[Elecraft] What minimum temperature should the K station be kept at during a hard freeze

[William Hammond]

Doug, You didn’t specify which “K” radio you were inquiring about.  My K4D manual page 45 says:  0 C to 50 C  or 32 F  to 122 F.  The K3s manual specifics 0-50 C for frequency stability.   The K2 manual does not mention operating temperatures. The KX3 manual does not specify.  I checked the non “K”,  IC-7300 manual and  operating range is stated as: -10 C to +60 C or +14 F to +140 F just for a sanity check.   To be safe, keeping the radio above freezing is a good idea.  I would think that condensation or moisture of any kind is the enemy in the cold.  Storing and operating are different things.

That said, I worked on a military radio that mounted in the 47 section of the B-52D, F  with no environmental controls. It was subjected to 50,000‘ altitude and  -50 C, F .  The failure rate of that radio was much greater than the same radio that was in the pressurized and air-conditioned in a forward section of the aircraft.  I might add that these radios were electrically tuned to a frequency using DC motors and heterodyned crystals (the AN/ARC-34) and it was almost always the tuning that failed.  These radios were in tropical conditions in Guam or Thailand when not flying.  They used sub-miniature tubes about a third the size of a miniature tube.

73, Bill-AK5X

> On Jan 13, 2024, at 9:22 AM, Doug Hensley <w5jv at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
> What minimum temperature should a K station be kept at during a hard freeze
> and is there a cold temperature point at which it should not be powered up?
> 
> Please reply to the list and as always do not reply to a digest.  Thanks in advance
> for any information.
> 
> 73, Doug W5JV
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Visit https://www.qrz.com/db/W5JV for some great vacuum tube finds.
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