[Elecraft] I've injured my KAT-100

[Jim KO5V]

Good afternoon,

After almost 5 years of regular use, I've apparently hurt my KPA/KAT-100. The amp and tuner are mounted separately from the K2 in an EC2 enclosure.

I forgot to unhook the antenna when I left home on Tuesday. I don't think there was any lightning, but it was cloudy, and this time of year lightning can come and go quickly.

Also, the antenna has had an intermittent issue, so maybe I hurt the rig while transmitting on Sunday night. The rig's meter acted a bit weird while I was transmitting during my last QSO, so I toggled the power, and the meter then acted normally. I thought maybe the microprocessor had confused itself.

1. High-power: I can't tune an antenna on any band. Sometimes I get a "HI-REFL: or "PA HOT" error, and sometimes an SWR reading will quickly flash on the K2's screen. . I've tried tuning on antennas 1 and 2 using a dummy load.

2. Low-power: The tuner works into a dummy load on all bands, on both antenna ports. The power out measures as expected.

When I change to low-power, and then select any new band, the "PA HOT" error occasionally appears, but clears if I press any button.

So, I'm guessing it's a diode in the KPA-100. If anyone has any other suggestions, insights or criticisms, please let me know.

Thanks in advance. 73,

Jim  KO5V
Cedar Crest, NM