My fist has been getting rusty so I've begun practicing sending CW by putting the K3 into TEST mode and sending paragraphs of text. I discovered that when going back to normal TX mode, the power output was drastically reduced. At first I thought I was accidentally turning the power knob to adjust keying speed so today I conducted a controlled experiment.
I set the K3 keying speed to 23 WPM and did not readjust it. I found that it is necessary to send CW in TEST mode for about 5 minutes for the condition to occur. I tried it on 3 bands at 3 different power levels. In each case I noted the power before going into TEST mode and then after 5 minutes I noted the power after exiting TEST mode. The power was read on my PowerMaster meter into a dummy load but a touch of the K3 POWER knob confirmed that the K3 and the PowerMaster agreed with each other. Here's what I found. 17 meters: power reduced from 29 watts to 5.2 watts 20 meters: power reduced from 24 watts to 5.1 watts 30 meters: power reduced from 100 watts to 5.0 watts Give it a try. 73, Mike K2MK -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3-power-reduction-after-using-TEST-mode-tp4896438p4896438.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
