Hello Simon, I just built my KX1 and like you thought the paddles wouldn't be good for me. Wayne, N6KR convinced me to try them, and I must admit as he said, they grow on you, and they are really convenient. When constructed properly according to the instructions, they actually have a nice feel, and having them able to be attached to the radio for hand-held operation is actually a plus.
The ATU is quite good, and I have used it to tune my PAC-12 vertical, (set up with the whip fully extended and let the tuner give the exact match to save time), all my home antennas, (folded dipole, tri-band beam and a 130 foot inverted U wire that's end fed). It matched to 1.5:1 or better on the wires. It would match the PAC-12 when the appropriate coil was installed, and would match 30 meters with the 40 meter coil installed, but not radiate as well. It would not match 30 or 40 with the 20 meter coil installed or 40 with the 30 meter coil installed to below 2.1:1 SWR. The beam, of course loaded fine 1.0:1 indicated on 20 meters. The internal AA pack is included with all KX1's, so buy some good alkaline batteries to take with you anyway as they might come in handy. The rig will take its power from whichever input has the highest voltage, so yes, the small gel cells will be very useful as well. You should get 4 watts out with the 12V gel cells, and 1.9 or so with the AA's. The RX in the KX1 is no K2, but then that's not surprising with the Gilbert Cell mixer (SA-612) in the front end. It does have extremely adequate sensitivity, and the 4 crystal, adjustable filter provides excellent selectivity. It also has a feature I haven't seen on other small DDS transceivers. You can switch between USB, LSB and Normal (CW). Of course, it won't transmit SSB, but when in the USB/LSB modes, it offsets the TX frequency so that when an SSB station is tuned in to receive properly, the SSB operator will hear your CW signal at about 600 Hz tone. This can be a real asset in an emergency (provided the SSB operator can copy CW hi hi). I hadn't originally planned to get the KXPD1 paddles, but now that I have them, I find that I like them and don't carry my other small paddles in the KX1's travel case. Jim, W0EB K2 #4338, KX1 #1268 > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Simon > Brown (HB9DRV) > Sent: Wednesday, October 26, 2005 1:49 AM > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: [Elecraft] KX1 Ideas > > > Hi, > > I would appreciate feedback on these ideas. > > * How good is the KX1's automatic ATU? I have seen > suggestions that it is > good with long wires, myself I was thinking about using > lightweight dipoles. > I am sure I will buy this no matter what. > > * I am not planning to buy the KX1 paddles, rather take my hefty Kent > paddles with me. $69 (or so) for the small paddles is rather > a lot and I > have two Kent paddles already ($69 buys a lot of beer). I > assume that I can > use non-Elecraft paddles without buying the KXPD1 option. > > * I am planning to use an external 12V 3AH NiMh battery > rather than internal > AA. I have two of these which I bought from > http://www.qrpproject.de/ a few > years ago. > > * I am planning to buy the 30m adapter. > > FWIW I am getting sorted out for SOTA Switzerland, the > mountains and dog are > ready, just need the radio. > > Simon Brown > --- > www.hb9drv.ch www.laax.ch > > _______________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > You must be a subscriber to post to the list. > Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): > http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm > Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
