Andy, What you need - especially on 15 meters is a good strong signal that is known to be in the 15 meter band. It is possible (and easy) to get the Pre-Mixer bandpass filter tuned up so that you are receiving 24 MHz rather than 21 MHz. The marker generator will not differentiate between the marker points, so I would discourage its use for the intitial tuning of the K1 bandpass filters.
So I would suggest you operate a 15 meter transmitter into a dummy load and couple a "hunk of wire" antenna from the K1 to the dummy load - sufficiently close that you can hear a signal even though the bandpass filters may be mis-tuned. The same thing goes for 30 meters, but the problem is not as severe on 30 meters as it is on 15 (or 17 if you built the 4 band board for that band). Once you find the 15 meter signal, keep increasing the distance between the other transmitter's dummy load and your antenna wire as you tune the 15 meter trimmers. Keep the signal into the K1 as low as possible so you can find a definite peak. You must tune 15 meters before you tune 20 meters, and 30 meters before you tune 40 meters. Attempting to do it the "other way 'round" will onlly lead to frustration. The capacitive trimmers should be set initially with the slots parallel with the long side of the 4 band board. The proper tuning point will be no further than 20 degrees from that position (unless you have a problem with the number of turns on the toroids). Once you do the receive alignment, you will be instructed to do the transmit alignment later. You should only have to 'tweak' the adjustments slightly during this transmmit alignment if you did a good job of alignment in receive mode. It is easier to discern the peak during transmit adjustment than in receive. 73, Don W3FPR Andy Engle wrote: > Hey guys! New Elecrafter here...building myself a K1 and having a LOT of > fun. Altogether, I'm assembling the K1 with 4-band filter, noise blanker, > and tuner. > > I've built a lot of smaller kits in the past, but this has been by far the > most ambitious build yet. I'm happy to say that studying all of the > builders' guides and instructions have kept me from running off the road. I > do, however, have one question for the group. > > Specifically, I have reached the point in construction (Ch. 7, Pg. 39) where > I am to perform receiver alignment. The instructions suggest, in preference > order, a signal generator, another ham transceiver, or an antenna. Since > things have gone so well this far, I am motivated to use the best option and > hopefully continue my success through this step. > > I don't have a signal generator, per se. I do, however, have a VE3DNL marker > generator assembled and functioning. Would this be appropriate to use for > the intended purpose, or do I need a transmitter that is "natively" (that is, > not through harmonics like the VE3DNL does) transmitting in-band? > Alternatively, would the Elecraft XG2 be a better tool for the job? > > I am building for 40,30,20, & 15....but the XG2 is 3-band only? > > Thanks to all for help and kindness to this newbie! > > --Andy > K0ADE > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > > ______________________________________________________________ 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
