[Elecraft] question about Elecraft receivers

[Mike Markowski]

One dry, windy winter's day (with no lightning that I was aware of, so I assume
static build up) I had such a visitor come running down my antenna to meet my
K2.  I had used the rig with no issues and then later in the day turned it on
and hit "tune" - that's when the smoke came out.  In the end it turned out that
I had to replace the watt meter diodes in both the K2 and the KPA100 as well as
a few other assorted bits & pieces in those and in my KAT100.  Gary at Elecraft
was super helpful as I worked my way through the repair.  Very small repair cost
in $ but took a few hours.

While you don't get to enjoy the wonderful smell that came with it, you can see
the immediate aftermath in photos here:

  http://udel.edu/~mm/ham/smoke/

I sure wish I had disconnected my antenna!

73,
Mike ab3ap

On 09/07/2011 11:02 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> I believe you have been hearing about the wattmeter diodes in the KPA100.
> That has nothing to do with the receiver at all.  The receiver will 
> withstand quite an excessive surge.
> 
> The situation is that the K2/100 power control circuits depend on 
> measuring the transmitted power right at the antenna.  As a result, the 
> diodes in the wattmeter measurement circuit are quite close to the 
> antenna feedpoint and static surges such as caused by nearby lightning 
> can cause damage to those diodes.
> 
> The best solution is to remove the antenna connection when the K2 is not 
> in use - the best method is to use an antenna switch to connect a dummy 
> load to the transceiver. [...]