[Elecraft] Resistance Checks on pg. 45 (K3)

[Don Wilhelm]

Shane,

Let me try to help.  I have repeated part of the paragraph from page 44 
of the manual:

"The resistance should be greater than 3K ohms. It may be much higher, 
depending
upon which way you connect the leads. Your DMM may indicate the value is 
so high it is out of the range of the instrument and as it does when in 
ohms mode and the probes are not touching anything. If you are not sure, 
refer to your DMM instruction manual to interpret the reading"

So you say your meter reads "OL" - whilch I would expect to mean 
"Overload" which would likely mean a value that is higher than the range 
the meter can read (consult your DMM manual to verify that).

The K3 instruction indicates that possibly the resistance may be so high 
it is out of the range your meter is able to read - so I think that is 
OK - assuming "OL" for your meter means greater than the range available.

Again check the manual for your DMM to properly interpret its readings.

If I had no further information, I would think you are OK to move 
forward - but do know how your DMM displays overload conditions to be 
certain - that information should be in your DMM manual.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 7/20/2011 9:27 PM, Shane wrote:
> Hi,
>
> I hope this is the right place for this post, although I'm sure it's
> not because its kind of a dumb question.
>
> I've been assembling a K3 and I'm up to the point for doing resistance
> checks in the assembly manual on pg. 44. And yet I know nothing about
> resistance checks (or electronics).
>
> I'm worried about the 1st check where I'm supposed to check the 12VDC
> IN connectors on the rear panel. I bought a Fluke 117 DMM, switched it
> to the Ohm sign, its set to auto ranging, then I put the black pin in
> the black 12V connecter of the K3, put red on red (made sure the pins
> are touching metal in the connectors) and I'm not seeing anything
> (just 0L on the display of my DMM). And I've also stepped through the
> manual range settings as well, but to no avail.
>
> However the following checks on pg. 45 showed me some numbers. I can't
> tell if they're good numbers yet as I'm trying to figure out the
> decimal places and if they match what the manual says, but at least
> there I'm seeing numbers.
>
> So I was afraid to plug it in and do the initial power check.
>