[Elecraft] K3S will not load or tune on 160 M

[Victor Rosenthal 4X6GP]

Rich,

Don't forget that the ANT1/ANT2 selection in the K3S is per-band. Make 
sure the correct antenna is selected. That SWR reading sounds like there 
is no antenna connected.

As they always say, don't ask how I know this!

73,
Victor, 4X6GP
Rehovot, Israel
Formerly K2VCO
CWops no. 5
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/

On 03/12/2018 18:49, Richard Hoffman, K1DJ via Elecraft wrote:
> I put up my first 160 meter antenna last week in anticipation of
> participating in last weekend's contest.  I managed to get the
> antenna -- a slow slung inverted L with a single raised radial as a
> compromise on my tiny 100 by 100 foot lot -- up in time.  I then
> managed to get the antenna down to an SWR of 2 to 1 measured by a Rig
> Expert AA55 zoom analyzer, at the balun to which the raised wire and
> radial are directly attached, and ythen got the same 2.0 SWR reading
> at the shack end of a borrowed piece of about 50 feet of RG-213.  [I
> recognize that 2 to 1 is not perfect by any means, but it was
> certainly within the range of my Elecraft equipment, I thought.]
> 
> But then my K3S simply refused to tune or load into the antenna,
> either directly, using its internal ATU, or routed through my KPA-500
> to a KAT-500 tuner.  In both circumstances, the rig and/or tuner
> showed an SWR around 25 to 1, and tuned at best to around 16 to 1,
> resulting in no apparent RF output. After trying to fix this in
> various ways, I gave up on the 160M contest and turned to other
> pursuits, while seeking advice from several Elecraft-loving,
> 160M-using, friends.
> 
> It finally dawned on me this morning to connect the rig to my dummy
> load.  The result of attempting to tune and load the dummy load is
> exactly the same as it was trying to use the new inverted-L:  initial
> 25 to 1 SWR, tunes down only to 16.9 to 1. The rig, amp, internal and
> external tuners, and dummy load work fine on 80M through 6M.  This is
> my first time trying them all on 160M. QUESTION:  Are there special
> configuration or other steps I need to take to operate the K3S on 160
> meters?  Do these symptoms suggest any other problems that you can
> help solve?
> 
> Please advise, and thanks! 73 - Rich, K1DJScituate, MA 
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