It's worthwhile noting that either adjusting the internal ALC to limit
power or providing some external means to control it is really quite
essential with some of the early solid state and certainly many of the
hybrid radios. Most of these radios had NO proper power control in SSB.
Whilst the
I’ve measured common mode current when feeding a balanced line with a good DX
Engineering 1:1 balun and an unbalanced tuner, versus a real balanced
link-coupled tuner (Johnson Matchbox). To my surprise, the currents are closer
to equal with the unbalanced tuner and the balun! But the Matchbox
An array of dipoles are common for high power international broadcast stations.
They accept a VSWR of about 2:1 from aprox 20 DB gain curtain arrays They
almost always use open wire line. It’s mostly about TX output matching.
Sent from my iPad
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 9:40 PM, Barry wrote:
>
Why would a common mode choke at the antenna feedpoint present more problems
than the common practice of feeding a balanced line through a single-ended
tuner and balun?
I’ve done a lot of experimenting with the latter and have learned that a) the
best configuration is with a 1:1 balun, and b)
On 1/13/2019 6:46 PM, Al Lorona wrote:
the feedline is a wire dangling from the antenna
that isn't connected to anything on the other end.
That "dangling wire" is actually *two* wires, and the field of one cancels the
field of the other for no net radiation or reception -- at least that is the
Good Evening,
Twenty meters was not easy. After I worked Ken I called for more
check ins and got Roy and another very weak station. Roy said he needs
to keep his snow blower active. Maybe he'll volunteer for folks east of
him. I kept digging and found only a presence calling me. Then
It appears to be linked from the K3S Transceiver Product page, on the Manuals
tab toward the bottom of the page, but here is the current link:
ftp://ftp.elecraft.com/K3S/K3S_comparison1.pdf
John, KC7DRI
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net on
behalf of
A nonscientific and fortuitous observation . . . with a result that came as no
surprise:
A week ago I carefully set up a Buddipole configured as a middling compromise
between a vertical dipole and a vertical with one above ground counterpoise
wire radial in a lazy L. Some fiddling got it
Have an inquiry with the N1MM logging group but thought I would raise the
question here.
Is it possible to toggle the RX antenna selection via the Keyboard with N1MM
software?
Regards,
Mark, K1RX
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The link below no longer works. Where is this document now?
73,
Bob, N6TV
On Sat, Jul 7, 2018 at 9:05 AM N6KR wrote:
> Our detailed, two-page comparison table between the K3S and IC-7610 is now
> complete:
>
> http://www.elecraft.com/K3/K3S_comparison1.pdf
>
> I’d like to thank everyone
>>> the feedline is a wire dangling from the antenna
>>> that isn't connected to anything on the other end.
That "dangling wire" is actually *two* wires, and the field of one cancels the
field of the other for no net radiation or reception -- at least that is the
condition we're trying to
Don et al,
I sense this discussion is targeting the use of a dipole on a single
band. What is being missed is that many of us use a dipole cut for for
one band and use it for the bands above. What we see are high SWRs on
all of the higher frequency bands. We use balanced feeds, open wire
Got fixed!!! Reseated the plugs and all working fine now.
Thanks for everyone’s assistance!
Jim / W6JHB
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 6:11 PM, Brian Hunt wrote:
>
> I take it that you are plugging the CM500 into the rear jacks. Make sure you
> have the headphones plug in the headphones jack and not
Only for the clock. Parameters are stored on non-volatile memory, saved at
shutdown. Hence the reason you don’t remove power to turn off the radio.
Sent from my iPhone
...nr4c. bill
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 8:27 PM, bp wrote:
>
> Hello, In replacing the lithium battery in a K3, for clock (?),
And for this reason I choose to use SPLIT in CW mode as opposed to RIT.
Thus SPOT only affects the received signal frequency which is VFO A and
I can tune VFO A as needed just like RIT. Thus VFO B is always the
transmit frequency and is not affected by the SPOT function.
73
Bob, K4TAX
On
Over a decade ago I did some un scientific experiments to investigate this
subject. I set up a test transmitter a few hundred feet away from my rotary 40
meter dipole. I took some field strength measurements with the dipole, then
lengthened one half of the dipole perhaps 6 inches and
Al:
Al et al;
I do agree. And in fact my 250 ft center fed antenna with 75 ft of
window feedline terminates at the operating position into a Balun
Designs 1171T. Then a coax jumper of about 2 ft long, which is actually
a model 8232 from The Wireman, Common Mode Choke between the balun and
Hello, In replacing the lithium battery in a K3, for clock (?),
will any other parameters be affected when there is no 3 VDC
present? Is the 3 VDC battery ONLY for the clock in the K3 ?
