[Elecraft] K3 transmit audio cuts out

Fri Jul 27 18:23:00 EDT 2012

Adrian,

I am looking at this as an rfi issue first and foremost. I am going to clean up a little bit inside the shack. That particular K3 has been suffering with unusual noise with my new SteppIR three element that was put up less than a month ago. 

To answer your question, the K3 was in transmit mode the entire time when the audio was cutting out. Very odd.

If it turns out to be not a rfi issue then I will investigate the K3 a little more. I am shipping my other K3 to Elecraft tomorrow for a couple key mods and upgrades (negative ALC and band control which is important to me for a possible future KPA500 purchase) and it will be out of pocket for three or so weeks so I want to make sure that it is good to go.

Thanks,

Keith
AG6AZ

Sent from my iPhone please excuse typos

On Jul 27, 2012, at 1:16 PM, "Adrian" <vk4tux at bigpond.com> wrote:

> Keith, From your original post you seemed to say that the signal output
> dropped whilst the K3 was still in TX,
> i.e. you say " during PTT transmit ". So was the TX indicator active during
> "my transmit audio cutting out" ?
> 
> This would indicate no problem with the ptt, but the audio - signal circuit
> chain, or rfi issues. Can you clarify please?
> 
> I guess Don interpreted your original post different to myself. I would test
> sending dits into a DL for the same period to check
> power level consistency before looking at other areas.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Keith Heimbold
> Sent: Friday, 27 July 2012 10:53 PM
> To: don at w3fpr.com
> Cc: Elecraft Group
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 transmit audio cuts out
> 
> Hi Don,
> 
> Thanks for the quick recommendation. I will give that a try this morning. 
> 
> I did a complete switch out of the headset, PTT switch and adapter and
> experienced the same cutout. I did consider this being an RFI issue. I was
> doing a bit more ragchewing then usual last night.
> 
> I will try your recommendations and report back.
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Keith
> AG6AZ
> 
> Sent from my iPhone please excuse typos
> 
> On Jul 27, 2012, at 5:48 AM, "Don Wilhelm" <w3fpr at embarqmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> Kieth,
>> 
>> In cases like that, the first things to check are the external cables - in
> your particular case, the PTT.
>> If you are using the mic jack PTT, try the one on the back panel - if that
> cures the problem check your cables again.
>> 
>> The other possibility is that something happened in your antenna system
> and you are experiencing RF feedback.  Run the K3 barefoot into a dummy load
> - if the condition persists into a dummy load, then you can conclude that
> the K3 might be to blame.
>> 
>> 73,
>> Don W3FPR
>> On 7/27/2012 8:36 AM, Keith Heimbold wrote:
>>> While operating last night on 20m on my K3 serial 1391, I had an issue
> with my transmit audio cutting out during PTT transmit. Also power output
> simultaneously dropped out completely in mid sentence. I could see this both
> on the power meter and hear it on monitor.
>>> 
>>> I currently use a Heil proset 4 and a heil hand switch with that rig. I
> then decided to switched headsets and switch to my heil proset 5 and my foot
> switch which is on my other K3 to determine if it was an issue with headset
> / PTT switch combination.  Upon transmitting it continued to cut out the
> audio and power. I was alerted by the ham I was communicating with that I
> was having an issue with my audio.  This issue continued to persist so I
> decided to shutdown the system.
>>> 
>>> My configuration last night also consisted of this K3 unit being
> connected to my Yaesu Quadra amplifier to my SteppIR three element Yagi. I
> was operating at about 500W.
>>> 
>>> This is the first time I have had any issue with this K3 unit though I do
> experience some unusual receive issues with spurious and higher noise levels
> with this unit versus my other K3 and my KX3.
>>> 
>>> Turns out that I am coincidentally sending up my other K3 1526 to
> Elecraft today for several mods and some additional features to be added. I
> would like to get the older 1391 unit working before sending 1526 up north.
>>> 
>>> Any thoughts on what might be happening or troubleshooting options would
> be great.
>>> 
>>> Thanks,
>>> 
>>> Keith
>>> AG6AZ
>>> 
>>> 
>>> 
>>> Keith
>>> 
>>> Sent from my iPhone please excuse typos 
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