[Elecraft] Re: Question on Purchase of K2
On Feb 21, 2005, at 11:39 PM, frank wrote: I'm getting close to order a K2 but I have a few questions. The K2 would be for CW operation only. Like many others, I prefer to tune the band using wide bandpass of over 2khz and only use narrow CW filter operation when band conditions require it. My understanding is that if you equip the K2 with the SSB module, that you can use the SSB filter on CW and that works better than operating the CW filter on wide setting. Is that true? If so it would be worth the extra cost of the ssb option. I have decided not to order the DSP filter but perhaps the passive audio filter. The passive audio filter appears to be set up for 80hz bandwidth which is way too narrow for my liking.Is there any easy way to change that for 250hz bandwidth? If not I'll have to go with an outboard audio filter. Hi Frank, The SSB filter is much more pleasant to use than the CW filter set for a wide bandwidth. The SSB filter has a flat passband, whereas the CW filter, being varactor controlled, develops a lot of ripple by the time you widen it out. We experimented with variations on the filter topology before releasing the K2 to production, but it was getting too complex. A 2 kHz filter is especially useful on quiet bands or if you're working a contest where you may get called up/down significantly from your carrier frequency. I use it much of the time. And heck, you might just want to listen to AM or SSB sometime :) As for the audio filter: you can change the components in the op-amp circuit to make it more like 250 Hz if you prefer. But the time when the 80 Hz filter is really useful is when you're trying to pick a weak one out of atmospheric noise and/or nearby QRM. Most of the time you'll probably just leave the audio filter in its OFF position. But that still keeps in-circuit the KAF2's passive (L-C) low-pass filter, which removes the small amount of residual hiss from the product detector. It also improves roll-off of high-pitched QRM, and thus enhances the ultimate rejection of the I.F. filters. It's very effective for those who sometimes use headphones with the rig. The DSP filter is quite flexible, and adds stochastic noise reduction as well as notch filtering. But if you don't live in a very noisy area or use SSB, you may find the KAF2 just as useful (and at lower cost). I hope you enjoy using the rig if you do decide to buy one. Eric and I are both serious CW ops, and we designed the rig from the ground up to be a great home/portable CW rig. (Keying is state-of-the art with the latest circuit changes, too.) As the principle designer of the K2, I'd be happy to answer any further technical questions. 73, Wayne Burdick N6KR --- http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] KSB2 for sale
This KSB2 is not working properly. It is built very well and works great in the OP1function but not in the CW function. Likewise I am not asking a lot for it. Rather than take the time to troubleshoot, I just bought a new kit. Make an offer. 73 Alan ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Question on Purchase of K2
I'm getting close to order a K2 but I have a few questions. The K2 would be for CW operation only. ... I have decided not to order the DSP filter but perhaps the passive audio filter. The passive audio filter appears to be set up for 80hz bandwidth which is way too narrow for my liking. Is there any easy way to change that for 250hz bandwidth? One of the neat things the DSP can do is if you run the radio with the widest filter (CW filter set at its widest is OK since you aren't concerned much with passband ripple) and set the DSP to denoiser, then the radio is generally quiet. When a signal appears in the passband, the DSP passes it, still suppressing most of the band noise. If the band gets crowded, you can tighten both the IF filter (a great feasture of the K2) as well as the DSP filter. Set them both to 250 Hz if that is your prefered bandwidth... Enjoy! Lyle KK7P/VK6 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Fixed level audio output for K2
(Could be also in Does anyone miss passband tuning, audio notch on K2?) Hello Electrafters, I re-discovered my Datong FL-3 filter in the attic, and I wonder if that would not be a solution : it has a secondary fixed output. I guess that other brands of external filters have the same feature. One could even use it for its initial purpose : According to net reviews this filter still seems competitive, even versus those with DSP stuff. Although it does not work at the IF level, it has some sort of PBT and a notch filter, too. That just needs soldering some dedicated cables, nothing to do inside the K2. By the way, connect an external speaker, more comfortable. As we would say here, placed over the K2 it almost resembles a toad on a matchbox ;-) 73 de F5LCI es sri fer my english. -- -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.3.0 - Release Date: 21/02/2005 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Re: Let me build a K2 for you (Alan)
Dear Alan, it is two times that I write privately to your e-mail [EMAIL PROTECTED] but this is the mail server answer: - These recipients of your message have been processed by the mail server: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Failed; 5.3.0 (other or undefined mail system status) so please give me another e-mail, if possible. Thanks Giuliano I0CG Italy Message: 2 Date: Mon, 21 Feb 2005 08:35:47 -0800 From: Alan [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [Elecraft] Let me build a K2 for you To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 I have built 80 of them so far, and all of the other Elecraft kit. Let me build one for you. my prices are reasonable, and you get a finished radio ready for fun. Emial me at [EMAIL PROTECTED] 73 Alan W1HYV ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Power Measurement - Where am I wrong?
Fran, You have the calculations correct - I use Vp-p^2/400 all the time for a 50 ohm load. I use the 'scope probe connected directly across the dummy load (the 'scope probe has a short grounding lead). It is quite unlikely that the power output really climbs with power, so there must be something strange going on with your 'scope and its probes. My Tek 465B with 150 MHz 10x probes (with the probe compensators corrected to the 'scope's internal square wave signal) can easily be trusted to 30 MHz or maybe even 50 MHz, but that is just what I have here - I don't know what you are using. Are you certain you are using a good 50 ohm resistive dummy load? If you have any doubts, sweep it with an antenna analyzer to be certain - don't have an analyzer?, then take your dummy load to someone who has one and do a quick sweep on it. A quick sanity check on your 'scope is to use an RF Probe and a DMM to measure the RF Voltage at the dummy load - compare that voltage reading to what you are seeing on the 'scope. Due to it's simplicity a properly constructed RF Probe is usually quite accurate up to 30 MHz or more if the tip to crystal path length and the ground leads are short. Actually, most RF Probes are more accurate than many wattmeters provided you have a good 50 ohm resistive dummy load. 73, Don W3FPR -Original Message- I do not have a power meter so I figured that I could compute power from a peak to peak measurement using my scope. This should be accurate enough for ballpark knowledge. However, the measured voltage increases as frequency increases with the 10 meter voltage being nearly double the 80 meter voltage. This would mean power increases with frequency unless the formula I was going to use is missing a frequency dependent component. I have a KAT2 installed and I used a good 50 ohm resistive load. My math follows: Vrms = Vp-p/(2*sqrt(2)) Vrms = Irms*R assuming purely resistive load or Irms = Vrms / R if Prms = Irms*Vrms substituting yields Prms = (Vp-p * Vp-p) / (8 * R) I know that Pave = Prms / 2 but that does not help much because I would still get more than 10 Watts out on 10 meters when set for 5 watts out. Where did I go wrong? Fran ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Question on Purchase of K2
Hi Frank, I have an early unmodified K2 #402 and it is gangbusters on 5W CW with one of the unmodifieed early KSB2s. I would not change a thing on mine as the performance is so good, but with the filter improvements on the newer KSB2s I think you should just get the K2 and the KSB2 as far as filtering goes. Forget the audio filter for now, and maybe consider the DSP far into the future. I do have the KAT2 and its is wonderful. Using the K2/KSB2/KAT2 with a 40 meter dipole about 12 feet average off of ground and a manual tuner I have gotten 29 out of 32 Foxes this season in the Foxhunts. Most of the contacts were 329-229, something I could not have managed with other (some expensive) radios I have used. What I do is tune the antenna with the MFJ tuner until it is close and then use the KAT2 for perfect SWR. I should probably try the KAT2 alone as this may work even better. Regards, Steve, W2MY/5 http://users.ev1.net/~spituch/, Corpus Christi, TX, ELl7 QRP/ARCI 8351, FPQRP 1025, NJQRP 25, QRP-L 269, FISTS 3150, ARS 142, NEQRP 281, NWQRP ??, 10-10 61720, NORCAL 691, K2 #402 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.300 / Virus Database: 266.1.0 - Release Date: 2/18/2005 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] The Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock-- Facts or myths you must know before working them!
