[Elecraft] KSB2 Problem

[W3FPR - Don Wilhelm]

Neal,

A normal K2 will have more gain on 40 and 30 meters than on the other bands.
I would check the LPF for those bands carefully - number of turns on the
toroids (count the times the wire goes through the center - counting the
outside turns often results in a toroid with an extra turn), then check each
capacitor for proper value, and check the soldering.  i.e.  The current draw
on 40 meters will normally be lower than that for other bands - fix that
problem first and your other conditions may just 'go away'.

The KSB2 can sometimes reduce the overall gain through the transmit chain,
which will cause a higher current draw for a given power output.  Don't be
overly concerned about it until you have the KSB2 operating properly at
lower power.  (the KSB2 has no band dependency, but it can influence the
gain of the transmit chain - so check the soldering there too and check the
values of the resistors on the bottom of the KSB2 for proper values) - not
saying there is necessarily a problem in the KSB2, I am just pointing out
how things normally work.

Even though your current draw is high, it will usually cause no harm (other
than possibly overloading your power supply, so if you need to do testing at
full power output, you can easily bump up the CAL CUR setting in the menu to
get rid of the message while you troubleshoot the real cause of the
increased current draw.

73,
Don W3FPR


> -----Original Message-----
> Hi Don
>
> The Hi Cur was not happening before (on CW). I also installed the noise
> blanker yesterday and did some CW so I think prior to inserting the
> KSB2 it was okay.
>
> The Hi cur only happens on 40m SSB. On CW at full output it varies from
> 3.3 (on 80 &40) to 2.8 (on the rest of the bands).
>
> So, its only 40m SSB.  Sorry about the confusion on the Q2 orientation,
> I read that in one of the archive emails. It looks like its installed
> correctly to me, in viewing from directly above it.
>
> Any clues?
>
> Neal
>