[Elecraft] K2 problems after lightning

[Edward R Cole]

I just wanted to offer a few general suggestions.  Do follow Don's 
expert instructions.

A lesson taught me by a fellow bench tech who did not have a lot of 
tech training was to initially open the unit and carefully look over 
the circuit board for obvious burnt items!  Use your nose for burnt 
smell. Touch to find "Hot" components (carefully). Look for black 
marks indicating arcing.  I can't tell you how well that worked for him!

An approach I used when I had a dead short on the dc power, which 
could be anywhere on the board that the power trace went, 
was:  "divide and conquer", meaning try to isolate sections and 
troubleshoot each by itself.  This might require cutting the power 
trace in certain areas (in your case, follow Don's approach as he 
knows these radios intimately...he will tell you if that becomes necessary).

My first step after the look-sniff-touch method is check basic 
performance (radio lamps light-up, makes noise in Rx, keys in 
transmit, shows output power, etc.)  Those symptoms help narrow down 
what to check.  Then get out the multimeter and make resistance and 
voltage checks.  Of course this assumes you have a schematic diagram 
and have the background knowledge to understand it.  If the unit is 
not stable when you apply power then you will have to start out with 
resistance checks and/or isolation methods.

The lightening hit is probably one of the worst as it may have gone 
anywhere in the unit. Hope you are successful in fixing it.

73, Ed - KL7UW
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