[Elecraft] Re: K1 low power

[Morrow, Michael A.]

Lloyd Lachow wrote:

> My K1 ... has lately developed ... lower power out
> than in the past.  I've got a board for 15, 20, 30
> and 40M.

Lloyd,

Are your filter board trimmer caps the old white ceramic
types or the later blue plastic types?  If the former, I'd
seriously consider ordering the KFL1-4 trimmer cap upgrade
package from Elecraft and replacing the 16 old white caps.
The white caps were well known to require frequent
re-alignment of the KFL1-4.

Is your VFO span 80 kHz or 150 kHz?  If the latter, it will
be hard to adjust the 40 meter filter board components for
a flat maximum power output from one end of the band to the
other without increasing interstage coupling caps C10 and
CK to 4.7 pF.

Have you checked the K1's output into a 50 ohm dummy load?
If it still shows low maximum power (less than 5 watts) and
your DC supply voltage is above 12 volts, then about all
you can do is go through the re-alignment process for the
KFL1-4 board.  That will only take a few minutes to do,
since all you'll be doing is peaking the trimmers while
monitoring the power out indication on the K1 LCD. (Peak the
15m caps before the 20m, and the 30m caps before the 40m.)

73,
Mike / KK5F