[Elecraft] My K2 is off steriods

[Ron D' Eau Claire]

Vic wrote:

> Well, I have undone my high-power K2 experiments and am back to
> 15 watts.  By
> adjusting the FWD control in the KAT2 to fool the firmware,
> upping CAL CUR to
> 4.5, turning up the power supply to about 16v (which gave about
> 15v after the
> fuse and protective diode in the K2) and adding a turn to the
> secondary of the
> final output transformer, I got...

It's interesting and reassuring to see just how conservative the Elecraft
guys designed the K2.

Still, I'd not exceed the manufacturer's voltage and current limits on any
piece of gear I wanted to see working after I was done with the experiments.

Now an old surplus 807 or 6L6 tube back in the 50's that I could replace for
25 cents at the local surplus store... that was little different from my K2
<G>.

I don't know what the difference in the QRO amp output was, but it looks
like you got just about 3.5 dB, maximum, extra signal over the 10 watts the
K2 is rated for. At about 6 dB per S-unit, it was making about 1/2 "S" unit
more signal at best.

Is that insignificant? It certainly is when band conditions are decent. But
it's also true that the KPA100 will only provide 10 dB, or less than two "S"
units improvement, over a 'stock' K2 at 10 watts out.

And that CAN be very significant when the band is marginal.

Ron AC7AC