Thanks, Bob. K2AYA.
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H Wayne
I like the way the KX3 will let me use the automatic spot on the receiver only
when the RIT is on. I have always wished the K3 and K3S would do the same thing
as the automatic spot works so well but I do not want to move the transmitter
at the same time with the RIT on.
That is the
For HF, I doubt that many (if any) dipoles are fully balanced. On higher
frequencies (VHF), the antenna can be far enough away from other objects
and the ground that it could be considered unaffected by the
environment. But a 40m dipole at 40 feet is less than a half wave from
the ground and
On 1/13/2019 3:42 PM, Al Lorona wrote:
By the way, whenever Jim says, "...a very good common mode choke at the feedpoint of
an antenna...," he means an antenna fed with coax.
What I actually mean is an antenna matched to its feedline at the
operating frequency(ies).
For the rest of us, of
Carl - gave it a try but didn’t help. Each push of the “1” button changes it
from - to + and I hear a short noise from the internal speaker, but still no
audio getting through.
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 4:33 PM, Carl wrote:
>
> Jim,
>
> Check this, you could have bumped the "1" button!
>
>
>
You guys keep talking about coax-fed antennas. Yes, although it may be easy to
wind coax around a toroid and put it up at the antenna midpoint, that's not so
easy with open-wire line. This discussion was very coax-centric and I wanted to
open your minds that not everybody feeds their antenna
Jim,
Check this, you could have bumped the "1" button!
line"> the CONFIG:SPKR+PH menu
entry. Tap ‘1’ on the numeric keypad until you see PH.R SW– . The minus
sign (-)indicates inverted switch
logic for the jack for the newer KIO3 audio board. Exit the menu and
re-save your configuration
One of the things that has been hinted at is the OCF dipole. One of the really
great attributes is that you can adjust the matching impedance of the antenna
by moving the feed point away from center. If you have a SWR of 1.5:1 and the
R is 75 and the j is 0, move the feed point away from
Well, this is a strange one. Last week my trusty old Yamaha CM500 cans finally
got so deteriorated I got tired of picking small pieces of black rubber out of
my ears so I looked for a replacement. Bought a Koss SB45 that I used for 15
minutes and quit because they hurt. Today I got a brand new
Al,
If not placed at the antenna feedpoint (up at the antenna), then the
feedline may radiate due to common mode current.
For feedlines using parallel conductors, the problem is not as bad if
the feedline exits at right angles from the radiator for at least a half
wavelength. In that case,
It is reasonable to put a choke at the antenna with open wire line. Open wire
isn’t magic, it can carry common mode currents, too. Both wires high, both
wires low, and that is common mode.
wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 3:42
Go to MENU and AM, turn it on?
Chuck Jack
KE9UW
Sent from my iPhone, cjack
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 4:48 PM, Keith Onishi wrote:
>
> Correction as below;
>
> Tapping MODE switch on my KX3 with MCU 02.90, most latest firmware, switches
> mode from SSB -> CW -> FM -> FM, then back to SSB. It
By the way, whenever Jim says, "...a very good common mode choke at the
feedpoint of an antenna...," he means an antenna fed with coax. For the rest of
us, of course, that choke would (should) go at the output of the antenna tuner,
whether in the shack or close by.
Al W6LX
Many thanks, Don.
Now AM mode came back. But I do not remember when I set AM MODE OFF.
73 de JH3SIF, Keith
> 2019/01/14 7:53、Don Wilhelm のメール:
>
> Keith,
>
> Go to the menu and make sure AM MODE is turned ON.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> On 1/13/2019 5:37 PM, Keith Onishi wrote:
>> Hello,
>>
Marcel,
About the maximum voltage, that might be in the TR7 specifications.
OTOH, start with the pot at a low voltage and increase it until you
achieve the results that you want.
The K3 EXT ALC default threshold is -4.0 volts, so that may be a good
starting point for your experiments.
73,
On 1/13/2019 12:23 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
The OCF antennas are infamous for conducting RF into the shack.
