No output from LP-100A wattmeter on 6300?

Joe, KQ1Q

Is anyone successfully using the LP-100A digital wattmeter on a Flex 6000 series? Mine works fine on my Kenwood TS-590S but when connected to the Flex-6300 it reads no output (either power or SWR), on any band. The apparent power output and signal reports are good, the LP-100A just isn't reading it. This is regardless of whether the internal ATU is in or bypassed.

Lewis Cheek

No issues with one I have.

Cal N3CAL

My LPA-100A works fine with my Flex-6300 using Antenna 1 and Antenna 2 ports. 

Note:  the LPA-100A will not display anything on the XVTR port.....   

Lee - N2LEE

Joe, think about it for a second. RF is RF. If the flex is showing power output on SSDR then this has to be a user / configuration / connection issue.

When it comes to an external wattmeter, the Flex is just like any other radio.
Goes-in-as and Goes-outas.

This is NOT directed at you but this issue brings up something I have noticed on this forum and people immediately jump to conclusions that there is an issue with the Flex. Yet 80% of the time it is user error or people jumping on the forum before they have exhausted basic troubleshooting skills.

The recent post about no audio is a good example... the problem was they had the volume slider turned down.

All of these kinds of issues and post makes me sad at the state of our hobby.
Ham Radio is 70% MacGyver and 30% communications. Understanding basic operation of your equipment and troubleshooting an issue is important to your enjoyment of the hobby.

Duane_AC5AA

If your 6300 is providing output, but nothing is being indicated on the LP-100A, then I suspect it has to be one of the following:
1. The LP-100A is somehow not in your the antenna path as you think it is, or,
2. The LP-100A coupler(s) are not connected to the correct ports, or,
3.  The LP-100A or coupler is defective. 
I'm sure there may be other possibilities, but I'd rank these at the top of the list of things to check.

   73, Duane

Walt

I have both the TS-590 and the Flex 6500.  I get proper readings from both radios.  All I do is change the jumper connected to the input to the LP-100.   Sometimes to the Flex Ant. 1 connector and sometimes to the TS-590, Ant 1 connector.  Someday I may buy a switch . . .

Depending on how you use your coax jumpers, you might have a faulty jumper?

Good luck

Walt

Joe, KQ1Q

Thanks everyone for the advice. Upon further testing the LPA-100A works OK on the Flex -- but only using the ANT1 terminal. There's apparently something wrong internally with ANT2 (which was what I'd been using).  It mostly makes the LP-100A read zero -- even though SSDR reads good RF output and SWR. 

However further testing with various connectors and jumpers shows ANT2 will very infrequently cause a brief, fluctuating output on the LP-100A. The LP-100A is extremely responsive and during these momentary flashes shows wildly varying RF output and SWR, whereas the SSDR RF out and SWR are apparently damped, averaged or get their data from elsewhere in the signal chain and display normal readings. The LP-100A may have some threshold logic whereby it just quits displaying under some conditions, whereas SSDR is getting the RF and SWR data from some other place.

Another anomaly is ANT2 will not tune into a dummy load, but ANT1 will. 

The same coax connections were used on my TS-590S and the 6300 ANT1 so it's not the cables, antenna or dummy load.

There's apparently something wrong internally with the ANT2 signal path. I checked it many times before posting but only after several hours of work and trying many different jumpers did I bump something which may have caused ANT2 to momentarily flicker to life (from the LP-100A standpoint).

Lewis Cheek

Make SURE you have selected the proper xmit antenna port. It's easy to be on wrong port. BLUE is receive, RED is XMIT.

Joe, KQ1Q

Lewis, that was the entire problem. Somehow I missed that.  In hindsight the Panadapter ANT pop-out menu clearly says RX ANT, I just mentally interpreted that as a typical radio which switches TX and RX antennas together. So to review, there is no problem with the radio or LP-100A meter.