Elecraft

Warning!

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Dr. William J. Schmidt, II

Warning!

Well last night while chasing some DX I experienced the same mysterious
antenna tuning behavior that others have reported with the KAT500 where the
tuner just "takes off". I had this happen on 40 meters while working 40
meters over xmas down on PJ4 and saw the KPA500 amp emit a nice thick cloud
of black smoke. The amp still worked, but last night it did the same thing.
and now 40 meters the KPA500 does nothing. 10-50mhz is ok (have not tried
1.8-5 yet . no antenna). But when on 40. not even the SWR indicator works.
I think it roasted the filter section but I'll let Elecraft figure that out
since I'm flying without schematics. I'll call and send them the power
brick on Monday. Antenna was 1.2:1 swr the whole time. Just be careful out
there!

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ / J68HZ/ 8P6HK/ ZF2HZ/ PJ4HZ

Owner - Operator

Big Signal Ranch

Staunton, Illinois

email: <mailto:[hidden email]> [hidden email]

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Toby Pennington

Re: Warning!

Dr. Schmidt,

I wonder if you were running with the newest BETA firmware for the K- Line?

I admit having the tuner start going into a tuning cycle as I was operating
also. I think I tested this while using a dummy load and still had the same
problem. So, I reasoned it was not RF related.

I usually put the tuner in manual mode while operating to prevent auto mode
from an inadvertant start up.

Some have never had this problem with their K-Line, so since the problem is
not universal, it will be much harder to fix.

Toby K4NH

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr. William J. Schmidt, II" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 7:51 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Warning!

> Well last night while chasing some DX I experienced the same mysterious
> antenna tuning behavior that others have reported with the KAT500 where
> the
> tuner just "takes off". I had this happen on 40 meters while working 40
> meters over xmas down on PJ4 and saw the KPA500 amp emit a nice thick
> cloud
> of black smoke. The amp still worked, but last night it did the same
> thing.
> and now 40 meters the KPA500 does nothing. 10-50mhz is ok (have not tried
> 1.8-5 yet . no antenna). But when on 40. not even the SWR indicator
> works.
> I think it roasted the filter section but I'll let Elecraft figure that
> out
> since I'm flying without schematics. I'll call and send them the power
> brick on Monday. Antenna was 1.2:1 swr the whole time. Just be careful
> out
> there!
>
>
>
>
>
> Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ / J68HZ/ 8P6HK/ ZF2HZ/ PJ4HZ
>
> Owner - Operator
>
> Big Signal Ranch
>
> Staunton, Illinois
>
> email: <mailto:[hidden email]> [hidden email]
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

Dr. William J. Schmidt, II

Re: Warning!

No I have not tried the beta firmware, nor will I until it's stable. There
have been other reported problems as a result of upgrading to the beta so
I'll wait.

Dr. William J. Schmidt - K9HZ / J68HZ/ 8P6HK/ ZF2HZ/ PJ4HZ

Owner - Operator
Big Signal Ranch
Staunton, Illinois

email: [hidden email]

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Toby Pennington
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 10:37 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Warning!

Dr. Schmidt,

I wonder if you were running with the newest BETA firmware for the K- Line?

I admit having the tuner start going into a tuning cycle as I was operating
also. I think I tested this while using a dummy load and still had the same

problem. So, I reasoned it was not RF related.

I usually put the tuner in manual mode while operating to prevent auto mode
from an inadvertant start up.

Some have never had this problem with their K-Line, so since the problem is

not universal, it will be much harder to fix.

Toby K4NH

----- Original Message -----
From: "Dr. William J. Schmidt, II" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 7:51 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] Warning!

______________________________________________________________
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

______________________________________________________________
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