably the ones shown in the IF and Audio schematic of the Control Panel,
being the lines labeled DBG0 and DBG1.

Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.

Dennis, N7DH
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Dennis L. Haarsager

Re: Power up problem

Two hours later ... tried it one more time before going to bed and this
time it came on just fine. Seems as though one of the switches is
intermittent.

I'm on the reflector's digest mode, so won't see any responses until
tomorrow. If there were such, many thanks.

Dennis, N7DH/4

On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 7:07 PM, Dennis L. Haarsager <[hidden email]>wrote:

> I'm unable to power up my KX-3 either with batteries (new) or AC supply.
>
> The batteries had been out for most of the winter and when I put in some
> fresh ones and turned the radio on I got some odd readings. Turns out the
> flexible cable between the halves wasn't properly seated. I fixed that and
> all was fine. About two weeks went by and today I decided to stop
> procrastinating and install the battery charger and roofing filter I'd
> ordered quite some time ago. Before I even got started, though, I tried to
> power up the radio but got nothing. I replaced the batteries, still
> nothing. I tried AC power...nothing. With the batteries in, there are two
> small LEDs, labeled 0 and 1, lit up toward the upper left of the Control
> Panel as it's pictured in the assembly manual (they are approximately
> behind the letter R in TRANSCEIVER on the front panel). That's the only
> sign of life in the transceiver. It says DEBUG under the LEDs, so they're
> probably the ones shown in the IF and Audio schematic of the Control Panel,
> being the lines labeled DBG0 and DBG1.
>
> Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
>
> Dennis, N7DH
>
>
>

--
Dennis L Haarsager, President/Executive Director
Public Television Major Market Group, LLC; PO Box 617, Purcellville, VA
20134
540.668.6435, m 202.280.3988, f 866.587.3403
http://www.twitter.com/haarsager - @haarsager
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Dennis L. Haarsager

Re: Power up problem

Last night I turned it on and off twice. Didn't move it a millimeter
overnight, but this morning again the KX3 won't turn on. Intermittent
problems are the worst.

Any thoughts?

Dennis, N7DH

On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 9:03 PM, Dennis L. Haarsager <[hidden email]>wrote:

> Two hours later ... tried it one more time before going to bed and this
> time it came on just fine. Seems as though one of the switches is
> intermittent.
>
> I'm on the reflector's digest mode, so won't see any responses until
> tomorrow. If there were such, many thanks.
>
> Dennis, N7DH/4
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 7:07 PM, Dennis L. Haarsager <[hidden email]>wrote:
>
>> I'm unable to power up my KX-3 either with batteries (new) or AC supply.
>>
>> The batteries had been out for most of the winter and when I put in some
>> fresh ones and turned the radio on I got some odd readings. Turns out the
>> flexible cable between the halves wasn't properly seated. I fixed that and
>> all was fine. About two weeks went by and today I decided to stop
>> procrastinating and install the battery charger and roofing filter I'd
>> ordered quite some time ago. Before I even got started, though, I tried to
>> power up the radio but got nothing. I replaced the batteries, still
>> nothing. I tried AC power...nothing. With the batteries in, there are two
>> small LEDs, labeled 0 and 1, lit up toward the upper left of the Control
>> Panel as it's pictured in the assembly manual (they are approximately
>> behind the letter R in TRANSCEIVER on the front panel). That's the only
>> sign of life in the transceiver. It says DEBUG under the LEDs, so they're
>> probably the ones shown in the IF and Audio schematic of the Control Panel,
>> being the lines labeled DBG0 and DBG1.
>>
>> Any help would be much appreciated. Thanks.
>>
>> Dennis, N7DH
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>

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Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: Power up problem

Dennis,

Clearly something is intermittent.

Is your KX3 an early one? If so, the power jack was not glued to the
board, and the power jack may have broken away from the solder pads. I
forget the serial number at which they started to glue the jacks to the
board.

