Over temperature warning?

Douglas Maxwell

After 45 mins in an SSB contest at only 25w output?

Steve W6SDM

Check to see if your fan is working.  Do you have anything underneath the radio, i.e., an amp?

Douglas Maxwell

Happened yesterday in UKEI contest. Total lockup of SSDR with splash screen warning. Failed to re-start (green flashing power led forever) ended up resting ( white flashing power led). Happened first on 40m then again sometime later. No amp or any other heat generating equip within 2 feet, shack door open and window on safety lock allowing through draft. Suspect 6300 to blame as K3 been in same location for 8 years with no problems. Did 2 things, moved 6300 another inch away from the wall (now 6 inches away from wall) and raised the back feet up on a plinth to allow more circ below unit. Fan making usual racket after restart so don't think it was the culprit. Very disappointed.

Steve W6SDM

I suspect that the fan in your 6300 isn't pushing air through the system.  If it's been working okay in its current environment for a long time and suddenly overheats, then that would seem to be a likely cause.  I contest heavily with my 6300 and have never had a temperature problem.

I use a laptop cooler similar to this under my rig.  It's a cheap ounce of prevention, although the rig should work fine without it.

Douglas Maxwell

Thanks, my 6300 has been a problem child since new 8 weeks ago. It arrived from the factory with a board floating free inside with screws missing. Flex reacted within a couple of weeks and sent the missing parts through. It wouldn't surprise me if they have also put the fan in back to front as well. I'll have a look when I get time. This is the first contest I've used it in and didn't really expect any better. Thanks for the advice.

Tim - W4TME

Doug - there are several factors that can be related to the behavior you are seeing.  It looks like you have eliminated the more common issue of restricted or impeded airflow.  I'd like to investigate this further, so I and I am changing this post to a problem topic and converted this topic to a support HelpDesk ticket (http://helpdesk.flexradio.com) for expedited issue resolution.  If anyone else is experiencing an issue similar to this one, please submit a HelpDesk support ticket for issue resolution.

Steve W6SDM

One other thought... Ray, K9DUR has a great shareware utility called SDR Monitor that monitors temperature and power supply voltage in real time and displays it on your monitor.  It changes color if those readings get out of range, so it's easy to notice a problem coming before the station shuts down.