Here are a few facts about Polar Bears you might want to remember! Please read to the bottom. -- WA3WSJ In the wild, adult polar bears live an average of 15 to 18 years, though biologists have tagged a few bears in their early 30s. In zoos, many captive bears live until their mid- to late 30s. One individual in London lived to the ripe old age of 41. As part of a study funded by the Universities Federation for Animal Welfare, Ames researched the behavior of captive polar bears in British zoos. She has seen her subjects stack heaps of pipes that they later knock over in elaborate games. She has also watched them smash open ice blocks in order to extract imbedded fish. Her conclusion: the great white bears are just as smart as apes. This is learned behavior and reveals that polar bears are very intelligent animals, Ames told the London Observer. They are highly cognitive creatures that top the food chain in polar regions. You have to be very clever to do that. Hunting and trapping a seal is no easy matter. Because of the polar bear's intelligence, Ames favors a move away from the concrete cages of the past. [Polar bears] respond well to stimulating environments, she says. They like areas of sand, grass, and hard ground in their enclosures. Despite what our eyes tell us, a polar bear's fur is not white. Each hair shaft is pigment-free and transparent with a hollow core. Polar bears look white because the hollow core scatters and reflects visible light, much like ice and snow does. When photographed with film sensitive to ultraviolet light, polar bears appear black. Early speculation over this discrepancy produced a theory, now widely repeated as fact, that polar bear hair acts like a fiber optic guide to conduct ultraviolet light to the skin. In 1998, Daniel W. Koon, a physicist at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, decided to actually test whether or not polar bear hair could efficiently conduct ultraviolet light. Koon and a graduate assistant, Reid Hutchins, obtained polar bear hair from the Seneca Park Zoo in Rochester. Their experiments showed that a one-fifth inch strand of polar bear hair was able to conduct less than a thousandth of a percent of the applied ultraviolet light. With such a high loss rate, meaningful amounts of ultraviolet light cannot be reaching a polar bear's skin. Instead, Koon believes the ultraviolet light is absorbed by the keratin making up the hair. A polar bear is so well-insulated that it experiences almost no heat loss. In addition to its insulating fur, the bear's blubber layer can measure 4.5 inches thick. So effective is the polar bear's insulation that adult males quickly overheat when they run. Because polar bears give off no detectable heat, they do not show up in infrared photographs. (Infrared film measures heat.) When a scientist attempted to photograph a bear with such film, he produced a print with a single spot--the puff of air caused by the animal's breath. So dont try to photograph the Polar Bears up on the mountain at Pulpit Rock tonight without a light source! Pulpit Rock Polar Bear Facts or Myths: 1. Yes the Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock also respond well to stimulating environments, 2. Some of us have a , blubber layer can measure 4.5 inches thick. 3. She has also watched them smash open ice blocks in order to extract imbedded fish. The same way the Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock break open the pileups! 4. Her conclusion: the great white bears are just as smart as apes. The Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock are also just as smart as apes, but dont push it beyond that! I hope to work many of you tonight from Pulpit Rock on the AT. If you do work this Polar Bear, just picture me sitting on a small stool in the snow on top of the mountain on the rock looking out over a moonlight valley. Does it get any better than this? I think not! 72, Ed, WA3WSJ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Headphone
This may be a bit off topic, but I think the mountaineers and trailblazers using KX1's might be interested...Several years ago I received a gift pair of ear warmers called 180s...They are made of Polartec and are designed to be worn on the back of the head...This week the XYL was browsing in Macy's and saw $20 headsets being cleared out at 99 cents, so she picked up 3 figuring we could not go wrong...These head sets are made by 180's and are designed to be inserted into the 180s ear warmers, which are made to accompany them, no alterations necessary...All the while that I have had the ear warmers, I did not know that...They work very nicely...The company has a web site at www.180s.com... Usual disclaimers apply... Jerry, wa2dkg ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Question on Purchase of K2
I prefer to use my K2 on CW only as well. I bought the SSB Module in case I would like to try other digital modes such as RTTY or PSK. I haven't heard the K2 without the SSB module so I'm not sure how to compare the filters, but the filters with the SSB module do sound nice and I've never had a complaint. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Polar Bear Moonlight Madness Important Fact!
Please remember that these Polar Bears will have cold paws and cold paws don't work fast. If we make mistakes sending it is because we have: 1.Cold paws2.gloves on 3. just plain sloppy - polar bears are like that! 72, Ed, WA3WSJ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Need some help please
Hello all. I have been working on K2/100 #4684. It worked beautifully in a QSO with my brother on 40m last weekend until the power out went to 0. Doing some troubleshooting with the procedures in the manual this is what I came up with. I started with the receiver and those measurements were within reason. I moved on to Transmitter Basic Voltage checks and recorded these voltages. These are all on the basic K2 with the SSB adapter removed and jumpers for J9 and 10 and C167 installed. D6 Anode on tx - *.25V* D7 Anode on tx - *7.9V* Actual Power Output - *0.3W* I moved on to the ALC voltage checks. Power Control Test - *4.97V*Not even close. Transmit Mixer, Buffer, Band-Pass Filter, T-R Switch * *Xmit Mixer Output - *.212 Vrms* Buffer Output - *1.9 Vrms* Band-Pass Filter Output - *0.056 Vrms *T-R Switch #1 Output - *0.057 Vrms* All way too high. -- Pre-Driver, Driver, PA. Pre-Driver Output - *0.170 Vrms* Driver Input - *0.024 Vrms* Driver Output - *4.07 Vrms* PA Input - Q7 - *.94 Vrms *Q8 - *1.08 Vrms *RF Detector Input - *0.0 Vrms * Not good at all! I checked D9 and it is a 1N5711 and it is installed correctly. PA Transistor Tests. Both flunk with very low resistances. DMM positive lead on Bases I get about *.65 Ohms* to the collector and emitter. DMM negative lead on Bases I get about *1.7 Ohms *to collector and emitter. I checked the hardware and thermal pads for both Q7 and Q8 and they're all in great shape. No mis-alignments of shoulder washers or thermal pads. No torn thermal pads etc. Which component or components are bad.? I suspect I'm going to be buying new finals possibly a driver and 1N5711 diode. The voltages are all haywire after the pre-driver Q5. Thanks for your help. -- R. Kevin Stover ACØH Reclaim Your Inbox! http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Has anyone been successful in pushing the K2 beyond the 70 WPM external keying limit for CW operation? Does it adhere to spec (70 WPM) or differ in practice? Anyone try any hardware or firmware mods to bump up the speed? I'd love for this great high performance CW rig (or even the K1 or KX1, despite the QRPish nature of them) to be able to handle up to 100 WPM. --Andrew, NV1B ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Listening to SSB on K2 without KSB2
Is the K2 unsuitable for listening to SSB if the KSB2 isn't installed? 73, Dave N7AF The SSB filter is much more pleasant to use than the CW filter set for a wide bandwidth. The SSB filter has a flat passband, whereas the CW filter, being varactor controlled, develops a lot of ripple by the time you widen it out. We experimented with variations on the filter topology before releasing the K2 to production, but it was getting too complex. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Need some help please
