[Elecraft] K3 Front Panel Problem

[Michael Downs]

Elecraft List,

I haven't used my K3 for quite a while as I have been playing with the KX3 (the K3 has been sitting on the desk totally disconnected from everything). Now when I fire up the K3, none of the front panel buttons and dual-purpose controls work, except volume and VFO A. I thought maybe the menu parameters got altered somehow preventing the firmware from operating correctly, so I tried to do a parameter initialization. But that failed because the Shift/Lo knob is not working (The other dual-purpose knobs: Hi/Width, Speed/Mic, and Cmp/Pwr don't work either). Therefore, I figured the contacts between the front panel and the radio had become corroded and weren't making a good electrical connection anymore. So, I removed the front panel and inspected the pins. Everything looked normal and I put the radio back together again. Still not working.

Anyone want to make suggestions on what else I should try? I can communicate with the radio using the K3 Utility and I did reinstall the MCU firmware, DSP firmware and front panel firmware. None of that helped. I still think there must be a communication problem between the front panel and the radio, but don't know how to fix it. Suggestions? Thanks in advance.

73,
Mike ks7d