Very Dissatisfied With Elecraft Support

[Curt]

Jon,

I'm wondering if the trouble with your K1 on 20M is the 22 mHz premixer
crystal is bad.  Symptom is the receiver is totally dead on 20 meters, but
works fine on all other bands.  Gary Surrency at elecraft acknowledged to me
that "We have seen some higher failures of the 22MHz premixer crystal that
is used on the 20m band."  Mine failed after my K1-4 worked flawlessly for
about a year.  Replacing the crystal solved the problem.  Contact Gary my
email and ask for help.

73, Curt KB5JO

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[Mike Morrow-3]

Curt wrote:

>I'm wondering if the trouble with your K1 on 20M is the 22 mHz
>premixer crystal is bad.

That's exactly what I was thinking, and was wondering why in the scores
of earlier replies there had been no suggestion of this.  The RF probe
won't solve this very likely cause!

Jon, see if you can find a local ham who has a receiver that can copy
22.000 MHz and get your K1 next to that receiver.  When 20m is selected
on your K1, you should be able to hear the 20m filter board heterodyne
crystal signal strongly in the other receiver if a piece of wire laying
near your filter board is input to the other receiver's antenna connection.
The signal should likely be found around 21.995 to 22.005 MHz.  If you hear
nothing, then the crystal is not working.

If this is not possible, get Elecraft to send another 22 MHz crystal and
swap it in (easter-egg it).  Elecraft support is, in fact, of the highest
order and not matched by many other ham radio merchants.

The K1 is a fantastic little rig...my favorite QRP rig of all time.  I
would have suggested buying the four-band filter board instead of the
two-band, because not only does it double the bands but it does so with much
sharper RF filtering than is found in the two-band board.  At least you'll
be able to upgrade later when you find out what a gem the K1 is, and maybe
re-build your two-band board for bands the four-band board doesn't cover.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Mike,

While the RF Probe will not solve the problem, it will detect whether
the crystal is the problem or not.  At the time of the initial
suggestions, he did not have access to another receiver, and under those
conditions, the use of an RF Probe is the easiest way to make some
determinations about the source of the problem.

You are correct, if another receiver that can tune to 22 MHz is
available, that is the quickest way to check whether the crystal
oscillator is operating.

73,
Don W3FPR

Mike Morrow wrote:

> Curt wrote:
>
>  
>> I'm wondering if the trouble with your K1 on 20M is the 22 mHz
>> premixer crystal is bad.
>>    
>
> That's exactly what I was thinking, and was wondering why in the scores
> of earlier replies there had been no suggestion of this.  The RF probe
> won't solve this very likely cause!
>  
>

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[Mike Morrow-3]

Don wrote:

>While the RF Probe will not solve the problem, it will detect whether
>the crystal is the problem or not.  At the time of the initial
>suggestions, he did not have access to another receiver...

Hi Don,

The temperance and helpfulness that you and all the other list members extend
to help solve a frustrating problem makes this list a great part of the Elecraft
"package" that enables folks to get their gear going.

I was thinking, after Jon mentioned joining a local ham club, that it would
likely be simpler and quicker to find a ham with the appropriate receiver
to check this.  Even a RF probe is not as iron-clad a device for detecting
this problem, but if an RF probe only were to be employed for troubleshooting
this would be the first place to look for a problem.  I believe that the
eight-year history of the K1 shows there to be no more likely cause of K1 20m
band problems (on either the two-band or four-band boards) than the failure
of the 22 MHz heterodyne crystal before installation, or its premature death
afterwards.

73,
Mike / KK5F
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