Kevin, From the resistance readings on Q7 and Q8 you appear to have shorted final transistors. I'm not certain how it happened, they are quite hardy transistors. If you havn't already, repeat the resistance measurements with the heat sink removed on the chance that you just have a short to the heat sink. Then remove the transistors to confirm that they are indeed shorted - the board resistance readings should be restored to about normal if the finals are indeed the problem. The 'too high' RF voltage readings that you obtained at the transmit mixer, buffer etc. are not a problem - that is the normal reaction of the K2 when it does not sense output power, it just increases the level in an attempt to boost the output higher. You likely do not have a failing D9 - it just does not have any RF to detect, but having an extra on hand is not a big deal. The real challenge will be to determine why they failed - there may be something in the KPA100 input that is not right, or you did not have the base K2 heat sink in contact with the tabs of Q7 and Q8, or ??, just guesses here - but excessive heat is normally the killer of solid state devices, the question is 'how did it get so hot'. 73, Don W3FPR -Original Message- Hello all. I have been working on K2/100 #4684. It worked beautifully in a QSO with my brother on 40m last weekend until the power out went to 0. Doing some troubleshooting with the procedures in the manual this is what I came up with. I started with the receiver and those measurements were within reason. I moved on to Transmitter Basic Voltage checks and recorded these voltages. These are all on the basic K2 with the SSB adapter removed and jumpers for J9 and 10 and C167 installed. D6 Anode on tx - *.25V* D7 Anode on tx - *7.9V* Actual Power Output - *0.3W* I moved on to the ALC voltage checks. Power Control Test - *4.97V*Not even close. Transmit Mixer, Buffer, Band-Pass Filter, T-R Switch * *Xmit Mixer Output - *.212 Vrms* Buffer Output - *1.9 Vrms* Band-Pass Filter Output - *0.056 Vrms *T-R Switch #1 Output - *0.057 Vrms* All way too high. -- Pre-Driver, Driver, PA. Pre-Driver Output - *0.170 Vrms* Driver Input - *0.024 Vrms* Driver Output - *4.07 Vrms* PA Input - Q7 - *.94 Vrms *Q8 - *1.08 Vrms *RF Detector Input - *0.0 Vrms * Not good at all! I checked D9 and it is a 1N5711 and it is installed correctly. -- -- PA Transistor Tests. Both flunk with very low resistances. DMM positive lead on Bases I get about *.65 Ohms* to the collector and emitter. DMM negative lead on Bases I get about *1.7 Ohms *to collector and emitter. I checked the hardware and thermal pads for both Q7 and Q8 and they're all in great shape. No mis-alignments of shoulder washers or thermal pads. No torn thermal pads etc. Which component or components are bad.? I suspect I'm going to be buying new finals possibly a driver and 1N5711 diode. The voltages are all haywire after the pre-driver Q5. Thanks for your help. -- R. Kevin Stover ACØH Reclaim Your Inbox! http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Listening to SSB on K2 without KSB2
Dave, The variable filter is not completely unsuitable for SSB listening, it just has a high passband ripple which can become tiring after a time to some people's ears. I use the variable filter as a narrow SSB receive filter to combat high pitched QRM (1.8, 1.7 or 1.6 kHz widths), but it does OK out to about 2.2 or 2.3 kHz. The passband is relatively flat up to about 1.2 kHz and above that the ripple becomes progressively greater as the width is increased. 73, Don W3FPR -Original Message- Is the K2 unsuitable for listening to SSB if the KSB2 isn't installed? 73, Dave N7AF The SSB filter is much more pleasant to use than the CW filter set for a wide bandwidth. The SSB filter has a flat passband, whereas the CW filter, being varactor controlled, develops a lot of ripple by the time you widen it out. We experimented with variations on the filter topology before releasing the K2 to production, but it was getting too complex. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Listening to SSB on K2 without KSB2
Thanks for the replies Don, David, Philipe. Sounds like it ought to work. I'm a CW man on the verge of ordering a K2 but like to just listen to SSB while I'm puttering around the shack. 73, Dave N7AF - Original Message - From: W3FPR - Don Wilhelm [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Dave Lowenstein [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 10:12 AM Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Listening to SSB on K2 without KSB2 Dave, The variable filter is not completely unsuitable for SSB listening, it just has a high passband ripple which can become tiring after a time to some people's ears. I use the variable filter as a narrow SSB receive filter to combat high pitched QRM (1.8, 1.7 or 1.6 kHz widths), but it does OK out to about 2.2 or 2.3 kHz. The passband is relatively flat up to about 1.2 kHz and above that the ripple becomes progressively greater as the width is increased. 73, Don W3FPR -Original Message- Is the K2 unsuitable for listening to SSB if the KSB2 isn't installed? 73, Dave N7AF The SSB filter is much more pleasant to use than the CW filter set for a wide bandwidth. The SSB filter has a flat passband, whereas the CW filter, being varactor controlled, develops a lot of ripple by the time you widen it out. We experimented with variations on the filter topology before releasing the K2 to production, but it was getting too complex. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Need some help please
W3FPR - Don Wilhelm wrote: Kevin, From the resistance readings on Q7 and Q8 you appear to have shorted final transistors. I'm not certain how it happened, they are quite hardy transistors. If you havn't already, repeat the resistance measurements with the heat sink removed on the chance that you just have a short to the heat sink. Then remove the transistors to confirm that they are indeed shorted - the board resistance readings should be restored to about normal if the finals are indeed the problem. The 'too high' RF voltage readings that you obtained at the transmit mixer, buffer etc. are not a problem - that is the normal reaction of the K2 when it does not sense output power, it just increases the level in an attempt to boost the output higher. You likely do not have a failing D9 - it just does not have any RF to detect, but having an extra on hand is not a big deal. The real challenge will be to determine why they failed - there may be something in the KPA100 input that is not right, or you did not have the base K2 heat sink in contact with the tabs of Q7 and Q8, or ??, just guesses here - but excessive heat is normally the killer of solid state devices, the question is 'how did it get so hot'. 73, Don W3FPR Thanks for the reply Don, I sent the same mail to Elecraft and got pretty much the same reply. I have no idea how they got smoked. I've never transmitted with the rig without the heat sink, as far as I know. It could be that the finals never made very good contact with the heatsink. Maybe Elecraft should consider a spacer of some sort to make sure the tabs of those transisitors are flat and parallel with the heatsink before they get soldered. Aftre taking the hardware apart this morning and lloking closely, the shoulder washer on Q7 seems to have been overheated and melted slightly. It didn't want to come out of the tab. How much lead length should you have on the top side of the board when Q7 and Q8 are installed correctly? Thanks. -- R. Kevin Stover ACØH Reclaim Your Inbox! http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
On Feb 22, 2005, at 11:43 AM, Andrew Moore wrote: Has anyone been successful in pushing the K2 beyond the 70 WPM external keying limit for CW operation? At 60 wpm, each element is 20 ms long. Given a 5 ms rise and fall time (assuming you've made the key-click mod), that's only 10ms of full-power signal. Going much faster than this may be impractical. Certainly the initial element is going to get clipped severely, and the K2 does not support CW PTT to prevent this. (This is probably a good request for the next revision of firmware -- but it would mean the internal keyer would be disabled) 100 wpm, elements are only 12 ms long - barely 2 ms at full output. At that speed, I'd begin to wonder about the group delay response of the remote receiver's filters Does it adhere to spec (70 WPM) or differ in practice? Anyone try any hardware or firmware mods to bump up the speed? I'd love for this great high performance CW rig (or even the K1 or KX1, despite the QRPish nature of them) to be able to handle up to 100 WPM. Here's my question - what person can copy 100 wpm? Only a handful of people in the world can copy 60 wpm! If this is meant for machine copy, then perhaps it is time to look at the lesson learned by the early HF RTTY users in the 1950s. At the time, FSK wasn't legal. These guys were running RTTY using OOK. It worked, but copy was poor. In theory, FSK has a 2 dB advantage over OOK in the presence of Gaussian noise. PSK has an additional 2 dB advantage over FSK. The bottom line -- if you are looking to run a 100 wpm data link on HF, there are a lot more robust methods of modulation than OOK - CW. FSK is gobs better, and you can run it up to 300 baud (using CW keying between mark and space, this would be 360 wpm, as 60 wpm is 50 baud) Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASELMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Quote: Not within a thousand years will man ever fly! -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Here's my question - what person can copy 100 wpm? Only a handful of people in the world can copy 60 wpm! I'd guess it's a larger group than you might think -- though I'd agree those folks are few and far between. I've run into a handful than can copy 100, and I remember about 10 years ago I was in disbelief when a guy on a 2m repeater told me he could do over 100, so I put him on the spot and cranked up my computer's CW speed to 100, asked him a question in CW over the repeater, and he answered. Holy cow. The bottom line -- if you are looking to run a 100 wpm data link on HF Nope, this is for copy in the head. For some reason when I listen to folks QSO at 60 or 70 or higher, it just gets me really motivated, and all the enjoyment I experienced when I started fiddling with radios comes right back again (i.e., you mean you can talk to someone on the other side of the world, in real time, with less power than it takes to light a 10 watt bulb?!) It's great stuff. Having a machine copy it takes *all* the magic away for me. Sending of course needs a keyboard. Anyway, thanks for the comments, particularly the timing stuff. You really do need to be sending to someone with a very capable receiver. (hmm... hopefully a K2). You bring up a good point about a firmware PTT tweak -- it doesn't sound like a horribly complicated thing to implement, but then again, I don't know anything about the K2's firmware. I wonder if one could just hack the hardware to somehow keep TX engaged, even if it means manually throwing a switch -- equivalent to the PTT method but instead going right to the hardware. After all, we have the schematics (er, or I will once I order my new K2! :) Thanks, --Andrew, NV1B .. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Listening to SSB on K2 without KSB2
