Great update Wayne Well it's all relative. Saturday, I got to FD, 2.5 hours from home, to a sister Clubs operation, they invited me to come down and work some cw. When I arrived, they were running an American rig (not Elecraft) on CW station, I operated it for a few hours.
I asked if they minded if I ran my own radio, which was no problem. I'm sure glad I brought my pelican case, with my trusty "old" k3 and p3, no "s", no updates, no narrow filters, no nuttin! It was like going from an HW-7 to a K2... Sorry, but I'm ruined. Have Elecraft, will travel. I won't be moving to a k4... No need. I'm happy. 73 all Dean K2WW On Mon, Jun 24, 2019, 13:32 Nr4c <[email protected]> wrote: > Hopefully there will be a lot of them in users hands by then (MINE)!! > > Thanks for the update. > > Sent from my iPhone > ...nr4c. bill > > > > On Jun 24, 2019, at 1:11 PM, Wayne Burdick <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > George (KJ6VU), John (KJ6K) and I operated a basic K4 for several hours > as the 20 meter CW station at the Bay-Net Field Day site east of San Jose. > This was the K4's first outdoor shake-down. The stakes were high, since the > K4 has to pick up where the K3S/P3 leave off, fulfilling a dual role as > both a high-end desktop and field/portable station. > > > > Observations: > > > > - the light weight (~10 pounds) made it easy to transport and set up > > > > - there was virtually no mutual interference between the K4 and a very > active 40 meter SSB station using an antenna about 40' away > > > > - thanks to the low noise at this location we were able to hear many > weak signals clustered together, and found signal clarity to be excellent > > > > - the LCD was clearly visible, without color washout, despite a full > assault by bright sunlight bleeding through our translucent white tent > cloth (some other radios at the same location had displays that were almost > impossible to see) > > > > - the ATU did was able to tune a narrow-banded 20 meter yagi on other > bands, when necessary, including 15, 10, and 6 meters > > > > - the radio ran from a very small Li-Ion battery (KXBT2, ~2.5 AH) for > quite awhile, proving it works at 11 V, which is important for stations > running from a somewhat depleted car battery or other emergency supply > > > > - operators were very complimentary of the internal speaker, though I'm > partial to stereo audio and was using a pair of 8", 4 ohm (passive) > external speakers most of the time > > > > We had a bit of fun late in the afternoon on Saturday when we switched > from the Yagi to an AX1, Elecraft's 4 foot 20 meter whip. This may seem > frivolous, but it's an important test because it shows that the radio's > shielding is working well. It should handle an end-fed wire with a balun > right at the antenna jack. > > > > Here are some comments we received afterward from KJ6K: > > > > "It was a real thrill to play with the K4 while making making CW > contacts with it during Field Day. It's an amazing technical and usability > design achievement. The user interface for many modern radios is so complex > that an operator may need to refer to the manual frequently to figure out > how to access a desired function, and never be able to do so quickly. The > display on the K4 is gorgeous, and the use of touch, along with physical > controls, provides a very intuitive and efficient user interface. > > > > "My own interests in ham radio have always been mostly in the science > and engineering, so my operating is mostly casual, with HF CW my favorite > mode. The architecture of the K4 is really exciting; the performance and > endless possibilities for features and connectivity is really cool." > > > > Thanks, John! > > > > Looking forward to full-contact Field Day battle mode with a couple of > K4s next year :) > > > > Wayne > > N6KR > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > 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] > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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] > On Mon, Jun 24, 2019, 13:32 Nr4c <[email protected]> wrote: > Hopefully there will be a lot of them in users hands by then (MINE)!! > > Thanks for the update. > > Sent from my iPhone > ...nr4c. bill > > > > On Jun 24, 2019, at 1:11 PM, Wayne Burdick <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > George (KJ6VU), John (KJ6K) and I operated a basic K4 for several hours > as the 20 meter CW station at the Bay-Net Field Day site east of San Jose. > This was the K4's first outdoor shake-down. The stakes were high, since the > K4 has to pick up where the K3S/P3 leave off, fulfilling a dual role as > both a high-end desktop and field/portable station. > > > > Observations: > > > > - the light weight (~10 pounds) made it easy to transport and set up > > > > - there was virtually no mutual interference between the K4 and a very > active 40 meter SSB station using an antenna about 40' away > > > > - thanks to the low noise at this location we were able to hear many > weak signals clustered together, and found signal clarity to be excellent > > > > - the LCD was clearly visible, without color washout, despite a full > assault by bright sunlight bleeding through our translucent white tent > cloth (some other radios at the same location had displays that were almost > impossible to see) > > > > - the ATU did was able to tune a narrow-banded 20 meter yagi on other > bands, when necessary, including 15, 10, and 6 meters > > > > - the radio ran from a very small Li-Ion battery (KXBT2, ~2.5 AH) for > quite awhile, proving it works at 11 V, which is important for stations > running from a somewhat depleted car battery or other emergency supply > > > > - operators were very complimentary of the internal speaker, though I'm > partial to stereo audio and was using a pair of 8", 4 ohm (passive) > external speakers most of the time > > > > We had a bit of fun late in the afternoon on Saturday when we switched > from the Yagi to an AX1, Elecraft's 4 foot 20 meter whip. This may seem > frivolous, but it's an important test because it shows that the radio's > shielding is working well. It should handle an end-fed wire with a balun > right at the antenna jack. > > > > Here are some comments we received afterward from KJ6K: > > > > "It was a real thrill to play with the K4 while making making CW > contacts with it during Field Day. It's an amazing technical and usability > design achievement. The user interface for many modern radios is so complex > that an operator may need to refer to the manual frequently to figure out > how to access a desired function, and never be able to do so quickly. The > display on the K4 is gorgeous, and the use of touch, along with physical > controls, provides a very intuitive and efficient user interface. > > > > "My own interests in ham radio have always been mostly in the science > and engineering, so my operating is mostly casual, with HF CW my favorite > mode. The architecture of the K4 is really exciting; the performance and > endless possibilities for features and connectivity is really cool." > > > > Thanks, John! > > > > Looking forward to full-contact Field Day battle mode with a couple of > K4s next year :) > > > > Wayne > > N6KR > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > > 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] > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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] > ______________________________________________________________ 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]
