[Elecraft] Bogus ERR KEY Conditions?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

I'd look at the resistance to ground through the opto-isolator with power
off.
I have seen some that are rather "leaky" - it is just a transistor after
all, one that is biased on by light instead of current. Obviously if it has
detectable leakage it could be convincing the K3 that a key line is
grounded. 

73, Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Rick
Tavan
Sent: Saturday, April 9, 2016 6:04 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: [Elecraft] Bogus ERR KEY Conditions?

Sometimes when I power up my K3 with my YCCC SO2R Box powered down, the K3
comes up in ERR KEY mode, disallowing transmission and other functions.
Usually, powering up the SO2R Box and power cycling the K3 clears the
problem. I assumed (erroneously, it turns out) that I had an issue with an
indeterminate state on the key out line from the SO2R Box. But the
principals at YCCC remind me that those circuits are opto-isolated and quite
determinate, even when the box is powered down. They also note that with a
recent release of K3 firmware, similar problems are being reported with
other keyers connected. They suspect that this old error message may have an
additional, new meaning in a recent firmware release, perhaps related to
rx/tx timing. I'm not sure, but it has happened frequently in recent weeks,
sometimes in the middle of an operating session. It is incurable when I am
operating remotely until I visit the site and twiddle key lines. Once it
happens, it doesn't clear itself through remote power cycling or anything
else I've tried.  Any ideas here?

Thanks,

Rick N6XI
-- 

Rick Tavan
Truckee, CA
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