And then there are those of us who gave much of our hearing away many years ago and now can't tell the difference between my stock CW K2 on SSB and a really tricked out K2 with all the bells. In a low noise, no QRM, strong signal environment, my K2 sounds great on SSB. In a noisy, QRM'ed, weak signal environment, I can't understand SSB on ANY receiver. I think it's all in the ears of the behearer. Fred K6DGW Auburn CA CM98lw W3FPR - Don Wilhelm wrote: Dave, The variable filter is not completely unsuitable for SSB listening, it just has a high passband ripple which can become tiring after a time to some people's ears. I use the variable filter as a narrow SSB receive filter to combat high pitched QRM (1.8, 1.7 or 1.6 kHz widths), but it does OK out to about 2.2 or 2.3 kHz. The passband is relatively flat up to about 1.2 kHz and above that the ripple becomes progressively greater as the width is increased. 73, Don W3FPR ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
100 wpm, elements are only 12 ms long - barely 2 ms at full output. At that speed, I'd begin to wonder about the group delay response of the remote receiver's filters I once asked about this on the Ten Tec reflector during a discussion of high speed CW, but some of the high-speed guys there assured me that they routinely copied 100 wpm without apparently being bothered by filter effects. I had a hard time believing this. They must use pretty wide filters to avoid the ringing or group delay effects that you mention, Bill. But they really didn't tell me for sure. Here's my question - what person can copy 100 wpm? Only a handful of people in the world can copy 60 wpm! You and I think alike... this was my exact next question to the guys. But again, they just sort of shrugged me off and never indicated that they thought they were pushing any limit of human ability. In fact, one guy told me that there is an entire group of folks who gets together on 40 meters at 100+ wpm! Around 7032 if I remember correctly. I've never heard them. At this speed Ted McElroy's world record, set back in the 1930s, should be threatened, but I don't know what is up with that. I believe-- though I am not sure-- that actually writing down (or typing) what you copy is really difficult at that speed. In other words, it is actually easier to simply copy in the head. McElroy's greatest achievement was evidently being able to produce a hard copy of what he heard. Regards, Al W6LX ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
When I was a novice, Cecil WA5SFZ, could copy 60WPM on a Mill, which was a typewriter version of a RTTY keyboard (all uppercase). Cecil smoked a pipe, a habit he picked up when copying news for press agencies (UPI?), as one of the perks of the job was free pipe-lighting service to keep the operators hands always on the keyboard. On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 10:05 am, Bill Coleman wrote: Here's my question - what person can copy 100 wpm? Only a handful of people in the world can copy 60 wpm! ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Polar Bears -- Just the Facts!
Hello, I am leaving for the AT now at 19:00 UTC. I decided to take my K2 instead of the K1 and the SW-20+, this will be it's last trip on the AT for the K2. I will have a mic and will do SSB if requested. I will try 15 meters first around 21:00 UTC, if no replies I will go to 20 meters. Hope to work you from the Pulpit Rock. 72 and Thanks, Ron Polityka WB3AAL www.wb3aal.com www.n3epa.org/ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K2 QSK and receive audio improvements
I've successfully made the following mods to two K2/100's, (both latest spec/upgrades). The QSK mods are based on previous posts on the Elecraft reflector. QSK. Firstly, on the control board, cut the short track between U6 pin 17 (RC2 /MUTE) and the junction of C23/R17. Solder a 220k resistor across the cut, i.e. in series with the /MUTE line. Without this resistor, the mute circuit itself generates audible clicks on both key up and key down. Secondly, replace R17 (3M3) with a 1M5 resistor, or solder a 3M3 resistor in parallel with the existing R17. This shortens the hang time. With these two changes and TR set to 0.00 (latest firmware), it is possible to receive between dots at 20wpm and between characters at 40wpm. In practice this is adequately fast, and the QSK is reasonably smooth. RX audio. In some circumstances the K2 could benefit from a little extra audio gain. At times I've found myself with the AF gain fully up when listening to a weak signal on a quiet band. If you have the KAF2 option installed it is easy to increase the audio gain. On the KAF2 board, cut the short track between RP1 pin 5 and U1a pin 1. Solder an 8k2 resistor across the cut. This gives +10dB of audio gain, (alternatively a 3k9 resistor will give +6dB). This mod does not alter the audio bandwidth, and the additional gain is present regardless of the selected bandwidth. Obviously the maximum audio output power (1W) is unchanged, but I find the additional gain useful at times. The sidetone level is unaffected. Finally, I often use a very simple passive filter in the headphone lead. This comprises a 47mH Toko 10RB series miniature inductor, in series with 1.2uF (1U//220n miniature poly box caps). This series LC is connected in series with the headphones, and gives a broad peak centered on about 660Hz. It's best to use the speaker output on the rear panel for this, and connect stereo headphones so that Left and Right are in parallel, so typically presenting a 16R load. This filter improves the K2 sidetone and further cleans up the QSK transients. The Q is low so it does not have a dramatic effect on the receive audio bandwidth, which can still be selected on the K2. I find the above mods together make a significant improvement. 73 Fraser G4BJM #4368 _ Use MSN Messenger to send music and pics to your friends http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Re: Contest win using K2
The Summerland Amateur Radio Club from Lismore has won the all-band all-mode multi-operator section of the Australia-wide John Moyle Field Day contest. The HF rig used was Elecraft K2 #3666 with Tokyo Hi-Power HL-200B amplifier. Mmh, head scratching who has won the contest? The K2 or the PA. ;o)) -- 72/73 de Ingo, DK3RED Don't forget: the fun is the power! [EMAIL PROTECTED] www.dk3red.homepage.t-online.de DL-QRP-AG #824 www.dl-qrp-ag.de QRP ARCI #11295 www.qrparci.org ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] New -- The Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock Web Page
Hello all, Click on the link for the Polar Bears of Pulpit Rock Web Page. http://www.wa3wsj.com/files/PolarBear2005.html 72/73, Ed, WA3WSJ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Re: Contest win using K2
On Tue, 2005-22-02 at 19:53 +0100, Ingo Meyer DK3RED wrote: The Summerland Amateur Radio Club from Lismore has won the all-band all-mode multi-operator section of the Australia-wide John Moyle Field Day contest. The HF rig used was Elecraft K2 #3666 with Tokyo Hi-Power HL-200B amplifier. Mmh, head scratching who has won the contest? The K2 or the PA. ;o)) The combination of receiver, transmitter, amplifier, antennas, and operator won the contest, of course! Not just the radio, not just the amp. -- 73, Brian VE7NGR ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
