++++++++++++++++++ In addition, there are some entries on connecting KPA100 to larger amplifiers ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 15 Nov 2002 16:50:33 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Vic Rosenthal Cc: Elecraft , support at elecraft.com Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Funny KAT100 behavior Vic, this is most likely not a problem. In CAL mode, there is significant stray reactance which will may make the SWR appear to be high, especially on the highest bands. The ATU itself can tune out the strays in AUTO mode. To quote the KAT100 manual, revision A, page 31: Bypassing the Matching Network (CAL mode) You can bypass the matching network by setting the ATU menu entry to CAL. This sets the L and C values in the matching network to zero. However, there will still be considerable stray reactance present within the ATU. This stray reactance may de-tune any antenna or dummy load connected to the ATU's antenna jacks. As an alternative to CAL, you can tune up the ATU into a 50-ohm dummy load on each band using AUTO mode. This will cancel out the tuner's stray reactance. After tuning up on all bands, put the ATU into SWR (x.x-1) mode, which will preserve the L and C settings. In the next revision, I'll add a note about this earlier in the manual (during alignment). 73, Wayne N6KR Vic Rosenthal wrote: > > I just finished my KAT100 and I am seeing the following: > > The logic tests were all OK, resistance readings OK, etc. Nulling the SWR > bridge gave me a minimum of about 135 mv. Calibration of forward/refl power was > done on 7 MHz per instructions without any strangeness. > > The KAT100 is set to CAL and connected to a dummy load. On all bands EXCEPT 21 > and 28 MHz, the SWR shown on the KAT100 is close to 1:1 and the power reading is > close to that of my external wattmeter. On 21 and 28 MHz only (24 is OK) the > SWR indicates quite high, from 1.7 - 2.0 even though the external wattmeter > shows close to 1:1. > > Any suggestions on where to look? +++++++++++++++++ Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 11:20:14 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Unifiedtx at aol.com Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: KAT100-1 Power Up Phenomenon Roy, as long as the KAT100 is responding to the ANT1/2 switch and the ATU menu entry, all is well. The LEDs on the KAT100 may initially be set to bright ("DAY") mode, but if you have LCD = NITE in the K2 menu, the K2 will send a command to the KAT100 to set the LEDs accordingly. Let me know if you have any other problems. tnx Wayne Unifiedtx at aol.com wrote: > > I am powering my K2/100 and the KAT100-1 with the same Astron VS35M power > supply. I turn on the power supply first and power is automatically supplied > to the KAT100-1 at that time. I then turn on the K2/100 and notice the Power > Range and Ant LEDs momentarily light up a little brighter for a split second > and settle down to normal brightness. I just wonder if this is normal. Roy > Morris W4WFB K2100 #2225 +++++++++++++++++ From: "Bob - AG5Q" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Antenna Tuners Date: Wed, 27 Nov 2002 17:14:59 -0600 A nice javascript program on this page: http://www.hoflink.com/~mkozma/match19c.html will enable you to see if a particular antenna can be tuned with the KAT2 or the KAT100. The second and third circuits on the page correspond to the circuit configurations implemented in these tuners. 73, Bob - AG5Q +++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 10:59:55 -0600 To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net From: Tom Hammond =?iso-8859-1?Q?N=D8SS?= Subject: [Elecraft] K2/100 w/KAT100 - Something you may find Good Morning Folks: I trust everyone had a good Thanksgiving... This morning, I made a change to my K2 (actually REMOVED a mod!). When I returned it back to service, I already DC applied to the KAT100, so I just plugged power into the K2 and then the heavy DC leads to into KPA100, and went about my merry way. Jumped down to 10M (from 20M) and hit the TUNE button... NOTHING HAPPENED...! KAT100 indicated a 1.5:1 SWR which should have been ample to initiate a re-tune when TUNE was pressed. Went into MENU | ATU and found the setting was displaying "ATU --". Went into EDIT mode and cranked on the knob to set the ATU setting to "AUTO"... no go... the only response I got back was "PA ANT 1". Checked to ensure that the PA WAS being recognized... and it was. But still no ATU action. So I did what no self-respecting user would do... I went to the KAT100 MANUAL! And there, in the TROUBLESHOOTING section, was my answer... By powering up the K2 (and possibly the KPA100) while the KAT100 WAS already powered, but before the KPA100 had full power to it, I apparently put the K2 into a situation where it didn't want to recognize that the KAT100 was present. It's one of those 'timing' thangs (sic)...! I stumbled back into the shack, and turned the K2 off and back on... VOILA! Everything began working AS ANTICIPATED this time. Moral of the story... follow Elecraft's suggestions for the proper order of powering up your rig once you have a bunch of options installed. That being, power to the KAT100 first, then power to the KPA100 (if it's gonna be used) and THEN turn on the K2. This should always work correctly. Though some other scenarios will generally work as well, there's always that off-chance that the power-up timing issue might raise it's ugly head. 73, Tom N0SS ++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 01 Dec 2002 09:28:57 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Tom Hammond =?iso-8859-1?Q?N=D8SS?= Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: K2/100 w/KAT100 - Something you may find Tom Hammond NØSS wrote: > Moral of the story... follow Elecraft's suggestions for the proper order of > powering up your rig once you have a bunch of options installed. That > being, power to the KAT100 first, then power to the KPA100 (if it's gonna > be used) and THEN turn on the K2. Of course this is the most complicated possibility, Tom. If the operator is using one power supply for all three, things are a lot simpler! 73, Wayne +++++++++++++++++ Date: Sat, 04 Jan 2003 16:00:16 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Joe Squarzini Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net, Eric Swartz Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Strange KAT100 Symptom Hi Joe, Chances are you have more RF getting into the control cable on 17 m than on the other bands. This will affect the peak SWR readings much more in SSB mode than in CW mode. It's purely an aesthetic issue--the SWR is no doubt actually close to 1:1 as indicated in TUNE mode. We recently updated the KAT100 firmware to revision 1.04, making several minor changes. One of them was to corrent the tendency for SSB signals to show SWR higher than reality on voice peaks. This is likely to fix your 17 m problem, despite the possibility of higher RF on the cable on this band. We now do more averaging. In addition, Rev. 1.04 lets you install KAT100 jumpers W1 and W2 to override the K2's normal dot/bar LED modes (as set by the GRPH MENU entry). W1 forces DOT mode and W2 forces BAR mode. It also fixes a problem on 160 meters. With revision 1.03, the inductance value for antenna 1, on 160 meters, is lost when you turn off the K2, requiring a re-tune. I'll make sure we've added a KAT100 firmware upgrade to our order page. 73, Wayne Joe Squarzini wrote: > > My setup is the following: fully loaded K2 #2731 with KPA100 and KAT100 > both installed in EC-2 enclosure. Everything functions flawlessly EXCEPT > when transmitting on 17m SSB the LED SWR indicators on the KAT100 will > follow the modulation of the signal up to an indication of 1.5 on the LEDs > even though the tune function reports an SWR of 1.1. All other bands > operate according to spec. On the air QSO's report excellent signal > quality. An external SWR meter shows SWR of 1.1 and a power of 100 watts > same as the K2 display. One would suspect that RF is getting into the > KAT100 and affecting the diode display. Why not on other bands? A resonance > situation only on 17m? The SWR bridge in the KAT100 is reporting the > correct SWR but that is in response to a CW signal. The CW performance is > according to spec. Anybody see this before? Joe +++++++++++++++++ From: "Gregory Beat" To: Cc: "elecraft_list" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2/100 used with Collins 30L-1? Date: Fri, 17 Jan 2003 06:10:46 -0600 Peter - You may wish to consider installing the SK-301 Soft-key module from Harbach Electronics into your Collins 30L-1 An operating manual and schematic of the SK-301 is available under the "Instructions" section. http://www.harbachelectronics.com/ The SK-301 is an interface module allows the K2/100 to key the Collins 30L-1 seeing only +1 volt at 1.5 mA. The module uses a IRF9610 P-channel HEXFET. The original Collins 30L-1 circuit had -170 volts on the keying line (-120 volts on transmit). This voltage causes damage to many modern solid-state rigs. The cost is only $22.00 USD. Tax for Indiana residents is $1.32. Jeff Weinberg, W8CQ is Harbach's president/owner. 73 de Greg +++++++++++++++++ From: Unifiedtx at aol.com Date: Mon, 27 Jan 2003 22:52:30 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] New v.1.04 Chip Installed in KAT100-1 This afternoon I installed the new 1.04 chip in my KAT100-1 and fired up the K2. I was pleased to see that whatever stray RF that might have been floating around did not seem to cause the LED segments to go wild like they did before installing the new firmware. If the 1.04 chip will remember the 160 meter settings, I believe I will be well pleased with it. Roy Morris KAT100-1, K2/100 #2225 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Stuart Rohre" To: "Glenn Maclean" , "Elecraft List" , "Dave Gingrich K9DC" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT100 and external watt meter question Date: Thu, 30 Jan 2003 11:26:17 -0600 Most external watt meters are designed to go between a rig and a tuner, as they are ONLY accurate in a 50 ohm matched line. Any one used downstream toward the antenna from the tuner, in the transmission line that has SWR is suspect of not reading under its expected impedance requirements to read accurate SWR. On a tuned line, after the tuner, the line plus antenna is being tuned as a system and will have swr on it, unless the line accidentally matches the antenna impedance exactly on some band(s). That only matters in that coax has higher losses when operated with SWR higher than 1:1 matched condition; as in a doublet used on multi bands. When you tune a transmatch, the 50 ohms is made to appear at the transceiver side, and it may be something vastly different on the transmission line/ antenna side. 72, Stuart K5KVH +++++++++++++++++++ From: Unifiedtx at aol.com Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 08:57:56 EST To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] KAT100-1 with v.1.04 Chip Hello all, Since there has been a thread about where the wattmeter is placed, I put my Bird 43 wattmeter between the K2/100 output and the KAT100-1 input. Now