[Elecraft] K3 power output instability

[Arliss]

Running the low and high power TX gain calibration via the K3 
Utility gave the following result:

"TX Gain calibration failed because power reading did not 
converge to a consistent value.  5W calibration failed."

"TX Gain calibration failed because power reading did not 
converge to a consistent value.  50 W calibration failed."

The low power calibration failed on 40 meters and stopped there. 
  The 50 W calibration failed on 160 meters and stopped there.

The radio also gave an error message: ERR TXG (Transmit gain 
constant out of range).

73,  Arliss



Arliss,

I would suggest that you run the Transmit Gain Calibration and 
see if that improves the situation.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 3/13/2013 9:10 PM, Arliss wrote:
 >I'm experiencing a problem with instability in power output 
 >from my K3/100.  No word back from Elecraft yet (it's only been 
 >a few days), so I thought I'd try here.
 >
 > The problem is that at relatively low power output levels
 >(approximately 10 to 40 watts), the power output does not 
 >remain constant.   If I engage TUNE, the power will vary 
 >plus/minus 3 or 4 watts, then jump up briefly by as much as 10 
 >watts or more before resuming smaller excursions.  Although the 
 >power variations are brief, they cause the grid protection 
 >circuit in the amp to trip.  This behavior seems to be 
 >independent of mode and frequency.