On Feb 22, 2005, at 1:16 PM, Andrew Moore wrote: Here's my question - what person can copy 100 wpm? Only a handful of people in the world can copy 60 wpm! I'd guess it's a larger group than you might think -- though I'd agree those folks are few and far between. I've run into a handful than can copy 100, and I remember about 10 years ago I was in disbelief when a guy on a 2m repeater told me he could do over 100, so I put him on the spot and cranked up my computer's CW speed to 100, asked him a question in CW over the repeater, and he answered. Holy cow. Color me skeptical. I wonder if it is a mind reading trick. I wonder how accurate a computer sending CW would be at 100 wpm -- or how well it would sound passing through a repeater. The highest official CW speed was about 74 wpm, a record that was set decades ago and never overturned. If there's so many people who can copy north of 60 wpm, why has this record never been broken? The bottom line -- if you are looking to run a 100 wpm data link on HF Nope, this is for copy in the head. For some reason when I listen to folks QSO at 60 or 70 or higher, it just gets me really motivated, and all the enjoyment I experienced when I started fiddling with radios comes right back again Where are these 60 wpm and higher operators? The highest speed CW I hear is just north of 40 wpm -- during contests. I knew a couple of blind hams who ran the WV Novice Net almost three decades ago. They'd plug along at 5 wpm, close the net, then crank their keyboards to 50 wpm and have a QSO right there. But that's 50 wpm, not 70. You bring up a good point about a firmware PTT tweak -- it doesn't sound like a horribly complicated thing to implement, but then again, I don't know anything about the K2's firmware. It's something that's been brought up often enough by contesters. Whenever the next firmware revision comes out, it's something to anticipate. I wonder if one could just hack the hardware to somehow keep TX engaged, even if it means manually throwing a switch -- equivalent to the PTT method but instead going right to the hardware. After all, we have the schematics (er, or I will once I order my new K2! :) There is a modification to do this, implementing CW PTT: http://www.qsl.net/w3fpr/ptt_input_for_the_elecraft_k2.htm Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASELMail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Quote: Not within a thousand years will man ever fly! -- Wilbur Wright, 1901 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Color me skeptical. I wonder if it is a mind reading trick. I wonder how accurate a computer sending CW would be at 100 wpm -- or how well it would sound passing through a repeater. Not mind reading (he corrected me on my grammar too), nor machine copy (what are the chances he happened to have a CW reader then and there, or that the repeater and his own rx didn't distort such a high speed signal to the point at which a machine couldn't copy?) Copy at 100 isn't like at 20 or 25 where you copy 100%. I don't think these guys are necessarily copying (or even trying to copy) 100% at these rates -- just enough to carry on a conversation. At these rates the entire conversation is more -- well, conversational -- less rigid, more fluid and spontaneous, seat of the pants sort of stuff. It's just amazing to listen to them. Tom (Chester), W4BQF, is a good example. Frequently on 40m flying along at over 70. He's not the only one, just the one I hear most often. Given the number of people I've heard who can do 50 to 70 with ease, what I find hard to believe is that 74 is the official record. Maybe they mean 74 with the ability to reproduce it, 100%, on paper. At speeds of 75 or more, I don't know that there's an easy way to prove you hear what you hear. The best way I can see is to simply have a long conversation with someone at that rate, and the proof will be in the pudding, or however that saying goes. It will quickly become obvious whether or not the op is copying for real. decades ago and never overturned. If there's so many people who can copy north of 60 wpm, why has this record never been broken? I'd like to know! Again I suspect it's because of the way they determine success. Where are these 60 wpm and higher operators? The highest speed CW I hear is just north of 40 wpm -- during contests. They seem to be centered around 7.030 to 7.033 kHz in the evenings. The Chicken Fat Operators (CFO), a bunch of high speed ops, used to be very active there, but activity has died down alot starting around 10 years ago, about the time I got hooked on high speed and joined them. They're still out there though. Their roster must be over 1,000 members by now. I think about the only requirement for joining up was that you could carry on a QSO at 40 wpm or higher. Proof was by getting on the air with two members and QSO'ing with them in this manner. I'm just getting back HF after a while off (having kids will do that to you; where did the time (and money) go?!), and one of my priorities, if not my highest, is to get the speed back up (when I went inactive last, it was somewhat comfortable around 50 to 55, pushing at 60, and liked to practice at 70). One thing for sure, it does take practice. It's real, and it's possible, and more important, it's a blast. Way more fun than Thanks for pointing me to the PTT mod -- I took a look. Really need to order my K2... ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Re: Contest win using K2
- Original Message - From: Ingo Meyer DK3RED [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 1:53 PM Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Contest win using K2 Mmh, head scratching who has won the contest? The K2 or the PA. ;o)) -- 72/73 de Ingo, DK3RED Don't forget: the fun is the power! One of my Elmers, N0BK (Sadly, now a sk.) often said Can't work 'em if you can't hear 'em. Somehow, I think that applies here. Vy 73 de Bert WA2SI FISTS #9384 QRP ARCI #11782 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
... have astounded the audience by calmly sipping a cup of coffee then lighting an cigarette while the transmission blasted away before sitting down at the mill (typewriter with all cap letters specifically for copying CW). Then he is reported to have kept typing 15 minutes after the transmission ended to finish transcribing the entire text. I suspect that's exactly why the official record stands -- these guys aren't transcribing -- just conversing -- which, from what I know about them, is much more the point rather than boasting (no disrespect intended to McElroy -- quite an achievement on his part). High speed CW (HSCW) is, as far as I've read, all done via SSB. That is, the rig isn't keyed, but the CW is sent by a tone injected into the audio (microphone) input of an SSB rig. That produces a CW signal consisting of a single transmitted frequency, since no carrier and only one sideband is transmitted. This sounds interesting. I've never heard much about it. Are high speed CW ops using this in lieu of the real thing to get around rigs' limitations? Since it's on SSB, I assume it's not legal down in the conventional CW portion of the band. It sounds like it could be an easy way for QRQ CW to operate from any rig in the 70 to 100 range, or so. --Andrew, NV1B .. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
In a message dated 2/22/2005 2:51:15 PM Eastern Standard Time, Bill Coleman [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: On Feb 22, 2005, at 1:16 PM, Andrew Moore wrote: The highest official CW speed was about 74 wpm, a record that was set decades ago and never overturned. If there's so many people who can copy north of 60 wpm, why has this record never been broken? That was a record for hard copy - McElroy pounded out the copy on a *manual* typewriter! Head copy is a different animal. The folks who can copy 80-100 wpm or whatever aren't pounding keyboards with every received letter; they're listening to the code like someone talking. How fast can the average person carry on a verbal conversation vs. transcribing one? In highspeed contest operation, you're only looking for information in bursts - usually just call and report, maybe section/country. What McElroy was doing was for minutes at a time. -- For comparison, consider the test for US Navy Radioman A class (IIRC) circa 1958: 24 wpm 5 character code groups, copied on a manual typewriter (mill). Passing grade was a maximum of 3 errors. In an hour. 73 de Jim, N2EY ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Andrew Moore wrote: This sounds interesting. I've never heard much about it. Are high speed CW ops using this in lieu of the real thing to get around rigs' limitations? Since it's on SSB, I assume it's not legal down in the conventional CW portion of the band. It sounds like it could be an easy way for QRQ CW to operate from any rig in the 70 to 100 range, or so. --Andrew, NV1B Most software for the digital modes include both sound card CW and hard keyed CW. You can't tell the difference on the air unless the op doesn't know the sidetone frequncy of his rig and has the frequency in the software set wrong. There won't be any QSK with sound card CW either. Up until I built a keying interface for my TS-520 thats how I ran CW. Hamscope or MixW and a rigblaster. Another happy benefit of audio injected CW, really afsk, is that there are no key clicks to be heard and you don't have to worry about rise and fall times of the keying waveform. -- R. Kevin Stover ACØH Reclaim Your Inbox! http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
On Tue, 2005-22-02 at 14:59 -0600, R. Kevin Stover wrote: Another happy benefit of audio injected CW, really afsk, is that there are no key clicks to be heard and you don't have to worry about rise and fall times of the keying waveform. Wouldn't that depend on the audio waveform fed into the SSB transmitter? I would expect an audio signal with small rise and fall times and/or poor waveform shaping would still cause keyclicks. Am I wrong, and if so, why? -- 73, Brian VE7NGR ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
FW: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Why wait? Dan / WG4S / K2 #2456 snipAfter all, we have the schematics (er, or I will once I order my new K2! :)/snip http://elecraft.com/manual/K2_AppF.pdf, starts on page 138. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Andrew, NV1B, wrote:
This sounds interesting. I've never heard much about it. Are high speed CW
ops using this in lieu of the real thing to get around rigs' limitations?
Since it's on SSB, I assume it's not legal down in the conventional CW
portion of the band. It sounds like it could be an easy way for QRQ CW to
operate from any rig in the 70 to 100 range, or so.
