[Elecraft] KSB2 Increased Gain Mod

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

... When tuning up my K2/100 puts out 100 watts on 12 and 10 
meters; but if my Bird 43 wattmeter movement in SSB is any indication,
the 
KSB2 needs a little help on these higher frequencies. ...  Roy Morris
W4WFB

The K2's rf output metering measures the peak power. When you talk, the
bar graph should flash over to the right hand bar on SOME voice peaks
with the POWER control turned up, indicating either 10 or 100 watts PEP.
Also, in ALC mode (press and hold Display button), you should see at
least one bar flash on some peaks. In "ALC" remember the bargraph reads
right to left to remind you that you are looking at the ALC action. 

If you are getting at least one bar of ALC to flash on occasionally,
more gain won't help. That ALC bar is indicating that the K2's control
circuit t is turning down the gain to hold the output level down to what
you set the POWER control for. 

The amount of "wiggle" on an average reading meter will depend a great
deal on the characteristics of your voice AND on the level of
compression you have set. The least amount of wiggle will be with the
compression off (SSbC at 1-1). Increasing SSbC to 1-2, 1-3, or 1-4 will
show more wiggle as the compression increases the average to peak ratio
of your voice waveform, and your audio will start to sound less
'natural' on the air as well. 

If your audio gain is definitely low, be sure you do NOT have the audio
attenuator turned on (SSBA 1). SSBA 2 or 3 turns the attenuator off. 

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289