[Elecraft] K3 bugs

[Fred Jensen]

Hmmm ... that went from the question, "Has anyone seen these" to 
"Elecraft ships gear full of bugs" awfully fast. :-))

In answer to the question and #1, I just tried it and my K3 [S/N 642] 
doesn't do what you describe.  If I understand #2 right, your's quit 
doing it too.

In answer to the question and #2, since mine has never done it, I can't 
duplicate it.

The K3 has a complex algorithm and state diagram for what gets 
"remembered" when going from one state to the next.  There are an almost 
countable infinity of possible states.  It takes awhile to become 
familiar with it, even for just your normal operating which for most 
people means a tiny fraction of the possible state changes.  Also, like 
all things electronic these days, turning your K3 off with the front 
panel button and removing all power are *not* the same thing.

Early on with mine, I lost 30 meters.  SWR on TX was infinite and no 
signals or band noise, any mode.  All the other bands/modes seemed to be 
normal.  Wayne [yes, co-owner of the company and designer of the radio] 
called me, and starting simple, asked me which antenna was selected on 
30 meters.  Somewhere in all the button-poking/menu-exploration I'd been 
doing to learn about my new radio, I'd selected ANT 2 on 30 meters which 
it dutifully remembered, and when I re-selected ANT 1 for 30 ... I 
became a very happy but really embarrassed ham.  Over the years, others 
have confessed to these sorts of technical difficulties in their minds 
on this list.  As time has passed, I've amassed a collection of such 
things in my station notebook ... they've all been pilot problems.  One 
deserves mention --

I noticed that when I pushed or held a button, something unrelated to 
what I was trying to do would occasionally happen.  "There must be 
something wrong with my front panel switch matrix," right?  Well ... no. 
  The K3 is not in the heavyweight class of radios and we all know who's 
weigh 60 lbs.  Fooling around, I tried holding the K3 while I selected 
buttons and all was well.  It and the P3 now have little tabs 
double-sided moulding tape under the front feet, they do not move on the 
shelf when I tap/hold, and my front panel switch matrix is actually just 
fine.

If your problems persist, support at elecraft.com is amazingly good.  So is 
a lot of the advice on this list, especially from a number who really 
know, you'll soon figure out who they are.  Fred Cady's manual is also a 
huge resource if you don't already have it.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
- www.cqp.org

On 1/15/2015 3:05 PM, dave wrote:
>
> Recently purchased a K3 kit. Have noted a couple of bugs. Wonder if
> anyone else has seen these:
>
> 1) After I put the kit together, while doing the testing, I noted that
> if I cycled through the modes via the left side of the mode button (mode
> dn), every time it went into AM mode it keyed the TX for a second or
> maybe two. Did not do this when pressing the right side of the mode
> button (mode up) and going into AM. This was not simply lighting the TX
> light. The external power meter confirmed that RF was being generated.
> All other changes of mode appeared to be fine.
>
> 2) Just now turned the K3 on. Switched to 80m. Mode was CW before and
> after the change of bands. After a few seconds I noted there was no
> audio coming from the speaker. Switched to 60m (USB), audio. Switched to
> 40m (CW), audio. Switched back to 80, no audio. Cycled through the
> modes. Audio was heard on LSB, AM, Data, and suddenly audio was heard on
> 80m CW. And . . . while cycling through the modes I noted that the TX
> was no longer keyed when switching to AM via the mode dn button.
>
> Are these bugs related? Has anyone else seen either of these?
>
> I'd really like to see Elecraft spend the necessary effort to thoroughly
> debug the K3 before spending much effort adding features that only a
> handful of ops will ever use.
>
>
> 73 de dave
> ab9ca/4
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> -----
> No virus found in this message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 2015.0.5645 / Virus Database: 4260/8936 - Release Date: 01/15/15
>
>