[Elecraft] Hang-up on Relay Using QSK

[Vic Rosenthal 4X6GP/K2VCO]

Lee,

The Alpha 87A uses PIN diodes for t/r switching, so unless someone 
modified it, it's not the amp t/r relay, which is the usual culprit for 
this problem.

It could also be a poor connection somewhere in the antenna circuit. 
Sometimes a coax plug or socket is oxidized (or whatever) and it has 
high resistance for small voltages such as received signals; a shot of 
RF cleans it up.

I had a problem like this which drove me nuts for months. It turned out 
to be a corroded solder joint in a balun (at the antenna feedpoint, of 
course).

73,
Vic, 4X6GP/K2VCO
Rehovot, Israel
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/

On 1 Dec 2015 19:06, KY7M wrote:
> Towards the end of CQWW CW, I was having issues with the K3 not getting back
> to receive when I stopped transmitting.  This was an intermittent problem -
> if I keyed the radio again with a dit or two, I could get back to full
> receive.  I could still hear signals, but greatly attenuated when the relay
> would hang up.  I was using QSK with the K3 and my Alpha 87A.  I am not
> seeing any fault indication on the 87A and I am trying to figure out if the
> problem is in the K3.  I also have a KPA500 but have not used it in a
> contest lately to know if the problem would repeat with another amplifier or
> barefoot.  It seems to happen only after heavy use.  I think I experienced
> it a week earlier in the WAE RTTY contest as well, but did not do as much
> operating as in CQWW.
>
>
>
> 73,
>
>
>
> Lee, KY7M