Just finished the first contact with UA1CE on 20M with the new K1 at 5 watts into a 44' doublet.
I take back all my negative first impressions of the K1. It's right up there in quality with all the other Elecraft products. The initial "lousy and noisy receive" is an interesting case-in-point. Somehow, I managed to plug the 4 band filter into J7 and J6 but managed to miss J8! The clearance between J8 and the BNC is marginal and, with the sides on, I managed to miss J8. I'm amazed that it worked at all and I didn't get the error message advising that the filter board was not plugged in. Now, my K1 receiver is hearing the same weak signals as my K2 and K3. Wonder if I have earned the distinction of being the first one to pull this stunt? The lack of RF output was transformer T4. During installation I managed to cross two leads underneath the core. Since T4 is mounted flat and right on the board this error became invisible until I finished debugging everything else over two and a half days and was pretty much left with a defective T4 as the only likely cause. I was simultaneously relieved and angry when I desoldered T4 and saw those crossed wires. The "scratchy and rough" VFO pot is going to be replaced, by Richard in Parts, with a"smooth and creamy" one and for that I am very appreciative. All-in-all, this looks like it's going to be a fun little rig to add to my Elecraft inventory. Think I'll use it in the NAQCC Sprint tonight. 73, Stan WB2LQF KX1 #2411 K1#2994 K2# 6980 K3#5244 K9 #1 (Cocoa the Chihuahua) Everything is QRP, even the dog. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
