[Elecraft] K3S poor CW keying further investigation

hawley, charles j jr c-hawley at illinois.edu
Sat Apr 25 15:11:13 EDT 2020


Wonder what the time constant is for a remote sense power supply.

Jack BMW Motorcycles
Chuck KE9UW
c-hawley at illinois.edu

Sent from my iPad

> On Apr 25, 2020, at 2:00 PM, Pete Lascell <plascell at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> To bad the power supply doesn't have remote voltage sense to regulate at the far end of the 12 volt power cable.
> Pete W4WWQ
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: <donovanf at starpower.net>
> To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: 4/25/2020 2:47:12 PM
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3S poor CW keying further investigation
> ________________________________________________________________________________
> 
> Hi Pete, 
> 
> 
> The K3 100 watt power amplifier includes a 25 amp circuit breaker 
> on the rear panel of your radio. The rest of the K3 electronics is 
> protected by an internal 5 amp self resetting fuse. 
> 
> 
> There's absolutely no need for external fuses, except in a mobile installation 
> where external fuses are required in both the positive and negative power 
> leads to avoid a possibly disastrous automotive fire. 
> 
> 
> 73 
> Frank 
> W3LPL 
> 
> ----- Original Message -----
> 
> From: "N4ZR" <n4zr at comcast.net> 
> To: "Martin Sole" <hs0zed at gmail.com>, elecraft at mailman.qth.net 
> Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 4:54:37 PM 
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3S poor CW keying further investigation 
> 
> Thanks, Martin - I take it all back - my radio drops the voltage down to 
> 11.0 volts at 100 watts key down. I'm really surprised, because I 
> figured that the breakers in the 4005i wouldn't have so much drop.I'll 
> have to figure out how best to siamese my power supply output so that it 
> goes both to the RigRunner and directly to the radio. That'll leave the 
> power supply's fusing as the only protection for the radio, but I guess 
> that's OK. 
> 
> 73, Pete N4ZR 
> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network 
> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now 
> spotting RTTY activity worldwide. 
> For spots, please use your favorite 
> "retail" DX cluster. 
> 
>> On 4/25/2020 12:24 PM, Martin Sole wrote: 
>> DISP and rotate vfo B for desired measurement option. 
>> 
>> Martin, HS0ZED 
>> 
>> 
>> 
>>> On 25/04/2020 23:19, N4ZR wrote: 
>>> That's right - my focus was (perhaps too narrowly) on the behavior of 
>>> the power supply under load, not on losses in the system. Now if 
>>> someone can just tell me how to read the voltage at the transceiver - 
>>> I know there's a menu setting somewhere but my radio is fairly early 
>>> and the manual doesn't say. 
>>> 
>>> 73, Pete N4ZR 
>>> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network 
>>> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now 
>>> spotting RTTY activity worldwide. 
>>> For spots, please use your favorite 
>>> "retail" DX cluster. 
>>> 
>>> On 4/25/2020 11:25 AM, hawley, charles j jr wrote: 
>>>> I did notice that the post mentioned that his power supply dipped in 
>>>> voltage but as for preventing issues due to low voltage, it's not 
>>>> your voltmeter on the power supply that is the proper indicator. It 
>>>> is the voltage on the input to the K3 that you should be noting. 
>>>> It's available on the menu and displays in the VFO B area on the 
>>>> screen. 
>>>> 
>>>> Jack BMW Motorcycles 
>>>> Chuck KE9UW 
>>>> c-hawley at illinois.edu 
>>>> 
>>>> Sent from my iPad 
>>>> 
>>>>> On Apr 25, 2020, at 9:51 AM, N4ZR <n4zr at comcast.net> wrote: 
>>>>> 
>>>>> For whatever it may be worth, my K3 is run through a West Mountain 
>>>>> RigRunner 4005i, and the voltmeter on my SEC 1235M doesn't even 
>>>>> flicker when I go key-down at 100 watts. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> I'm wondering if a 25-amp-rated supply (perhaps a little 
>>>>> optimistic) might be to blame. My K3 draws 20.2 amps at 100 watts 
>>>>> key down. 
>>>>> 
>>>>> 73, Pete N4ZR 
>>>>> Check out the Reverse Beacon Network 
>>>>> at <http://reversebeacon.net>, now 
