[Elecraft] K3 S/N 7394 Weird Symptom

[Brian F. Wruble]

Hi all:

My K3 has been working flawlessly.  It is part of a K3/KPA500/KAT500
lineup.  I was monitoring FSK441 on 6M for several hours, no problems.

I turned it off for breakfast, came back and turned it on. The front panel
LCD fully lit, but with no characters on it, just blank.  All front panel
buttons were unresponsive.  I couldn't even turn it off without cutting 12V
and re-connecting.

I tried connecting to the configuration utility, but it wouldn't connect.

Then I discovered the 12V supply had disconnected from the KAT500.  I
reconnected that, and the K3 came back to life.

I am completely mystified.  This is repeatable.  If I disconnect power to
the KAT500, the K3 loses front panel responsiveness, and just stays in
whatever state it was in when power was lost.

The KAT500 connects to the K3 using the special 15pin KPAK3AUX cable.  When
I disconnect that, the problem goes away.  Reconnect it, and the problem
recurs --- K3 frozen in whatever state it was in when the 12V power to the
KAT500 was disconnected.

Anybody know what is going on here?

Tnx de Brian W3BW


*Brian F. Wruble, C.F.A.

*70 is the new 40.*
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