[Elecraft] KX1 Low Power

[Alan WB6ZQZ]

My new KX1 seems to work well, aside from apparently low power out. I 
ignored it at first, but two different wattmeters indicate the same power 
out - 1 watt on lithiums, 2 watts on 12.6 volts -- so I'm suspicious that 
it really is low.

I just went through the DC voltage readings on the transmitter devices, as 
recommended by the troubleshooting guide. They all make sense except Q5.

Q5 base and emitter read within 10-20 mVDC of each other, at about 2.24 
volts. The manual calls for 100 millivolts higher on the base. The 
magnitudes are about right, but the differential seems odd. Perhaps Q5 is 
bad, but if that were so I'd expect different values than this.

Neither the book values nor the readings look right to me. I tried a 1 
megohm decoupling resistor on the DVM, with essentially the same results. 
The power out remains stable when I'm probing either with or without the 
decoupling resistor.

It's been a long time since I did any RF work, I'm probably overlooking 
something simple.

Thanks for your comments,

-- Alan WB6ZQZ