And for being very noisy on receive.
73, Jim K9YC
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Home:
Your friend is a wise man. That is, indeed, reality. There's a
discussion about this in one of my tutorials.
http://k9yc.com/CoaxChokesPPT.pdf
The PRIMARY reason for putting a very good common mode choke at the
feedpoint of an antenna is to prevent the feedline from radiating into
your
Keith,
Go to the menu and make sure AM MODE is turned ON.
73,
Don W3FPR
On 1/13/2019 5:37 PM, Keith Onishi wrote:
Hello,
Tapping MODE switch on my KX3 with MCU 02.90, most latest firmware, switches mode
from SSB -> CW -> FM, then back to SSB. It does skips AM.
I have not switched to AM for
Correction as below;
Tapping MODE switch on my KX3 with MCU 02.90, most latest firmware, switches
mode from SSB -> CW -> FM -> FM, then back to SSB. It does skips AM.
73 de JH3SIF, Keith
> 2019/01/14 7:37、Keith Onishi のメール:
>
> Hello,
>
> Tapping MODE switch on my KX3 with MCU 02.90, most
Thank you Don!! I was trying to get a general feel for what to expect,
a ms, or us type of answer...
I was thinking of using the IF to avoid the DSP filters for just the
reasons you cited. I am sure you are correct about testing-- time to
break out the scope...
Thanks again for your
Hello,
Tapping MODE switch on my KX3 with MCU 02.90, most latest firmware, switches
mode from SSB -> CW -> FM, then back to SSB. It does skips AM.
I have not switched to AM for long time. I think I was able to select AM by
tapping MODE before.
I went through KX3 Owner’s Manual to look for any
That's why I use the statement "xxx ft center fed wire with balanced feed". I
do have the ability to measure the current in each side of the feedline. As
long as it is within 5%, about the limits of accuracy of measurements, I'm
happy.
Bob, K4TAX
Sent from my iPhone
> On Jan 13, 2019,
Thanks to all of for your prompt answers
On CW it works great thanks to the carrier adjustment control
On SSB: it goes to 150W out very easy
Yes it is just for fun.
The K3 is great but the TR7 is funny and special.
One last question: Someone suggested to use a 9V battery with a pot to inject
A friend once told me, "Almost none of us has a balanced dipole."
What he meant is, few of us are lucky enough to be able to put a dipole
high up and completely in the clear - most of us have to put it up where we
can, and one side will be closer to houses, trees, gutters, chain link
fences.
To answer the question "Could a couple of inches or so difference in the
length of the legs of a dipole ever work in your favor?"..depends on
the frequency. For lower frequencies likely NO, for higher frequencies
maybe YES. Thus 2" for a 160M dipole would be 0.066% while 2" for a 10M
Drake rated the TR7 by input power as was common then. 250W. They recommended
a fan kit for high duty cycle RTTY operation.
I owned one for years and it was a wonderful radio. The only issue was
tin-plated pins (sound familiar) on the interface between the main circuity and
the digital
Dave,
I would be cautious about looking only at the IF. That is all in front
of the DSP.
Certainly the DSP creates some latency, but that is not what we are
talking about. The DSP latency will delay all signals.
So test in the configuration that you will likely use. If using the IF
I spoke to a Drake tech way back when on some matters. His advice was to turn
the ALC (or whatever it was for drive level) for the TR7 on the small internal
pot to keep it at 100w, rather than full power or even less than the full
possible. This was long term better for finals I think and left
Hi Don,
Thanks for the combined brain power! I have a plan for testing if it
ever gets that far. I am just trying to see if the K3 receiver recovers
sufficiently fast in a general sort of way first.
I believe I could look at RF levels on the IF while transmitting, (using
a different
You ought to be able to measure it by simply looking at the audio output
with a scope. Just send some dits and look at how long it takes for the
noise to reappear. You might have to use a noise source, or a low level
carrier at a slightly different frequency.
Of course, with the AGC off and
Ron,
With a slight difference, I cannot see that it would either benefit or
degrade. The current distribution on the radiator might be a little
off-center, but it will still work.
But it is one reason for using a very good current choke on the feedline
- to keep RF off the outer braid of the
I was asked a question by a newcomer to HF today. After thinking about it,
I realized it had never really occurred to me. So I’ll pass it on to the group
and see what the antenna gurus think.
