Field Day was the perfect opportunity to really exercise my KX2. Saturday I set up several hundred yards from the house with the KX2, KXUSB interface cable, LNR MTR antenna (shorting plug for 40m, 20m installed and 25ft of RG-58 BNC terminated coax), internal 2200 mAh Li-ion battery (3S 11.1V nominal, 12.6V full charge) from Elecraft, matching 2200 mAh Li-ion purchased directly from Tenergy, Bioenno BLF-1206T 12V 6Ah LiFePO4 battery, SkyRC B6 iMax LiPro Charger, Noco-X-Grid XGS9 solar panels, KXPD3 paddle (with shortened screw), MH3 microphone, QRPworks Ham Central Terminal (early version upgraded to v2.3 firmware and PS2 keyboard), MFJ-822 watt meter, appropriate DC cables (APP and/or 5.5 X 2.1 coax terminations), RG-174 BNC terminated jumper cables, and Lenovo Win10 laptop (with Targus PA350 DC-to-DC PSU) running N1MM+ logger. Fortunately I also carried a Bencher paddle. This list is what I actually USED and does not include all the excess material that I dragged to the forest.
Family obligations prevented me from operating until 2100 UTC Saturday. I secured operation at 1600 UTC Sunday, sleeping for approximately 4 hours. I started with all three batteries fully charged and the KXPD3 attached to the KX2. I connected the MH3 (for the first time!) and attempted to keep a schedule for a 20m SSB Field Day exchange with a friend in Colorado. My 5-watt signal wasn't able to punch through the wall of noise! My cockpit time with the MH3 is now 20 minutes. I am certain there is much about SSB operation with the KX2 that I do not know. The MH3 went back into the bag until Field Day 2017 and I switched to CW. The first failure was the KXPD3. I had experienced problems with it in the past on the KX3, but on Saturday it refused to operate reliably. Visual inspection suggests that the paddle has the Elecraft updates. The first day of Field Day is not the time to troubleshoot, so I switched to the Bencher. Thank you Elecraft for the second paddle port! Problem solved. The performance of the batteries, the DC-to-DC charger, and the photovoltaics exceeded all expectations. According to the KX2's AMP HRS display, each of the 2200 mAh batteries provided just over 2.1Ah of service with the low battery warning set at 9.7 VDC (approximately 7 hours of operation with preamp and backlight both ON). There was an anomaly when the alert was triggered. I immediately changed batteries. The hour was after midnight so I wasn't as attentive as I probably should have been. I don't know how many contacts I failed to make before I noticed that the KX2 wasn't producing any output! Somehow during the low battery alert and changing the battery the output power had been reduced to zero! BTW, I used the programmable function key (PFn) to toggle VOX MD (QSK) on and off. I probably should have used a stereo headset in which case PFn might be of more use toggling Dual Watch during the contest. My only interface to N1MM+ was via the USB serial connection. I did not have the function keys/macros programmed so I was forced to use the two-button-depression of KX2 to send recorded text, a real PITA. N1MM+ performed flawlessly. After midnight I switched to the Ham Central Terminal (HCT) simply to evaluate the usage mode. This produced a second log file, but with ADI export for LOTW this was not inconvenient. The HCT was easier to use since it allowed single-key-depression transmission of recorded messages. This will probably NOT be the case with a proper interface between the KX2 and N1MM+. It took a few minutes to familiarize myself with the PS2 keyboard/HCT user interface, then all went very well. I understand that the current HCT model supports a USB keyboard. Although the HCT worked well with the KX2, some of the commands provided unexpected results. For example, depressing ALT-S for Rig Status caused the KX2 to change mode and did NOT display accurate status information. Perhaps we will get an update? Lessons learned: - Perform a shakedown setup AND operate BEFORE leaving for the field. I took twice as much gear as necessary! - Use a DC-to-DC power supply for your logging device to avoid any dependence on mains power. - Solar panels are great, but make sure you have enough ampacity to last till sunrise. - For FD or any time you know that a battery swap will be necessary, just use the external connector (thanks Elecraft for using the same connector!) - Be wary of the KXPD3. I anxiously await the KXPD2 and expect it to perform better. - Use logging software or HCT that supports duplication checking and single-key saved message transmission. Fatigue is reduced and logging more accurate. - If operating alone, don't plan on cooking. I ate raw vegetables and cold cuts to avoid taking time off for food preparation. - For FD a simple wire antenna was more than adequate. Don't expect any rare Dx but there were plenty of stations to work. Finally, if CW QRP is your mode of choice by all means use an Elecraft KX2. It excelled in size, portability, ease of use, power consumption, and reliability! The entire photovoltaic panel, charger, and associated cables were not necessary for a 24 hour event. Ken - ke4rg ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