>>>>> spotting RTTY activity worldwide. 
>>>>> For spots, please use your favorite 
>>>>> "retail" DX cluster. 
>>>>> 
>>>>>> On 4/25/2020 10:32 AM, Jim Rhodes wrote: 
>>>>>> I had been using a power pole strip to power everything. After 
>>>>>> seeing some 
>>>>>> discussion on this topic some time ago I found that in the string 
>>>>>> of 3 
>>>>>> power pole connections in my setup at the time I was seeing around 
>>>>>> a 1 volt 
>>>>>> drop in the voltage on the K3 metering between receive and 100 watts 
>>>>>> keydown. That voltage drop was confirmed by my VOM so I wired the rig 
>>>>>> directly to the supply and the voltage drop was less than 0.25 
>>>>>> volts. That 
>>>>>> is the way my rigs and VHF/UHF amps will be connected from now on 
>>>>>> with only 
>>>>>> a fuse inline. The low current stuff will stay on the power pole 
>>>>>> strip 
>>>>>> where they do just fine lighting up lights and stuff. 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On Sat, Apr 25, 2020, 09:16 Don Schroder 
>>>>>>> <donanddeena at hotmail.com> wrote: 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Bob, 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Is it safe to run my K2 using Anderson Power Pole connections, 
>>>>>>> and/or 
>>>>>>> RigRunner equipment? 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> For my info, what is the reason for NOT using them? 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I’m rewiring, and I want to do it right! 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Gunny, KE0PVQ 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Sent from Mail<https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=550986> for 
>>>>>>> Windows 10 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> From: Gmail<mailto:anyone1545 at gmail.com> 
>>>>>>> Sent: Saturday, April 25, 2020 9:03 AM 
>>>>>>> To: Bob McGraw K4TAX<mailto:rmcgraw at blomand.net> 
>>>>>>> Cc: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net<mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net> 
>>>>>>> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3S poor CW keying further investigation 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Nuts, just measure the drop between radio and power supply see if 
>>>>>>> it is 
>>>>>>> reasonable. Mine is 0.25 volts when transmitting. I run 14.0 out 
>>>>>>> of supply. 
>>>>>>> Ray 
>>>>>>> W8LYJ 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> Sent from my iPad 
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> On Apr 25, 2020, at 07:48, Bob McGraw K4TAX 
>>>>>>>> <rmcgraw at blomand.net> wrote: 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> As to the RigRunner power pole strip.........PUT IT IN THE 
>>>>>>>> TRASH where 
>>>>>>> it belongs. NEVER NEVER NEVER use a power distribution strip 
>>>>>>> to power a 
>>>>>>> 100 watt radio. ALWAYS connect the radio direct to the power 
>>>>>>> supply 
>>>>>>> terminals. NO exceptions! 
>>>>>>>> 73 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> Bob, K4TAX 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> On 4/25/2020 7:13 AM, Chuck Chandler wrote: 
>>>>>>>>> After more checking, I suspect the internal 100W amp is the common 
>>>>>>> factor 
>>>>>>>>> in the poor keying characteristics I'm seeing and hearing about 
>>>>>>>>> from my 
>>>>>>>>> rig. I am trying to determine if my power supply is doing it's 
>>>>>>>>> job. 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> I'm using a TenTec 963 switching supply rated at 25A 
>>>>>>>>> continuous. At 
>>>>>>> rest 
>>>>>>>>> the K3S panel display shows 13.6V, with full power key down it 
>>>>>>>>> dips to 
>>>>>>> 11.5 
>>>>>>>>> or so. This seems like a lot. I'm running the power cable thru a 
>>>>>>>>> RigRunner Powerpole strip. If I can dig out another power 
>>>>>>>>> supply from 
>>>>>>> the 
>>>>>>>>> packed boxes I can wire the K3S directly to the supply. 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> Is 11.5V at key down enough to cause the slow rise time being 
>>>>>>>>> reported? 
>>>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>>>> 73 de Chuck, WS1L 
>>>>>>>>> 
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