[Elecraft] K3 as Half a Satellite Station

[Richard Lawn]

I'm new to this group, a steadfast KX3 user and recently acquired a K3 and
P3. I've been on the satellites for many years and recently started using 2
radios controled by SatPC32 software - one radio for uplink and another for
downlink using converters. I decided to experiment with the K3 and P3 for
the downlink side. It worked like a charm when 2 meters was the downlink (I
should add that I'm using preamps for both bands placed at the antenna).
Most of the satellites, but not all, use 70 cm for uplink and 2m for down.
I then decided to try sending the output of both down converters, through
relays switching, to the K3 transverter input. Only one band at a
time would be selected by the relays and the other sent to the uplink
radio. I tired using a Daiwa duplexer to accomplish this and I tried a
simple splitter. For some reason this messed everything up and it seemed
like the preamps were totally ineffectual, especially the 70cm preamp. I've
been scratching my head to understand why this isn't working. This could be
a wonderful satellite station using the K3 and P3 with or without the
external monitor card for downlink. What am I missing?

73
Rick, W2JAZ