Either open the KX3 and check the mounting of the power jack visually or
just try 'wiggling' it a bit to see if you can power it on.

In any case you will probably have to email support. If it is the power
jack and you are capable of changing it yourself, they can get a new
jack to you. Glue the new one down with epoxy, but don't let it get all
over other areas of the board.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 2/9/2014 9:28 AM, Dennis L. Haarsager wrote:

> Last night I turned it on and off twice. Didn't move it a millimeter
> overnight, but this morning again the KX3 won't turn on. Intermittent
> problems are the worst.
>
> Any thoughts?
>
> Dennis, N7DH
>
>
> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 9:03 PM, Dennis L. Haarsager <[hidden email]>wrote:
>
>> Two hours later ... tried it one more time before going to bed and this
>> time it came on just fine. Seems as though one of the switches is
>> intermittent.
>>
>> I'm on the reflector's digest mode, so won't see any responses until
>> tomorrow. If there were such, many thanks.
>>
>> Dennis, N7DH/4
>>
>>

Dennis L. Haarsager

Re: Power up problem

In reply to this post by Dennis L. Haarsager

Thanks for the tip, Don. Yes, it is an early one. I'll check that out and let you know.

73, Dennis

Sent from my 202-280-3988 phone

-----Original Message-----
From: "Don Wilhelm" <[hidden email]>
Sent: ‎2/‎9/‎2014 10:13
To: "Dennis L. Haarsager" <[hidden email]>; "[hidden email]" <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Power up problem

Dennis,

Clearly something is intermittent.

Is your KX3 an early one? If so, the power jack was not glued to the
board, and the power jack may have broken away from the solder pads. I
forget the serial number at which they started to glue the jacks to the
board.

Either open the KX3 and check the mounting of the power jack visually or
just try 'wiggling' it a bit to see if you can power it on.

In any case you will probably have to email support. If it is the power
jack and you are capable of changing it yourself, they can get a new
jack to you. Glue the new one down with epoxy, but don't let it get all
over other areas of the board.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 2/9/2014 9:28 AM, Dennis L. Haarsager wrote:

Dennis L. Haarsager

Re: Power up problem

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

The power jack seems solid and wiggling it and various wires associated
with the battery pack haven't made a difference. Other than the two times
in quick succession last night, I've not been able to make it turn on.
I'll contact Elecraft service since it seems like one of those two
switches. This unit has had very little use outside my normal operating
station, so it's not been bounced around.

73,
Dennis

On Sun, Feb 9, 2014 at 10:13 AM, Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Dennis,
>
> Clearly something is intermittent.
>
> Is your KX3 an early one? If so, the power jack was not glued to the
> board, and the power jack may have broken away from the solder pads. I
> forget the serial number at which they started to glue the jacks to the
> board.
>
> Either open the KX3 and check the mounting of the power jack visually or
> just try 'wiggling' it a bit to see if you can power it on.
>
> In any case you will probably have to email support. If it is the power
> jack and you are capable of changing it yourself, they can get a new jack
> to you. Glue the new one down with epoxy, but don't let it get all over
> other areas of the board.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
>
>
> On 2/9/2014 9:28 AM, Dennis L. Haarsager wrote:
>
>> Last night I turned it on and off twice. Didn't move it a millimeter
>> overnight, but this morning again the KX3 won't turn on. Intermittent
>> problems are the worst.
>>
>> Any thoughts?
>>
>> Dennis, N7DH
>>
>>
>> On Sat, Feb 8, 2014 at 9:03 PM, Dennis L. Haarsager <[hidden email]
>> >wrote:
>>
>> Two hours later ... tried it one more time before going to bed and this
>>> time it came on just fine. Seems as though one of the switches is
>>> intermittent.
>>>
>>> I'm on the reflector's digest mode, so won't see any responses until
>>> tomorrow. If there were such, many thanks.
>>>
>>> Dennis, N7DH/4
>>>
>>>
>>>
>