Does the received noise decrease when you disconnect the antenna? 73, Ross N4RP
On 3/8/2011 1:06 AM, Vernon Mauery wrote: > At the risk of exposing what a n00b I am when it comes to HF, I really > need some help. I recently (last month) purchased a K3. First HF > radio I have owned. I got my license 2 years ago and have spent most > of the time since playing with VHF. I have been trying to teach > myself CW and decided that it was time to step into the HF waters. I > studied, ogled, and dreamed of my ideal HF transceiver. I finally > found the K3 and having looked (at least a cursory glance) at all the > others, I was sold. I saved my pennies and purchased. I also got > myself a 43' untuned vertical antenna, balun, and radial wires. > > My setup: K3/100 has 100 feet of low loss 400 coax out to the 43 foot > vertical on the hill in my back yard. It has 8 25 foot radials and a > 4:1 balun. The K3 has the KATU3, KPA3, KTCXO3-1, KFL3A-400, and > default 2.8KHz filters. I assembled it and did followed the > calibration instructions as well as I could. I think I got > everything, but obviously I missed something. Or maybe I just need an > elmer to tell me what to do. > > I cannot seem to find any signals that make the S meter go above a 3 > or 4. I have the RF gain turned up a fair ways (mostly to the top), > and I can hear static. As I tune up some of the bands on SSB, I can > hear a tone that changes higher in pitch as I tune up in frequency. I > have tried listening for CW, but I am hearing nothing as I scan > through the bands. I had a 10m horizontal dipole taped to my wall for > a while until I found time to run the coax out to the back yard. I > had hoped that since it was resonant on the 10m band, maybe it would > be able to pick up something, but it was no better (or worse) than my > vertical. > > As far as I can tell, the radio seems to transmit. I can see the > power meter moving and the SWR meter moving. The ATU seems to be able > to find acceptable settings on most of the bands with the vertical. > But I can't hear them. You can't work them if you can't hear them, > right? > > This is a desperate plea for help. Is it the radio or me? Please > have pity on the n00b and walk me through my first HF contact. > > --Vernon N7OH > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- FCC Section 97.313(a) “At all times, an amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.” ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
