[Elecraft] Blown KPA3 ??

[Dave Wright]

So, I was running WSPR last night at 0.1w during a rain storm.  While in
the middle of a transmit cycle, an out-of-the-blue lightning strike
happened in our neighborhood; no warning, no indications of impending
t-storms, nothing.

The K3 is a K3/100 with the KAT3, KDVR3, KRX3 and KBPF3.

The K3 still receives just fine, but when I go to transmit, there is no
power output when testing into a dummy load. Actually, that isn't quite
true. The ATU will still tune, putting out 5 watts based upon the RF meter
in the K3, but does not return a SWR reading when it does so. Furthermore,
in CW mode I can transmit and get the power to about 5w when the
transmitter is set to 10w; and I can set it for a setting below 5w and it
seems to work, but if I go above 12w (turning on the KPA3), then the power
indicator drops and shows less than 1w indicating (to me) a problem with
the KPA3 components.

I've reloaded the firmware, hoping against hope, with no change.  I would
welcome any advice/guidance for things to check.

In the meantime, I've diving back into the manuals.


Dave
K3DCW

"Real radio bounces off the sky"