[Elecraft] FYI: Flaky KAT2: Symptoms and solution

[BobDobson@aol.com]

I'm presenting this to all just in case anyone else builds
a KAT2 tuner that seems to be haunted.

After completing my KAT2 and proceeding to perform
the alignments, the tuner began to exhibit what I refer
to as a case of the "intermittent flakies".  The K2 would
do what looked like a power-on reset every now and then,
and the KAT2 alignments themselves would not work at power
levels much above 1w.  If I sent test messages using the
built-in memory keyer, usually in the middle of the message
the K2 would reset itself.  If I removed the KAT2, everything
worked fine.  Before calling in an exorcist, I went about seeing
if I had done something really stupid in the assembly department.

I did.  The real miracle was it only took me about 10 minutes to
figure it out!

The solution: "Thou shalt not install the AUX RF connector RF-P6
on the RF board backwards".  There are two ways to fix this: either
remove the heat sink and turn P6 around, or switch the coax shield
and center pins on J7 on the KAT2.  I opted for the latter for now.
The worst thing that can happen is make my KAT2 plug-incompatible
with everyone else's'; not a problem.

After doing this, the KAT2 performed just as the manual indicated,
with no damage to the KAT2 or the PA section in the K2.

73,

Bob  WA4FOM


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