[Elecraft] London experience
My wife, son and I were on the London tube system when the bombers struck yesterday. We were near two of the incidents (near Victoria Station). I had my Yaesu VX-6R with me, with continuous receive from 500 KHz to 999 MHz. As soon as we were able to receive, I was able to tune in to London FM stations and also picked up some communications among bus drivers on VHF. Knowing what was going on was very helpful for us, and for the people around us. Although it was not a direct use of amateur radio, I wouldn't have had the capability if I hadn't had the 2M/220/440 tranceiver with me. By the way, have worked a number of stations on 20-30-40 M from Dublin and London this trip. Worked Lithuania, Italy and Germany last night from the hotel here in West London. More on that on a future posting. It has been quite an adventure. Russ, QRV as M/N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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] N9IV QRV in Ireland
I am now in Ireland; just worked several stations on 20M and 30M CW with my KX1 at 3 watts. Having a ball! Will be in Ireland till Thursday, then QRV London for three days. Russ Eberhart, N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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] Indianapolis Hamfest
Elecraft was represented at the Indianapolis Hamfest on Saturday by Rich Meiss (WB9LPU), Wayne Reed (K9NE), and me. We had a great location just inside the front door of the AIR-CONDITIONED building. (It hit 90 degrees Saturday.) Lots of people came by the booth. We gave out all of the literature that Lisa Jones sent from Elecraft, and one of the extra copies I made just in case. On display were two KX1's, a K1, a K2, a T1, and a few of the smaller kits. Rich brought part of his collection of old keys, as well as several of his famous paddles (including his coffee cup paddle). I had my restored HW-8 and my 'el-cheapo piano paddle.' From 7am until we closed, we almost always had one or more people at the table talking with us. I opened up my KX1 so many times I am considering velcro fasteners for the chassis (hi). Russ Eberhart, N9IV KX1 742, K2 4650 ___ 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] CQ WW contest last weekend
I was at a cabin at Deep Creek Lake in Western Maryland over the past weekend; no way to get on the Internet until today. I ran my KX1, at first on internal batteries, then from my car battery. Antenna was a 42-foot wire thrown up in a pine tree, with a 16-foot counterpoise. Included in 35 contacts were six contacts at one watt with stations in the US, Canada, Portugal, and Germany. When the batteries started to fade (they had about five hours on them prior to the weekend session), I plugged into the car's battery, and, at approximately 3.8 watts, had 29 contacts with the following: Slovenia, Spain, Slovak Republic, Serbia Montenegro, England, Italy, Cape Verde Africa, Croatia, Cyprus, France, Antigua/Barbuda, Canada, and the US. I've never had so much fun working QRP. I was amazed at the number of stations that came back to me. The only three stations that didn't were one in the Ukraine, one in Slovenia, and one in Italy. I'll have to figure it out for sure when I get home to Indy, but I believe that at least a dozen of the contacts were at over 1,000 miles per watt. Russ, N9IV KX1 #742 P.S. I listened for the net Sunday night, but didn't hear it on either frequency. ___ 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: K2 Keyer Problem
Regarding my dah-dit-dah-dit... K2 keyer problem: Thanks for the suggestion to replace my antenna with a dummy load. However, the problem turned out to be related to my PSK interface. I recently (10-15 days ago) replaced the computer I was using with my PSK interface (a Rigblaster Nomic). Since then, I've been running PSK and MFSK16 on 20 and 40 meters with no problem. I hadn't gone up to frequencies above 15 MHz since installing the new computer. It turns out that unplugging the PSK interface from the mic input connector solves the keyer problem. There must be some sort of ground loop associated with the new (less old) computer. The old computer was a Toshiba laptop (circa 1994) running Windows 95. The new one is a desktop (circa 1997) running Windows 98. I plan to dig into it a little bit more, but for now am just unplugging the PSK interface from the mic input whenever I'm not running PSK or MFSK16. (For whatever it's worth, my IMD reports on PSK are fine, so didn't suspect a problem there.) Russ Eberhart, N9IV ___ 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 Keyer Problem
