Inspired by having worked VP6DX with 10w on 80m using a 20m bisquare antenna,
I decided to try RTTY, about which I (still) know absolutely NOTHING.
Thanks Wayne for the K3 website tip on how to do this with no PC !
Setup was a breeze and BINGO, there was VP6DX on 10149, scrolling across the
The N0SS demo is very impressive. The noise sounds like what I have here in
the city suburbs most (all) of the time. But here hitting NB has no
tangible effect. I have not found it useful ! (OK; I probably need to read
the manual and play with the settings.)
On the other hand, NR does work
Thats news to me. I get TWO copies of the Elecraft Digest and ONE copy of the
Elecraft_K3 Digest.
Not sure how I get two copies of the regular Digest, but at a guess I'm on the
mailing list twice. I keep one copy of each Digest, now totalling 61mB. So
blocked I certainly am not !!!
Happy
I have the Elecraft HEXKEY and it is excellent, with a good solid feel to it.
I also have a collection of others (acquired over many yaers of searching for
a padle that would correct my mistakes !!)
OK; I gave up looking for error-correcting paddles and I am the proud owner of
a CHEVRON,
You can get used to almost anything, even a hand key, if you have to.
The real annoyance is having to swap keying modes when moving from one rig to
another. I key my K2 #609 directly with a Schurr Profi paddle using the on
board K2 logic. Thats because when I take the K2 away from home I can't
Iambic keying is a relic of tube keyers where flip flops were used to generate
alternating dots/dashes. Ultimatic keying where the last paddle closed takes
command is much more user friendly. Looks like I shall have to drive the K3
with my external keyer pity.
John G3JAG
Thanks Wayne. I'm sure the K3 will handle it. Either the linear has a fast
acting (vacuum) relay as in my TenTec Herc II, or it has an ancient WW2
clunker like my 3x811A homebrew. Some (adjustable) delay is needed before
sending RF to the linear. But an adjustable hang-in time is needed as
QSK requires that an outboard linear is somehow switched into transmit mode,
preferably before RF arrives at its input socket. In the case of my TenTec
Hercules II amp, a control signal is fed back to my Omni-V to tell it the
linear is ready to receive RF drive. The Hercules uses a vacuum
Well, thats what Lisa told me. No formal acknowledgement yet, but I'm in the
K3 queue and I still have to get past the big one - telling my xyl. But as
she is coming to Dayton with me I guess there is more than a chance she will
find out, especially when I tell her we have stand by the Elecraft
It would be nice to see N connectors in a radio of this class. If BNC is fine
for the basic K2, why go to SO239 instead of an N socket for the 100w
version ? OK everyone has them, but PL259s are a pain to install.
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Recent experience here suggests that finding a switcher that does NOT cause
RFI and fan noise problems is a problem.
I just went back to using a boat anchor industrial linear supply weighing in
at around 40-50 lbs for that reason. Unfortunately it came with large
terminal bolts, no PowerPole
I took #609 to South Africa for my ZS6/G3JAG vacation just after 9/11. No hand
baggage allowed ... except just one see-through plastic carrier bag. The
airport had no more such bags available, so I repacked my stuff at check-in
and used a super mart carrier bag. I just wrapped a newspaper
I took my K2 from UK to ZS6 only days after 9/11 when there was total chaos
and the only hand baggage allowed had to be in a see-thru plastic bag.
No-one at the airport had any left . so we made do with carrier bags from
duty free stores. I padded it a bit with a newspaper and no-one even
My K2 (and I) took a small hit whilst at relatively great altitude in ZS6. At
over 5000 feet storms creep up on you fast and I did not see this one coming
until it was almost too late. There was a crack; the K2 went completely dead
and there was a small arc as I unplugged everything and threw
My K2 (and I) took a small hit whilst at relatively great altitude in ZS6. At
over 5000 feet storms creep up on you fast and I did not see this one coming
until it was almost too late. There was a crack; the K2 went completely dead
and there was a small arc as I unplugged everything and threw
A very long time ago I suggested to Elecraft that an Ultimatic option would
be nice, and anyway the iambic mode is a dogs' breakfast to actually use.
Iambic keying only exists because of designer laziness; it was the easy way
out with flip flop circuitry.
The last discrete device
I just took #609 along with an old Bencher paddle and the Elecraft balun for a
week of antenna rigging at 9H3BW's Bugibba apartment. I also took enough
wire, ladderline and tools to make a G5RV style dipole on the apartment roof.
Nobody asked to look inside my hand baggage or inside the holdall
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