Are the K3 antenna inputs which might be used for RX only antennas protected against too much power coming back via the RX antenna?
All antenna ports have gas-discharge tubes, and the RX-only ports also have carrier-operated relays. We also monitor the SWR bridge in receive mode (forward/reflected power). If a signal large enough to cause front-end damage appears in the main T-R path (a “reverse transmit” condition), we quickly open the PIN diode path to the receiver, typically in less than 1 ms. The path will recover equally fast when the huge external signal disappears. Obviously this situation is to be avoided, which is why such stations often use external band-pass filters. At a certain power level the RX path will be opened (and the audio muted) to avoid exposing the preamp, mixer, and down-stream stages to multi-watt signals. Back to the top of the page.
Related Questions
- Are the K3 antenna inputs which might be used for RX only antennas protected against too much power coming back via the RX antenna?
- Can the main receiver and subreceiver be used in any combination of antenna inputs, including ANT1, ANT2 and RX ANT?
- What is the isolation between the RX antenna and the primary antennas?
