[Elecraft] Fwd: K3 Power Drop During Operation

[jmaass at k8nd.com]

John:

I checked it at the time. 13.3 Vdc  reported by the K3 meters. It seems solid (big Astron RS-50M) , and likely did not drop while operating.

73,  Jeff  PJ2ND / K8ND


******

This first thing I would do is check the voltage at the radio. There is a voltmeter in my K3S so there probably is one in the K3.  You could have a power supply issue or just low voltage in Curacao. I try to maintain 13.5V on  TX.

John KK9A



-------- Original Message --------
Subject: K3 Power Drop During Operation
Date: Thu, 25 Jan 2018 06:54:48 -0500
From: jmaass at k8nd.com
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Cc: geneshea at gmail.com

I was running some stations on 160-meters this morning, and noted that the power output had dropped from the amp.

Further investigation found that the maximum power out from the K3/100 was reduced from ~100W to about 54W, with no error messages displayed on the K3. Advancing the 'PWR' control beyond 54 W made no difference. I stopped operating, and found that the power slowly restored, first to a maximum of 84W, and then back to the normal 100W maximum.

I assume that this is an issue with temperature? The ambient temperature was cool (A/C running in shack). I have not noted this problem before.

The fan was set to 'Config > KPA3 > PA nor'.  recommended setting for hard contest use?

73,  Jeff  PJ2ND / K8ND