[Elecraft] Twitchy K2 output power, continued...

[Steve Banks]

Kevin, Ron, and All-

To answer Kevin's offline question, my K2's erratic power output seems to
not be band-dependent, although I wouldn't swear to it.  I think I've seen
it on most bands I normally operate on, but since I spend most of my time on
20m, it obviously shows up there most often.  Ron, AC7AC, suggested that the
POWER control might be "noisy."  The condition certainly seems to mirror
that kind of behavior.

Just for jollies, this morning I gave the K2 POWER control a workout by
exercizing it from end-to end, (and at intermediate settings), on all bands
while transmitting CW, as well as while solidly keying the rig on for short
periods.  I saw the "dip" occur on 30 and 20m.  All tests were made with the
rig connected to a dummy load.

It seems to occur most often at the midpoint of the POWER control's range.
Overall outputs ranged from 0.1 watt up to about 15 watts.  Ordinarily the
K2 never misses a beat tracking whatever I set its output power for, except
for these seemingly random, occasional dips.

Interestingly, the original power setting can often be restored to normal
even by slightly REDUCING the POWER control's setting, as well as by
increasing it; it only requires a slight tweak onr way or the other to
remedy the problem.

I'm tempted to disassemble the control panel of the K2 and see if there's a
civilized way to give the POWER control a spritz of contact cleaner.

At the moment I can't recall if there's a way to do that, but I guess it'd
be worth a shot.  Does anyone remember if there's an access hole in the K2
pots for doing that?

Let me know if any of you have any further thoughts.

Tnx es 73.

Steve Banks
K0PQ
K2 S/N 1599