[Elecraft] K3/K144XV/K3EXREF problem

[Rus Healy]

Greetings, all.

I have a K3 with the KSYN3A synthesizers, K3EXREF external reference
option, and the K144XV internal 2-meter transverter. The K144XV also has
the internal PLL lock option board installed.

With this setup, I am trying to solve two problems: (1) knowing my 2-meter
frequency exactly, and (2) the 2-meter transverter drifts a lot when it
gets warm in MSK144 and FTx operation even though I'm running it at about 3
watts output.

The reference oscillator input SMA connector is connected to a surplus
Spectracom GPS-locked reference. All signs indicate that the K3EXREF is
working properly. In the REF CAL menu, the asterisk between the REF and CAL
is blinking at a 1-Hz rate. The radio seems to be right on frequency based
on some checks on the HF bands with known-frequency signals.

The transverter is configured as XV1. Its offset is configured for 3.8 kHz,
which is (approximately) the offset printed on the transverter for 144 MHz.
When I set the XV1 OFS to REFLOCK (using the 0 button on the keypad), the
XV1 OFS changes to 0.05 and the radio goes way off frequency from where it
should be. So it does not seem that the reference oscillator is locking the
K144XV's LO properly--although it's also possible that it's locked, but has
the incorrect offset. I can't tell because the menus don't have a display
option for the K144XV reference lock status.

I am sure that the cables are connected correctly based on the installation
documentation.

I've had spotty results with Elecraft support (not exactly poor, but
consistently slow and weak), so I wanted to reach out here to see if anyone
has experienced this issue and may be able to shed some light on what I am
seeing. Thanks in advance.

--73, Rus, K2UA