[Elecraft] Meter readings jumping around

[David C Dawson]

Thanks Tom,
I think the right word I should have used is 'dithering' instead of 
'jumping'. I can handle that.

On Mon, Dec 18, 2006 at 10:15:30AM -0600, Tom Hammond wrote:
> Hi David:
> 
> >I have noticed that the internal meter is jumping around somewhat at
> >times, although the analog meter I have in line with the dummy load does
> >not.
> >
> >I noticed that when I applied power on 20 meters, and started tweaking
> >L8 and L9 the power went up and up to 8 watts, then when I did it again,
> >it was stable at around 2.0. Is that abnormal?
> >
> >The S meter seems to jump around somewhat; that is, it jumps between two
> >adjacent bars (dot mode) on occasion.
> >
> >I think that there may be a poor solder joint somewhere (historical
> >precedent ;-)).
> 
> It's not all that normal for readings to 'JUMP' around, but during 
> tune-up, it IS normal for readings to increase well past the preset 
> POWER level. This is due to the fact that the ALC is being disabled 
> during this part of the tune-up process, so as you peak things up, 
> you will normally see power appear to run kinda wild.
> 
> When you see this phenomenon, just EXIT from TUNE mode and re-enter 
> TUNE again. When you re-enter TUNE mode, the power level will be 
> reestablished and you'll be returned to the specified power lever so 
> you can continue to peak things up... and see the power again rise 
> UNTIL you hit the point where there's no further increase!!!  You may 
> have to exit/re-enter TUNE 2-3 times during the alignment session!!! 
> If you have POWER set to 1W or 2W during tuning, DO NOT allow the 
> displayed power to exceed 6W-7W while tuning before you exit and 
> re-enter TUNE mode... just for safety.
That's understood, I got the hang of it pretty quickly.
> 
> 73,
> 
> Tom Hammond   N0SS
> 

-- 
David Dawson

The trouble with this country is that there are too many politicians
who believe, with a conviction based on experience, that you can fool
all of the people all of the time.
                -- Franklin Adams