[Elecraft] RTTY/PSK31 and the K3

[Ed Muns]

> I love RTTY contesting as well and a K3 is certainly in my 
> future. I'm just now dipping my toes into SO2R. One question 
> - are you able to go the full 100 watts in contests on RTTY ? 
> If so, do you provide further cooling - more fans, liquid 
> cooling blocks on the finals !? :) Or do you trickle feed an 
> amplifier to say, 150 watts ?

I run SO2R and my goal is to be transmitting 100% of the time on one or the
other transmitter.  That represents, at most, a 50% duty-cycle for the K3
which it can handle without the internal fans even getting up to their
higher speeds.  (BTW, those higher speeds are VERY quiet.)  We have done
tests with key down for 10 minutes on the K3 and the PA temperature is still
well below max, so I wouldn't even expect runaway in this extreme case.
Even the most severe RTTY operation won't stress the K3 to this extent.
There is no published spec yet on this, but my experience to date is that
the K3 reminds me of the old Alpha amplifier ads with the brick on the key
at maximum output for indefinite periods of time.

In sum, I'd not worry a bit about running the K3 at full power on RTTY, with
no additional fans or cooling.  Obviously, it would be prudent to have
enough clear space around the K3 to allow its internal cooling system to
work.

73,
Ed - W0YK