--
It's legal CW even though it's generated in SSB mode since only the single
frequency is transmitted, but I doubt if real HSCW be welcome (or legal) on
the HF CW bands because of the bandwidth. A CW signal, like any signal, has
sidebands that occupy a bandwidth directly proportional to the data rate. If
a CW signal is received on a too-narrow filter, the keying is lost: either
the signal appears as steady noise or a steady tone ('ultimate' filter
ringing!). For a normal CW transmission at some tens of WPM the bandwidth
needed is very small - only in the tens of Hz or less. HSCW at hundreds of
words per minute can require hundreds of Hz of bandwidth. That is on a
receiver using conventional CW filters it'd be heard as a strange tone with
very noisy, wide sidebands extending a long way on both sides of the carrier
frequency! The keying may not be at all evident.
But for something in the middle, 50 WPM and up, keying a tone into the mic
jack in SSB mode may be the way to go to avoid the shaping built into the
rig. The K2 lets you define the receive filters separately from the transmit
filter in SSB, so you can still have the flexibility of the K2's selectable
receive CW filters while transmitting using a keyed tone in SSB mode. If you
get really interested in pursuing it after you build your K2, jump on here
or contact elecraft directly. Wayne, the principal designer for the K2, is
always interested in new mods and uses for the rig and he's quick to offer
help and advice. There are a number of very talented and experienced
engineers on the reflector here who have contributed greatly to the
development of improvements for the K2 over the years who may be able to
offer their help as well. The support you get is one of the most valuable
benefits of owning an Elecraft rig.
The only possible issue I can think of is that in SSB mode, the frequency
display is the carrier frequency. So, if you tuned it up on 7030.00 kHz and
used a 500 Hz tone to key the rig, the actual transmit frequency would be
500 Hz above or below the displayed xmit frequency - that is either 7029.05
or 7030.05 kHz, depending upon which sideband you are using. The K2 has RIT
and full SPLIT operation, so you can adjust the receiver tuning
independently of the transmit frequency, so that shouldn't be a serious
issue.
I am certain that McElroy's record is for solid hard copy. That was back in
the days when a human being was an essential part of a manual RTTY or
TOR system designed for precise hard copy. The human's job was to convert
the sounds in the phones into precise strokes on the keys to make the right
letters! Head copy was not considered a very useful achievement.
It'd be interesting to see verifiable demonstrations of the sort of speeds
that are being achieved without hard copy.
Ron AC7AC
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[Elecraft] K1 and the CW Contest
It may be of interest to people to hear that I fired up my one week old K1 during the contest and in just over one hour's operating running 5 watts worked 15 North American stations in IN, ON, PA, NJ, PEI, DEL, NH, MA, TX, CT, and VA. Thanks Lads 73 George. G3ICO. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Return of the prodigal daughter
Just thought you folks might like to know that I've resumed construction of K2 S/N 1341, after more than four year's hiatus. Stuff happens. Oh, my callsign is now K3XS...ex-KB3DXS. 73 to all -Maggie- (Yes, I know there have been a lot of improvements to the kit in the intervening years...but I'm currently unemployed and can't see spending nearly $100 to upgrade it. Resume at http://voicenet.com/~maggie/mslresume.html ) -- -/___. _)Margaret Stephanie Leber CCP, SCJP/The art of progress / /(, /| /| http://voicenet.com/~maggie SCWCD/ is to preserve order/ ---/ / | / | _ _ _` _ AOPA 925383/ amid change and to / --/ ) / |/ |_(_(_(_/_(_/__(__(/_ K3XS / preserve change amid/ -/ (_/ '.-/ .-/ARRL 39280 /order.-A.N.Whitehead/ /(_/_(_/___AMSAT 32844_/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Hats off to all ELEKRAFT contest winners!
I am still in awe of the very unique engineering of the K-2. I hope to work as many of other elekraft hams at the next SEA-DuBya(CW) contest. 73 DE MIKE ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Return of the prodigal daughter
Hi Maggie, Have fun building your K2. I hope to work you soon! 73/72, Barry, W2BJ On Tue, 22 Feb 2005 17:14:02 -0500 Margaret Leber [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Just thought you folks might like to know that I've resumed construction of K2 S/N 1341, after more than four year's hiatus. ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Tencraft!
I don't know whether or not this has been posted before (certainly I have not seen it here) but on the Ten-Tec reflector this message just came through: *** Is that Yaecomwood as opposed to Tencraft?? :) Ron Wb1hga Peg writes: .. Now he is dreaming of an Omni VI+ someday, instead of a Yaecomwood. ___ TenTec mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec *** Elecraft has *really* made it! (Of course, those of us reading this knew that already.) 73, Joe, W2RBA K2 #1299 K1 #1005 KX1 #0020 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
R. Kevin Stover wrote: Another happy benefit of audio injected CW, really afsk, is that there are no key clicks to be heard and you don't have to worry about rise and fall times of the keying waveform. The extent of the sidebands (and therefore the rise/fall times and the maximum speed that can be transmitted) are limited by the width of the ssb filter. A signal generated this way can be quite clicky -- I would consider a 3 KHz wide CW signal way too wide. -- 73, Vic, K2VCO Fresno CA http://www.qsl.net/k2vco ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Opinions please.
My K2 has the 2nd latest chip set in it. It is a 3200 s/n. I have been using it on SSB at 12W. I have the audio compressor on max. I have had hours of great QSO's so far. I know see an option to open up the SSB filter on RX. I use the stock 2.2khz and I like the audio. I find the 1.8khz filter on SSB to be better than that of my Drake TR-7 and Kenwood TS-850. The 1.8khz on the K2 sounds full bodies on SSB. Has anybody done the 2.6khz SSB rx mod? Is it worth the effort, and minimal cost? My only complaint about my K2 is that the RX SSB audio does not have enough low end. The old all transistor Drake TR-7 can sound like tube audio with a few simple cap changes. Has anybody come up with some audio mods. Sure I know the limitations of the LM-386/380 audio chips I was also struck by the choice of transistor used in the RF pre-amp. Why a simple bipolar and not the industry standard Mosfet. I was thinking about trying the bais change in the post IF mixer to get an even lower noise floor. I like to operate pre-ampless when ever possible. I have found this reduces operator fatique. I do have to say that I am still impressed by the K2's RX. However my Drake TR-7's pre-ampless design does give that almost zero noise floor sound. The Rx in my K2 is about as good as my TS-850. The fact that the K2 sounds crystal clear in 1.8khz SSB is shockingly good. The 1.8khz bw on my R-7A is not as clear on SSB on the K2. True as advertised, the K2's RX can compete withe $2000-$3000 rigs. My only nitpick is better pre-ampless performance, and getting that Drake audio sound. VERY TALL ORDERS INDEED! ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Vic wrote: The extent of the sidebands (and therefore the rise/fall times and the maximum speed that can be transmitted) are limited by the width of the ssb filter. A signal generated this way can be quite clicky -- I would consider a 3 KHz wide CW signal way too wide. - Yeah! On the CW bands at least. Some of the HSCW might need that! You bring up a good point I missed in my reply earlier. If using keyed audio to produce CW, then the waveform produced by the keying source is very important to avoid clicks. Kevin Stover said ...audio injected CW, really afsk,... Isn't afsk really audio frequency-shift keying as commonly used for RTTY on VHF? The signal produced by a well-adjusted SSB rig with a pure keyed tone injected will be pure CW, undetectable from any other CW signal. The things to be concerned about to achieve that, other than a decent keying waveform on the audio signal, are adequate carrier and opposite sideband suppression. On the CW bands, any carrier or other sideband leak would be simply a spurious emission and would have to meet all the FCC requirements for the level of such emissions. Ron AC7AC ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] ECN/30 - Thursday this week
