[Elecraft] K2 Preamp on and huge key clicks. Normal?

[Andreas (KU7T)]

Hi,

 

I made a couple of QSOs during the WPX and on Saturday night, when the
western US was the strongest on 20 m here, a couple of stations generated
huge key clicks in my receiver.  The whole band was trashed with clicks of
up to S8 from 2 stations about 1000 miles away; their signals on frequency
were about S9 + 40.

 

I sometimes noticed that issue before, mostly when I was mobile operating.
But this time, I hardly could do any contest exchange without retries.
Without thinking, I turned of the Preamp and the clicks where gone.  I
usually work with Preamp on, especially on 20, since I just use low wire
antennas.

 

Is this normal behavior of the Preamp?  If so, can someone explain to me why
this is the case?  Is the RX overloaded?  If this is not normal, where
should I start troubleshooting?

 

73, Andy, KU7T