[Elecraft] A KX3 Puzzler

[Dauer, Edward]

[Apologies if this appears twice ‹ my first transmission seems to have
gone awry.]


 
When condx are noisy I like to crank the AF gain way up and back the RF
gain way down, and use the RF gain for volume control.  Doing so isn¹t
useful for weak-signal work, and it has one drawback (it makes internal
noise more audible, e.g. the TR switching); but it makes CW rag-chewing
much more pleasant when the QRN is high.
 

The KX3 uses a push on the AF/RF encoder to toggle between AF gain and RF
gain.  But here¹s the weird thing that happens ­ with the control set at
RF gain, the system sets itself back to AF gain when the internal ATU is
cycled.  It¹s mildly annoying ­ whenever a QSY is large enough to call for
an ATU tune, the radio requires that I manually toggle back to RF gain.
That is, it reverts to AF gain simply by having the ATU cycled.
 

I tried other functions to see if anything else causes this perverse
refusal to keep my preference intact.  The reversion to AF also occurs
when XMIT/TUNE is pushed, when Band+ or Band- is pushed (even after
returning to the original band), and when Mode is changed (even after it¹s
changed back to CW.)  It does not happen when the transmitter is keyed (so
it¹s probably not stray RF doing this spooky thing), nor when any of the
other controls are switched pressed or twisted
 

I wonder if anyone else with a KX3 has seen this happen ­ choose RF gain,
cycle the ATU, and see if the system returns the RF/AF control to AF gain.
 It would be nice to know if mine is unusually cranky or if it¹s in the
radio¹s genes.  Anyone have an idea why it¹s happening?  Or how to keep it
from happening?
 


Ted, KN1CBR