Thanks to all who were ready to check in last week. I apologize for having to back out at the last minute, but something urgent came up (radio is important to me... but it's still just a hobby). I'm going to try to run ECN/30 on Thursdays on 10115 +/- 2. The early net will start around 6 PM Central Time ( UTC Friday). For those who aren't able to make it at that time, I will run a 2nd edition of the net around 8 PM Central Time (0200 UTC). Propagation will probably start shutting down around 9 PM (0300z). This week, starting out, I'll try to keep the code speed around 8 wpm for those who are a little rusty. I ask that you do the same for others checking in so that we don't leave anyone in the dust. Each week, I'll try to bump it up 1 wpm/week - but we won't exceed 17 wpm... instead, we'll start back at 8 wpm the following week. This will be a semi-formal net, and I hope I'm not overdoing it... can't make everyone happy here ... but here's some tips to help us get started. Just like every Novice had to learn a few basic Q-signals (QTH, QRM, QRN, QSB, and QRS)... we'll need to keep a few more in mind to help things run smoothly. = The first priority on my agenda will be to get everyone checked in (QNI) who wants to check in. When you check in, all I need is your callsign, name, and SPC (state/province/country) ... e.g. AA0NI DE K3LY QNI BOB PA K. If all you want to do is check in, and check out... be sure to also mention that you are QRU (you have nothing to share) and QRT (e.g. AA0NI DE K3LY QNI BOB PA QRU QRT K). That way I'll be sure to count you as a check-in, but won't include you on our roster for exchanging Elecraft SN. If we all keep it short and sweet, we will quickly move on to the fun part... After we've got everyone on board, I'll announce the stations on the roster listed in the order that they checked in (e.g. QNS K3LY W5AB N7TKA ... ) then I'll start at the top of the list (e.g. K3LY DE AA0NI QTC? K), and let everyone get a chance to call at least one other check-in and exchange your info (Name, SPC, RST, Rig, Power, Elecraft SN - e.g. K3LY DE AA0NI DAN OK 559 K2 5W 3421 K). After the first time through the list (assuming it is short), I'll look for more QNI and start back up at the top. I'll also try to call for QNI every 15-20 minutes. If I need you to relay, or if you are relaying for someone, signify that with QSP (e.g. AA0NI DE K3LY QSP QNI AA4YD). I'll probably respond to have you get info and relay it back (e.g. K3LY DE AA0NI PSE QSP AA4YD K), or maybe I'll ask you to look for QNI (K3LY DE AA0NI PSE QSP ANY QNI K), and you can call CQ ECN QNI DE ... K. After you have my attention, if you want to check out, just let me know by sending QNX or QRT. I'll announce to the net that you left (e.g. QNO K3LY). Anytime you are checked in, and need to get my attention, just send the last 1-2 letters in your call. Then when I recognize you (by repeating your 1-2 letters), just identify (DE K3LY) and let us know what you've got (e.g. QSP, or QNX/QRT). If you want to contact another station on your turn, signify by sending QTC followed by that stations callsign (e.g. QTC W5AB W5AB DE K3LY K3LY K). If you signify QTC ANY - then we'll let everyone have a chance to call YOU, and you can work one station. If either station has trouble working the other after 3 tries each, we'll move on to the next station on the list. If you copied everything correctly, send QSL so we know we can move on to the next station. When there are no more QNI or QTC, then I'll sign QNF (frequency is free) and I will go QRT. = I hope this doesn't complicate matters - and I really hope that this will be a blast for those who are looking for Elecraft Numbers. I'm already excited thinking about it. Looking forward to your check-ins... - Daniel / AA0NI Oklahoma City ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Power Measurement - Where am I wrong?
All, Thanks to all who answered me either direct or on the list. Based upon the answers I would guess that I need to pay better attention to lead length. I did not make any attempts to keep things short. I will also think about Ron's suggestion to bypass the KAT2. I'll post the final results in a couple weeks (my time is sparse) when I complete the tests. 73, Fran ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Tencraft!
Hmmm... Interesting, but perhaps Eletec is better since it puts the horse in front of the cart!!! ;-) Cheers, -rick, K7LOG -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Joe Malloy Sent: Tuesday, February 22, 2005 2:34 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Tencraft! I don't know whether or not this has been posted before (certainly I have not seen it here) but on the Ten-Tec reflector this message just came through: *** Is that Yaecomwood as opposed to Tencraft?? :) Ron Wb1hga Peg writes: .. Now he is dreaming of an Omni VI+ someday, instead of a Yaecomwood. ___ TenTec mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/tentec *** Elecraft has *really* made it! (Of course, those of us reading this knew that already.) 73, Joe, W2RBA K2 #1299 K1 #1005 KX1 #0020 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Kevin Stover said ...audio injected CW, really afsk,... Isn't afsk really audio frequency-shift keying as commonly used for RTTY on VHF? The signal produced by a well-adjusted SSB rig with a pure keyed tone injected will be pure CW, undetectable from any other CW signal. The things to be concerned about to achieve that, other than a decent keying waveform on the audio signal, are adequate carrier and opposite sideband suppression. On the CW bands, any carrier or other sideband leak would be simply a spurious emission and would have to meet all the FCC requirements for the level of such emissions. Ron AC7AC AFSK is audio-frequency-shift keying and that's what the majority of Hams using the sound card for RTTY on HF are using. Check me if I'm wrong but if the sound card produces a pure sine wave audio signal of say 600Hz how would you distinguish that from a hard keyed CW signal unless it's got harmonics spread out over the 2.5Khz audio bandpass? How do the rise and fall times of the SSB and CW waveforms compare? Isn't SSB, even with VOX delay turned all the way down, a lot slower than CW? If the SSB rise and fall times are slower than CW how do you get clicks? I would agree that nobody in their right mind would cut loose with 800wpm HSCW on the HF bands becasue of the bandwidth used. I can't remember the old formula for figuring the bandwidth for CW signals of any arbitary speed. -- R. Kevin Stover ACØH Reclaim Your Inbox! http://www.mozilla.org/products/thunderbird ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] K2 CW speed
Kevin, AC0H, wrote: How do the rise and fall times of the SSB and CW waveforms compare? Isn't SSB, even with VOX delay turned all the way down, a lot slower than CW? If the SSB rise and fall times are slower than CW how do you get clicks? I would agree that nobody in their right mind would cut loose with 800wpm HSCW on the HF bands becasue of the bandwidth used. I can't remember the old formula for figuring the bandwidth for CW signals of any arbitary speed. With proper waveform shaping, the CW bandwidth in Hz that is required is approximately 4 times the speed in WPM. So a 20 wpm signal needs about 80 Hz to pass the on/off transitions without stretching them out and impairing the readability. SSB allows 2.5 kHz or more bandwidth which would support about 800 wpm. That is, of course, way too much for the CW bands. As others have pointed out, that takes being careful about the nature of the driving signal, possible noise introduced by the oscillator-rig connection, and a clean audio waveform, as well as proper keying waveform. A number of SSB rigs used that technique to produce CW in years past. Some early SSB transceivers had no ready means to key the RF source, so they provided a keyable sidetone oscillator that also fed the TX chain. As a brass pounder 99% of the time, I didn't follow the transition from audio-injection to keyed RF sources in the newer transceivers, but I suspect it had to do with the issues of keeping the signal clean with adequate sideband and carrier suppression. Current rules require such spurious emissions to be at least 40 dB below the peak carrier for transmitter 5 watts (with a 50 mW limit no matter the power) or at least 30 dB down for a QRP transmitter (up to 5 watts). Elecraft spec's the carrier suppression at -40 dB (typical) for a K2 with the SSB adapter. I suspect that's very conservative, and allows for some sloppiness in setting the carrier null. Still, I'd check the actual level from my K2 if I tried that scheme running QRO. The opposite sideband rejection should be no concern considering the K2 OPT1 filter characteristics. I would not expect the VOX to be at all useful in such CW. Actually, a lot of the HSCW is done like we used to do ALL CW just a few years ago: no QSK! For scatter work, one doesn't know what one received for a period of time anyway. It has to be played back slowly while the op tries to hear the fragments of CW in all the noise. It's about as far from QSK as one can get. Ron AC7AC ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Looking for some help from an Elcraft builder in Massachusetts area.