Is there ever a time where a slight imbalance in a dipole could be
beneficial? My first
Dave,
I am trying to think of how you might test it.
The best I can think of is to listen to both a noise source and an XG3
sending a CW string of dots. Increase the speed of the CW sent by the
XG3 until you can no longer hear the noise source between dits.
Then either calculate the off times
Don,
Yep, my bad. I re-read it, and you are right. Thanks for the correction.
Dick, K8ZTT
Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android
On Sun, Jan 13, 2019 at 12:24, Don Wilhelm wrote:
Dick and Chuck,
Please read the description for the BAT MIN on page 54 of the Owner's
Manual again.
It explicitly
As an aside on the TR-7 (one of my all-time favorite radios), Drake generally
limiting output power to about 120W (adjusted on 20M) to keep the PA healthy
long term. While the PA is capable of 150-200W output, it was certainly not
recommended.
As to cooling, there was an optional fan to cool
Hi again,
I totally mangled the 2nd statement. Corrected below.
Knut
ab2tc wrote
> Hi again,
>
> True, but the TR7 is all solid state, including the finals. See here:
>
> http://www.wb4hfn.com/DRAKE/DrakeArticles/InsideTheTR7/Inside_The_TR7-01.htm
>
> According to that article Drake claims
I believe BAT MIN is a user setting to determine the voltage at which the radio
will indicate Battery Low notification and below which it will SHUTDOWN!
Sent from my iPhone
...nr4c. bill
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 1:56 PM, RIchard Williams via Elecraft
> wrote:
>
> Chuck
> An not sure where
Dick and Chuck,
Please read the description for the BAT MIN on page 54 of the Owner's
Manual again.
It explicitly states that BAT MIN refers to the main 12v power supply to
the K3 and NOT to the 3 volt lithium battery.
Check the power supply voltage as read in the ALT VFO B DISPLAY. That
Hi again,
True, but the TR7 is all solid state, including the finals. See here:
http://www.wb4hfn.com/DRAKE/DrakeArticles/InsideTheTR7/Inside_The_TR7-01.htm
According to that article Drake claims 130-150W output for bands at above
20m and 60-100W on 80-15m.
Boy, is that transceiver ever
Hi again Scott,
Thank you for your answer, but I am not being clear.
Not during break in, just sitting there in receive... If the radio is
hit with an S9+ signal, how long after the S9+ signal terminates before
the K3 receiver recovers enough to show an weak signal on the IF... No
T/R
Chuck
An not sure where the people answering your question are obtaining their
dis-information from. In any case, the K3 does indeed have a 3 V lithium on
the main board. It is used to power the clock, and it can last from 2 to 10
years.
It is a CR 2032 cell and is located on the left
On 1/13/2019 12:35, ab2tc wrote:
With typical efficiencies seen in solid state PAs it is probably rated at no
more than 100W output,
Actually, tube amplifiers can be quite a bit more efficient than solid
state ones. The theoretical limit for class B is around 70 percent, a
practical limit
Hi Marcel and Don,
The TR7 is rated at 250W *input*. See here:
https://www.universal-radio.com/catalog/hamhf/tr7.html
With typical efficiencies seen in solid state PAs it is probably rated at no
more than 100W output, so the KPA500 should give you noticeably more power.
Anyway, Don's suggestion
Given the way processors improve in speed with time (Moore's
law), the idea of a new DSP could mean just that. The big issues
I see are RFI, power consumption, and heat.
If we go in the direction of adding AI to the mix, then we will
need more storage as well as more processor. (Your phone
On 1/13/2019 12:10, Dave Cole (NK7Z) wrote:
Is it faster than .0001 ms?
Certainly not. I'm not sure whether it is recovery time or latency, but
in full break-in mode, you hear nothing between the dits above something
like 10 wpm. (Even with AGC off.) With other non-DSP receivers, one can
Is it faster than .0001 ms?
73s and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
Award Manager, 30MDG Grid Contest
ARRL Technical Specialist
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL OOC for Oregon
On 1/13/19 9:06 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
Dave,
That depends on slow or fast AGC and the setting of the AGC DCY
Sorry, I forgot to add, AGC off...