for the real stuff...I placed the KAT100-1 in AUTO mode and tuned all bands into a 50 ohm dummy load and then put it into SWR (x.x-1) mode. My tuner remembers the settings for all bands (including the 160 meter band) with the new v1.04 chip. The LEDs are no longer erratic when the KAT100-1 is connected to an antenna. The Bird wattmeter needle stays on zero with slug in reverse position. Based on my findings I recommend the v1.04 chip. Roy Morris W4WFB KAT100-1, K2/100 #2225 ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:08:48 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Mike Harris Cc: Unifiedtx at aol.com, elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT100-1 with v.1.04 Chip Mike Harris wrote: > What I would like to know is the reason for the change in value of the > decoupling capacitors detailed in the latest errata. Hi Mike, These changes are primarily preventative in nature. I'd recommend making the changes if you notice any spurious activation of the SWR LEDs during transmit (this would likely be due to RF on the VRFDET line). Firmware version 1.04 is even more effective at eliminating this effect. 73, Wayne N6KR +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 31 Jan 2003 09:32:14 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: Vic Rosenthal Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: KAT100-1 with v.1.04 Chip Vic Rosenthal wrote: > I recall you saying something about when VRFDET is used or not. Could you > explain the circumstances under which it's OK to disconnect this line? Seems to > me that would solve the problem as well. Hi Vic, The VRFDET line to the KAT100 can be disconnected if a KPA100 is installed, but only if it is installed inside the K2 itself. (If the KPA100 is installed in the cover of a KAT100-2, you'll still need the VRFDET line.) 73, Wayne N6KR +++++++++++++++++++ From: Unifiedtx at aol.com Date: Sat, 19 Apr 2003 23:40:19 EDT To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Erratic SWR Indication On KAT100 It appears that the KAT100 LED display might be erratic when the K2 is placed within a foot of my Astron VS-35M power supply. I recently moved the K2 forward on the bench and further away from the Astron, and I noticed the KAT100 LEDs are acting normally. I have the latest chip (v.1.04) in the tuner. I am also receiving reports of crisper audio as a bonus. Thought I would pass this along for whatever its worth. Roy W4WFB KAT100-1, K2/100 #2225 ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 04 May 2003 14:55:14 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: KS7J Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Any real difference between ALT and AUTO tuning? > Does anyone else default to ALT? What is the real difference in the search > algorithms between the tuning methods, and why not just use ALT all the > time, if re-tuning is as quick as I'm seeing? The manual seems to imply that > you only use ALT as a last resort, but it seems to me it should be first > (only?) choice. Dunno. Hi Casey, ALT tries more combinations, but in many cases will take quite a bit longer than AUTO, depending on the difficulty of the match. You can of course use either one. Once a match is found you probably won't need to re-tune very often, and both algorithms perform the same once the match is already below 2:1. 73, Wayne N6KR ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 26 May 2003 19:54:14 -0700 From: Bob Nielsen To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT2 with KAT100 On Mon, May 26, 2003 at 07:17:26PM -0400, Ed Milcarsky wrote: > What happens if you have both the KAT2 installed (say for portable > operation) and the KAT100 ( for base operation) with the K2 and the KPA100 > installed? > > Can you do it that way? Yes, you can either remove the KAT2 and install the KPA100 (they are in separate top plates) with an external KAT100-1 or you can install the KPA100 and KAT100-2 in an EC2 enclosure and use it with the KAT2 installed in the basic K2. See KK7P's website for details and pictures. I haven't decided which way to go, so am holding off on the KAT100 until I figure out which version to get. 73, Bob, N7XY ++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 08:38:34 -0500 To: "Ed Milcarsky" , From: Tom Hammond Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KAT2 with KAT100 KAT2 is DISabled while the KAT100 is installed. 73, Tom N0SS At 06:17 PM 5/26/03, Ed Milcarsky wrote: >What happens if you have both the KAT2 installed (say for portable >operation) and the KAT100 ( for base operation) with the K2 and the KPA100 >installed? > >Can you do it that way? > >73 de Ed KG4ARN > ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 27 May 2003 11:19:59 -0400 From: Steve Holton To: Ed Milcarsky , elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Elecraft digest, Vol 4 #182 - 81 msgs Ed The approach I took was to put the KPA/100 and KAT/100 in a EC2 enclosure with the KAT2 in the K2. This gives a portable K2 with the KAT2 (and KBT2 etc in my case) for portable work and a 100 watt base station capability. The EC2 with the KAT/KPA100 stays at home and involves just connecting two cables to the K2 when it's at home. Works great for me. See the ubiquitous Lyle KK7P's description of this http://www.fidalgo.net/~wa7gxd/k2kpa100.html. 73 Steve N1NB >From: "Ed Milcarsky" >Subject: [Elecraft] KAT2 with KAT100 >What happens if you have both the KAT2 installed (say for portable >operation) and the KAT100 ( for base operation) with the K2 and the KPA100 >installed? >Can you do it that way? >73 de Ed KG4ARN +++++++++++++++++++