Hello to everyone on the Elecraft Reflector. I subscribed to the Reflector alittle over a week ago and have really enjoyed all the posts. It is good to know that there are alot of really talented people out there who will be able to help me if and when I get in trouble building the K2. I will be ordering my K2 in the next couple of days. I would be interested to know if there is someone in the Massachusetts area that has a K2 that could offer some help. Boy some of the problems I have been seeing are making me get second thoughts. Steve Terry W1KV ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K2 CW speed
I enjoy copying CW up to about 60 wpm, then problems. And I can offer a theory for why. The mind, not the ear, has a built in echo suppressor. When the ear hears the same sound soon again, it sends its message to the brain, but the brain interprets it, if the time between sounds is very short, as an echo. the most common brain, I will refrain from saying normal but I am thinking it, interprets the new message arrival as the same message, only louder. so the arrival of the echo causes an interpretation of louder, NOT a new character or dit. Were it not for this, what you hear in a typical indoor room (or cave) would be unintelligible. this is known as the Haas Effect, and you can find it on the web, and find examples of it. they will play a melody in one of your speakers, and delay the same sound to the other speaker 5 ms, and you, I should say, I, can not hear a thing coming from the second speaker, but if I put my finger on the speaker I can feel it making sound. this echo effect impacts hearing, or I should say, interpretting sound, up to about 1,500 cycles. High frequencies don't echo very much, and so the brain does not have an echo suppressor for them. i find I can not copy above something like 56 wpm, 59 on a good day. BUT, if I readjust the radio to receive the CW above 1,500 cycles (not pleasant), then I CAN !!! Anyone who can just copy at 100 wpm has a hearing/brain problem. their echo suppressor doesn't work. What they hear, day in and day out, is very, very different from what most people hear. And they probably don't realize it. I feel confident saying, be happy you are stuck at 60 wpm. 72, Fred KT5X K2 # 700 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Looking for some help from an Elcraft builder in Massachusetts area.
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Hello to everyone on the Elecraft Reflector. I subscribed to the Reflector alittle over a week ago and have really enjoyed all the posts. It is good to know that there are alot of really talented people out there who will be able to help me if and when I get in trouble building the K2. I will be ordering my K2 in the next couple of days. I would be interested to know if there is someone in the Massachusetts area that has a K2 that could offer some help. Boy some of the problems I have been seeing are making me get second thoughts. Steve Terry W1KV Hi, Steve, good to hear you're contemplating a K2. You shouldn't worry about anything -- if *I* can assemble a K2 (and and K1 and a KX1!) with success, *you* will be able to do the same. It's not for naught that Elecraft's stance is: they won't let anyone fail. Don't worry -- and enjoy the experience. 73, Joe, W2RBA ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Polar Bear Outing
Hello, The time is 03:45 UTC and I just finished taking a shower. Wow did we have a Great time up on the Appalachian Trail at Pulpit Rock near Hamburg, PA. Half way up the 2 mile hike I was going over things in my head and I remembered that I had no coax. Fortunately I caught Ed, WA3WSJ at home from my cell phone. I had to stand on an icy rock to get a connection. I told him to bring some extra coax for me. On my way up the mountain I was thinking of what I could do. So I placed my brain in theMc Giver Mode. I had the 15 meter element and a small side cutters. I cut the end off of the 15m element and folded over the wire and placed it in the back of the K2 jack. Then I took the radials, which had a crimp connector on the end and placed some electrical tape on one side to force the metal against the grounding post on the K2. My first contact was with a station in Texas and he gave me a 579. Wow, Mc Giver strikes again. :-) Shortly after I finished the QSO, NK8Q and K3YTR showed up in their vehicles with the coax from Ed, WA3WSJ. I went to 20 meters and then 30 meters. I made a total of 10 QSO's from the AT. Shortly before Ed, WA3WSJ, showed up I heard coyotes howling. Then I heard Ed howling back at them. Fortunately the coyotes were on the next ridge over. When Ed, WA3WSJ, showed up at Pulpit Rock he said did you hear that? I said yes and I also heard you giving them a reply. The coyotes started howling again and I started howling back. I worked them up into a frenzy and they were replying to my howls. Wonder if I can count them as a QSO from the AT??:-) After my last howl they must have went east over the ridge because we did not hear from them again. I will have pictures and logs up on the web in the next day or so. The temperature was hanging around 28 to 30'F with a slight breeze. The moon was out full with flurries coming down at the same time. It was one Great time 72 and Thanks, Ron Polityka WB3AAL www.wb3aal.com www.n3epa.org/ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Re: [Elecraft] Return of the prodigal daughter
W3FPR - Don Wilhelm wrote: Welcome back and have fun building. The upgrades are nice, but not required - you will still have a fine working K2 when you are finished. -Original Message- Just thought you folks might like to know that I've resumed construction of K2 S/N 1341, after more than four year's hiatus. Thanks. :-) Oh, before somebody freaks, the actual serial is #1641, not #1341. (I've made that mistake before. 1341 was my SAT score. Don't ask when that was.) -Maggie K3XS, who is almost done the Control Board (start on the ICs tomorrow) -- -/___. _)Margaret Stephanie Leber CCP, SCJP/The art of progress / /(, /| /| http://voicenet.com/~maggie SCWCD/ is to preserve order/ ---/ / | / | _ _ _` _ AOPA 925383/ amid change and to / --/ ) / |/ |_(_(_(_/_(_/__(__(/_ K3XS / preserve change amid/ -/ (_/ '.-/ .-/ARRL 39280 /order.-A.N.Whitehead/ /(_/_(_/___AMSAT 32844_/[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Looking for some help from an Elcraft builder inMassachusetts area.
Steve, You CAN successfully build a K2 - if --- 1) you can do decent soldering and 2) you can follow written instructions. Honestly, that is all that is required. The Elecraft manuals are excellent and the parts quality is top-notch - you will not fail if you try (ask for help if you think you need it). There are over 4500 K2s out there, and the 'silent majority' have had no problems constructing their K2. What you see here on the reflector are those who are seeking assistance with some misunderstanding or something that 'just didn't do right'. The folks here on the reflector are available to share their experiences and often can provide help within minutes of your e-mail. If you follow most of the problems presented here to their conclusion, you will find that soldering is the most common cause of problems, followed closely by misplaced components, and third by operator misunderstanding. Again we here on the reflector are here to provide assistance when those situations arise. As a result, the number of problems seen here do outnumber the successes, but if one does the counting, the number of success stories (often untold) outweigh the problems by a large number. So, you really don't need someone in Massachusetts - there are hams all over the world that will come to your aid if you have a problem, and often in less time than it will take for a trip over to your neighbors' house. 73, Don W3FPR -Original Message- Hello to everyone on the Elecraft Reflector. I subscribed to the Reflector alittle over a week ago and have really enjoyed all the posts. It is good to know that there are alot of really talented people out there who will be able to help me if and when I get in trouble building the K2. I will be ordering my K2 in the next couple of days. I would be interested to know if there is someone in the Massachusetts area that has a K2 that could offer some help. Boy some of the problems I have been seeing are making me get second thoughts. Steve Terry W1KV ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [Elecraft] Return of the prodigal daughter
Maggie, K3XS, wrote: Oh, before somebody freaks, the actual serial is #1641, not #1341. (I've made that mistake before. 1341 was my SAT score. Don't ask when that was.) -- Well dang! I though I had found another K2 almost as old as my five-year-old S/N 1289. But then mine's been making RF since 2000 too. And my notebook of mods/upgrades is now thicker than the original manual! Welcome to the (sometimes) unruly mob, Maggie! Ron AC7AC ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] (no subject)
H... I am feeling a bit slow... Just realized that I am not getting a an s-meter indication at all of received signal strength from any station, weak or strong on my newly completed KX1. Have played with the SIG menu adjustments and still nothing... I am using an external tuner and so have the ATU in CAL mode. Is the sig meter only functional in TUNE mode? or should I check something else? ( I realize it could just be a brain fart on my part over something obvious...) Thanks Mike Sexsmith W7MSX KX1#1034 ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] K1 C62 and/or C63 missing
Hi, just made the inventory for my new K1 and I am missing exactly 1 capacitor, either C62 or C63. Now I am wondering if I could substitute one of these with another value, if they are not critical. I have 240nF (241) in stock. Will this one work in one of the places? Or can I parallel it with a 82pF? Thanks Gerhard Schwanz DH3FAW mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.gs-personal.de __ Gesendet von Yahoo! Mail - http://mail.yahoo.de Mit Yahoo! Suche finden Sie alles: http://suche.yahoo.de ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