I have K2 #4650, which has worked flawlessly for about three months. I have had several hundred QSOs, mainly CW, and have used all bands. I almost always run 5 watts. Today, a weird phenomenon raised its head. On 17M, I finished a QSO with an Italian station, and everything was working great. I started to call another station, and the keyer started sending a pattern of dot-dash-dot-dash-dot-dash... when I held down the dash paddle. The dot paddle works OK. The phenomenon stops when I reduce power below 2 watts or so. SWR is about 1.2 - 1.3. I experimented for awhile, and found that I only had the problem on 17M, nothing on 80, 40, 20, 15, or 10. Then I had a QSO with everything normal on 20M, then returned to exploring the problem. I now find the dot-dash problem has creeped in on 15M. Still no problem except on 17M and 15M. I scrolled thru FAQs, but haven't found anything. I strongly suspect a software problem, but am not sure how to proceed, and will appreciate the wisdom of the gurus on this reflector. Thanks in advance, Russ Eberhart, N9IV K2 #4650 KX1 #742 ___ 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 #4650
I am happy to announce that K2 serial 4650 is on the air. I want to thank Jerry McCarthy (wa2dkg) for his help in building the unit. His workmanship is outstanding. I am totally blown away by the quality of the receiver. The K2 joins my KX1 number 742. Hmmm, looks like Elecraft is getting to be a habit with me. Russ N9IV ___ 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] Ear-buds for KX1
I agree that The Plug by Koss are acceptable earbuds. They are rated at 110 db. I wear hearing aids, so need the best I can find. If anyone knows about any earbuds better than the Koss ones, I'd appreciate hearing about it. (Pun intended.) BTW, worked Antarctica from Indianapolis on the KX1 running about 3.3 watts to a long wire last night. Russ Eberhart, N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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: KX1 RX Sensitivity on 20M vs 30M, 40M
I have also noticed somewhat reduced sensitivity on 20M, but sort of expected that. Into a 50 ohm dummy load, and into 1.0-1.1 SWR antennas, I get about 3.3-3.5 watts out on 40M, 4 watts on 30M, and 3.0 watts on 20M. Have re-aligned...get the same. Is this typical? I didn't experience any frustration with 30M module. It all seemed to go together just fine for me. I've had dozens of QSOs with my KX1, and only have one unusual behavior (of the KX1...we won't go into mine) to report. Sometimes I get noise that is there when the LEDs are on, and goes away when the LEDs time out. Has anyone else experienced that? It does not happen all the time. Furthermore, it seems to be more likely to happen when I've been operating for a period of time, say at least 30-60 minutes. Anyway, I'm very pleased with the KX1. Just put together a little portable battery pack that uses two 4-AA cell packs and one 2-AA cell pack that I populate with NiMH batteries. It gives me about 12 volts for portable operation. Russ Eberhart, N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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] KXPD1 Sensitivity
...My question is how do I make the paddles less sensitive to touch. I find that the left side (dits) is very sensitive, and at one point, it started sending dits all on its own. I have squeezed the wires inside down as close to the PC board as they can be, but that didn't help. The right side of the paddle is working fine. Anyone have any other suggestions?? Thanks, Dan W1RDB One possible problem is that one or both of the rubber covers is/are installed incorrectly. The raised portion of each cover must be on the outside of each paddle. Russ, N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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] KX1 #742
KX1 #742 is on the air. Russ Eberhart N9IV Russ Eberhart Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld ___ 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] Building KX1 #742 and posting to this list
I have been trying to post to this list for about a month. Each time, my message has bounced. Each time, the error message said that the list doesn't allow messages with attachments. Thing is, I never had an attachment on any of the messages. If this message makes it, it means that the problem was something entirely different: I was sending messages in HTML format (as I usually do) and they were being rejected because of the HTML format, not because they had attachments. I don't see any reference to requiring messages to be in plain text format in the web material regarding this list. (Maybe I missed it.) If it isn't there, it should be. If it's there, perhaps it should be more prominent. I just completed KX1 #742, with the 30M module, key paddles, and automatic tuner. I had a great experience. It was my first kit building experience in over 30 years (except for a ZM-2 tuner...not exactly a major project). My hat is off to the folks at Elecraft for their great design, and for clear, concise instructions. Everything worked the first time. I purchased a Hakko 936 soldering station, mainly because of this project. (Was the KX1 just an excuse? I'll never tell my wife...) It was money well spent, and I recommend it. There was a thread on this list a while ago about taking ham equipment through airport security. I have some experiences I may share on future postings, if this posting makes it.. Russ Eberhart, N9IV KX1 #742 ___ 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
