[Elecraft] Bumblebee Plans

N4SL (BB 159) and WB7FJG (BB 177) will be doing the bumblebee thing from WWA on Sunday. Radio: K2 with internal ATU and 5Ahr battery Antenna: 20m X-Q quad (2-wavelength vertical loop) Location: Lord Hill Regional Park, Snohomish, WA

[Elecraft] K2's ATU

I got my K2 for this year's FD, ended up using my homebrew 3KW transmatch for the balanced-line antennas. Felt kinda dumb, this tiny radio on a battery and a HUGE transmatch, external VSWR bridge, cables.. So, I rushed to build the ATU for the K2 just in time for the Flight of the Bumblebees

[Elecraft] Knob

I also didn't prefer the stock K2 knob, it's a bit small for my meaty hands and the edge is sharp. Adding the Fingerdimple solved everything. The knob is still small so it packs nicely for the field but the dimple lets you spin away. 73, Steve N4SL

[Elecraft] K2 FS

I build up my K2 for 2004 Field Day. It's a great radio and I really like it, but except for portable/field use the knobs, buttons are too small for my meat hooks. I've been a QRO contester (mainly because I like running strings) and I guess I'm gonna sell my K2, FT847 and a couple of others

[Elecraft] K2 does it again

FD 2004 results are in on the web. WB7FJG and I operated W7MRG in 2B2B (2-man, 2-tx, QRP Battery) to AN UNPRECEDENTED WORLD VICTORY! (i've been watching too much campaign coverage). Naturally, my radio was a K2 which kicked A$$ and took names (or at least callsigns). Next year we're gonna

[Elecraft] K2/100 Connector

Thanks for the replies, I used a tiny screwdriver from the front, lifted the pin and pulled it right out the back, slick as a whistle. I got my K2/100 on the air this morning, forgot to solder ONE pin (K7, 20/17m didn't work, easy to track down) and eveything else seems to work perfectly!

[Elecraft] Fan, PTT, 10m power Out

I've fully embedded my K2 with it's new 100W option into my SO2R layout, driving a SB220 for the 2nd station (replacing a hopelessly inadequate FT847). While everyone works fine, the cooling fan is blowing air INTO the radio and exiting from the speaker. Is this right or did I install it

[Elecraft] K2 PTT

My SO2R contesting setup just replaced an FT847 and SB220 amp (2nd station) with the K2/100. My setup is a single PC running Writelog with CW keying and Radio A/B selection coming from the LPT port. A homebrew bit of hardware does the keying and PTT generation for both radios. My previous setup

[Elecraft] Polling noise

I have an up-to-date K2 w/ the 100W amp. In the instructions it says you should slow the CAT update to once every 2-3 seconds to reduce notice of the slight noise you'll hear when it does a RX/TX on the CAT port. Sure enough, I can hear it but only in dummy load or when the band is *totally*

[Elecraft] TRX Manager Talks to K2?

I'm trying to get TRX Manager to talk to my K2 over a COM port (Win XP, COM3 as an add-on card) but it won't see it. Writelog can talk to the K2 with the same cable, port, etc. TRX talks fine to my FT1000MP MkV on COM1. I've read the instructions in TRX Manager about the K2 and experimented

[Elecraft] Heat related issue

WB7FJG and N4SL activated their club call, W7MRG for the Bumblebee event as BB #46. We hiked to a local bird sanctuary in Snohomish, WA and shot up an 88' CF doublet sloper with the two ends at 80' and 60'. Only worked 20m as the other bands were dead up here. We used a K2 and 5A-hr battery with

[Elecraft] 88' CF doublet

Thanks for the input on the heat, I agree it just overheated due to abuse (sometimes I do that, too). I got some private requests for information about my field-use 88' CF doublet, so here's how I do it, designed for lightest weight: Wire for antenna and feedline: 26 AWG 19-strand copperweld,

Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft AX-1 Whip Antenna

Caution when using this location: Make sure your counterpoise is insulated and there’s no way to contact bare metal at this point with your hand when using the KX2 hand-held ‘walkie-talkie’ style. I received a nice RF burn on my hand at this point once! Steve AA8AF > On Sep 24, 2022, at

Re: [Elecraft] Regarding KX3 with KPA1500.

Recently I ran across several video presentations by Rob Sherwood NC0B, regarding today’s (and yesterday’s) transceivers. To my surprise, he sifts his focus from receiver performance testing (for which he is famous for) to transmitter cleanliness. He gives a number of real examples of the

Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility

> Regarding the question about KX3-->KXPA100-->KPA1500: Be careful. All > amplifiers generate some distortion that wasn't present at the input. Each > succeeding amplifier amplifies that distortion. There are a couple of interesting articles here that discuss the design, construction and

Re: [Elecraft] Where to put the wattmeter

My eyes were recently opened in reviewing several Rob Sherwood NC0B presentations regarding the receiver testing he is famous for…. as the presentations really focused on transmitter cleanliness. In the presentations, Rob argues we have many excellent receivers available to us today - and goes

Re: [Elecraft] Grounding, Lightning & Attic Antennas

> On Jul 29, 2023, at 11:41 AM, Steve L wrote: > > Jim & Co., > I’m reading all the recent posts on the Elecraft reflector concerning > lightning protection… > > After a recent move, I am working on the design and construction of attic > antennas for both HF and V/

[Elecraft] Grounding, Lightning & Attic Antennas

Jim & Co., I’m reading all the recent posts on the Elecraft reflector concerning lightning protection… After a recent move, I am working on the design and construction of attic antennas for both HF and V/UHF. The topic of grounding and/or providing lightning protection for this installation

Re: [Elecraft] Field Day Operation

I was wondering too about the huge signal in the center of the waterfall…. Hopefully, the ARRL “Clean Signal Initiative” will help encourage manufacturers to clean up these messy transceivers! I recently discovered several presentations by Rob Sherwood - famous for his receiver testing. I was

Re: [Elecraft] Field Day Operation

hind the ARRL “Clean Signal Initiative” to both define better standards, then rate transmitters in ARRL testing against these standards. And of course, encourage/coerce manufacturers to clean up their outputs! Steve > On Jul 1, 2023, at 3:33 PM, Jim Brown wrote: > > On 7/1/2023 10:3

Re: [Elecraft] Field Day Operation

; From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net On > Behalf Of Steve L > Sent: Saturday, July 1, 2023 8:47 AM > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Field Day Operation > > I was wondering too about the huge signal in the center of the waterfall…. > Hopefully, th

Re: [Elecraft] Noise from KAT500?

There have been several tests in QST of switching power supplies in the past - including analysis of RF noise they create which was actually scary. Some are better than others, but all generate RF noise. I second the vote for non-switching (i.e. linear) supply from Astron (or equivalent)