73s and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
Award Manager, 30MDG Grid Contest
ARRL Technical Specialist
ARRL Volunteer Examiner
ARRL OOC for Oregon
On 1/13/19 9:06 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
Dave,
That depends on slow or fast AGC and the setting of the AGC
sounds like an Aphex Compellor
On 1/13/2019 10:01 AM, HB wrote:
I have used an outboard compressor/expander for this (paired with a 7 band
parametric(quasi) equalizer) and besides normalizing audio levels can squash
static crashes and pad certain frequencies above a certain intensity
Yes, I agree that the computation needs to be done in the frequency
domain with an FFT. I have no clue whether or not the K3 and K3s have
enough computational power to do so, but Lyle (Elecraft's DSP guru)
briefly discussed this idea with me when I suggested it several years
ago and he
I've found that during some contest operation, it's handy to call CQ on
VFO B, while using VFO A to search and pounce. (Known as Single Operator
2 VFO mode, SO2V.) That way, when unassisted, I can use the P3 to locate
promising signals. However, I sometimes wish the RIT would work with the
Dave,
That depends on slow or fast AGC and the setting of the AGC DCY menu
parameter.
Fast is very quick - just watch the S-meter to get some visual indication.
73,
Don W3FPR
On 1/13/2019 11:49 AM, Dave Cole (NK7Z) wrote:
Hello,
Anyone able to answer this question please?
In the presence
Hello,
Anyone able to answer this question please?
In the presence of a strong signal, say -75 db, (or around S9), once
that signal ceases, how long does it take the K3 receiver to return to
normal receive capability again?
--
73s and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
https://www.nk7z.net
Award Manager,
What ever happened to giving us some alternate selectivity on the APF?
73, Roger
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Post:
Wayne,
Are you guys going to be at Hamcation in Orlando next month? Thinking that I
may want a K3S, but would like to see one first and fiddle with it. Already
have a KX2 and KX3.
Regards,
Jim Licquia, AC9SF
Sent from my iPad Pro
__
Assuming that there is enough processing power available, and the
architecture physically allows the mixing, manually steering either the
peak or the null should be achievable. There is a slight subtlety in
that one is trying to achieve a constant time delay at RF, not a
constant phase
I have used an outboard compressor/expander for this (paired with a 7 band
parametric(quasi) equalizer) and besides normalizing audio levels can squash
static crashes and pad certain frequencies above a certain intensity
automatically (similar to de-easing in function). It was more analog than
This thread is hilarious!!!
There is an AI joke somewhere in here about a dummy load
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 1:50 AM, kevinr wrote:
>
> Sounds like a project for a neural network. A bit of AI which 'recognizes'
> patterns. There would be ~ 40 outputs for letters, numbers, and symbols. I
I have decided to sell one of my K3's. So there is no confusion, it is a
K3, late 3000 serial number. It is a 100w kit. Options include standard
2.7k filter, KDVR3 voice recorder, KXV3A interface (RX antenna, IF out
and Xverter ), KAT3 antenna tuner (adds 2nd antenna input), power cable,
and a
Oh rats...an RTC battery warning would have been a plus.
Chuck KE9UW
c-haw...@illinois.edu
Sent from my iPad
> On Jan 13, 2019, at 6:55 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>
> Mark,
>
> Then check the power supply voltage (Use the alternate VFB B display) and all
> connectors.
> That message has nothing
Good to know it gives a warning before it goes flat and leaks!
Chuck KE9UW
c-haw...@illinois.edu
Sent from my iPad
> On Jan 12, 2019, at 11:01 PM, Mpridesti via Elecraft
> wrote:
>
> Don
>
> It is a K3. Bought it used and carries a low serial number. Never have
> changed the internal
Mark,
Then check the power supply voltage (Use the alternate VFB B display)
and all connectors.
That message has nothing to do with the RTC battery.
There is no internal battery in the K3 other than the tiny RTC battery.
73,
Don W3FPR
On 1/13/2019 12:01 AM, Mpridesti wrote:
Don
It is a
On 1/12/2019 2:06 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
This would allow a user to put up two vertical sense antennas to
determine the azimuth of an incoming signal (albeit with a potential
mirror image uncertainty). Or put up two horizontal sense antennas to
display the arrival angle of an incoming
I am not an engineer but i agree with David. It is like DSA (digital
subtraction angiography) tecnology. (
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Digital_subtraction_angiography) I know that
this technology is much useful for studing on medical images, So i
understand that David has adviced such a same
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