[Elecraft] Elecraft CW Net Announcement

[kevinr]

Good Evening,

   The year rang in with rain and fog.  I stepped outside to listen.  A 
minute later the local hummingbird buzzed my shoulder. He flew to a 
nearby branch and flashed his gorget at me.  Even on such a gray day it 
was very bright.  Resonance strikes again.


   The sun's spots are sliding over the limb.  This week's spots have 
yet to arrive.  Flux is at 81 sfu with a mild auroral oval. That should 
mean less noise.  But the only way to know for sure is to test the 
hypothesis.



Please join us tomorrow on:

14050 kHz at 2200z Sunday  (2 PM PST Sunday)
 7047 kHz at 0030z Monday  (4:30 PM PST Sunday)

73,

   Kevin. KD5ONS


-




The more the words, the less the meaning, and how does that profit anyone?



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[Elecraft] FS: Balun Designs Model 4114T Current Balun 5K

[James Bennett via Elecraft]

Doing some major antenna work here. For the past 10 years I’ve been using a 92 
foot long doublet, up 45 feet, fed with home brew 600-ohm ladder line. From the 
back of my K-Line / KX3 / KX2 I ran about 10 feet of Belden 9913 coax out the 
window to this balun, under the eves. From there, 110 feet of that ladder line 
to the antenna. Worked really well but my radiation lobes were not going where 
I wanted them and I had limited support structures. So, the doublet came down 
this weekend and was replaced with a 40 / 30 meter Skeleton-sleeve dipole.

That means this balun is excess to my needs. It is a Balun Designs model 4114T 
4:1 dual-core current balun; rated at 5kW - I’ve never used more than 500 
watts. It has an SO-239 coax connection on the unbalanced input and two studs 
with wing nuts on the output balanced side. It’s been mounted under the house 
eves all this time and has had very, very minimal exposure to rain. Some fading 
can be seen on the outside of the plastic housing, and a little black “gunk” 
from liquid electrical tape got on a small part of it - all cosmetic. It is in 
excellent condition - I’ve never had a problem with it. Photos available upon 
request.

If you are looking for a great, high power 4:1 current balun for your antenna 
farm - this one would be your choice. Take a look at the BalunDesigns.com 
 web site for this model and it’s specs. You’ll see 
that it sells for $89.95 new plus shipping (and maybe tax).

I’ll sell this one for $55 - free shipping to any USA address - Priority Mail.

Contact me off-list if you have questions.

Payment can be PayPal (w6...@mac.com ), cash, or personal 
check (one week to clear, please)

Tnx & 73, 

Jim Bennett / W6JHB
Folsom, CA 
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Re: [Elecraft] External sound card advice needed to attach to K3

[w...@w2xj.net]

 I was management at CBS corporate in NYC. I never saw such a questionaire. It 
appears you were a technician under IBEW contract so I don’t know what they 
required. I did become a member of BCARS (broadcast center amateur radio 
society) which was comprised mostly of IBEW technicians.   We rebuilt the ham 
shack on top of the 514 building and put a repeater on the Empire State 
building (all new factory installed Motorola gear). We did everything to code 
and to union spec. Bob Ross who was in charge of all engineering at CBS and a 
very big ham radio supporter (donated prizes at the NAB ham radio gathering) 
could write checks up to $100,000 without further approval and was a big BCARS 
supporter. We didn’t do cheap or messy. 

I don’t recall your name so where exactly at CBS did you work?

Sent from my iPad

> On Jan 2, 2021, at 9:53 AM, Raymond Sills  wrote:
> 
> 
> Hi Bob:
> 
> Hmmm... sorry to hear of that "anti-ham" hiring bias.  Over five decades ago, 
> I was hired by CBS, and one of the questions on the job application was: "Do 
> you have an Amateur Radio license, for how long, and what grade."   
> 
> It turns out those members of the technical staff who did have a ham ticket 
> were among the most valuable employees.  Sure, not every technician had a ham 
> license, but a number had commercial licenses (required for those who would 
> be operating a transmitter, back then).  Of those technical employees who 
> were ever let go, or who left on their own, not a single one was a ham.
> 
> Different strokes, I suppose.
> 
> 73 & QSH de Ray K2ULR
> 
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: w...@w2xj.net 
> To: Ray 
> Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net; donov...@erols.com
> Sent: Fri, Jan 1, 2021 8:42 pm
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] External sound card advice needed to attach to K3
> 
> Famous last words. The reason I have never hired Hams!
> 
> Sent from my iPad
> 
> > On Jan 1, 2021, at 7:19 PM, Ray  wrote:
> > 
> > Save your money!   
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Sent from my iPad
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Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide

[Morgan Bailey]

Chronological divide, Heh. I am 67 years old, for 7 years I played WoW, for
6 years I played Everquest and for 5 years I have played Guild Wars 2. I
enjoyed each of these games. I moved on to the more progressive game but
still enjoy playing them from time to time. I only play GW2 at this time.
Making the games set up and work with all peripherals is no harder than
setting up FT8. Setting up RTTY with 2 or 3 decoders and getting everything
to work...much harder. I am finding that many people in their 40s and 50s
are getting into Amateur Radio. Some want the challenge of making stuff
work, some want the antenna building experience, some want kit building but
most seem to be from a subset of the population that are what one might
call internet geeks. These guys do great in the transition to ham radio.
Many gamers spend upwards to 2k$ on a video card only for their game box.
So, $$$ is generally not a limiting option for this group. When they get
hooked, they are hooked hard. In NCJ a few years ago, there was an article
about contesting and video games. The parallels between the 2 of being "in
the zone" were made. The same psychological high is involved but actually,
it is more involved and dynamic than an online game.

Pile ups, gotta love them, any mode you can get them, cw or ssb will
provide that psychological high that melts the time away and keeps you on
your toes. One can get so involved that you have to force yourself to take
a deep breath and relax the shoulders and refocus on your posture so you
can continue to run. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 hours later, you have to pee, get a
drink, grab a snack and get at it again. It is addicting. I am glad that cw
contests are not every weekend because my life would end. LOL. SERIOUS
online gaming requires raiding to really advance in MMORPG games. Serious
ranking for WRTC takes the same. It takes tech, engineering, $$$ and
commitment to advance in the world of contesting. What reward? Well, if you
like to compete then this is your mojo. If you like to collect wallpaper
for working all places, counties, countries, etc it is there. If you want
to be recognised in a magazine for contest performance that is here.

In the ham radio world there are no cash prizes. Not so in the gaming
world, there really are professional gamers. Heh for that matter, I used to
farm gold in games and sell it for $$$. I did this while waiting to Raid.
In games you have dps meters and one always tried to be on the top of the
pile by being best in your class for whatever your function was. N1MM has a
rate meter and mults window based on band population and  feedback and
spotting networks. How does one get these gamers to transition to Amateur
Radio? Good question. When I state that my hobby is Ham Radio, I get, "I
did not think people did that now. Or Really, what is that? Why would you
do that?" the conclusion that I get from these comments is: there is not
enough exposure of the population to Amateur Radio. Plain and simple people
just don't hear about it or see it in action. There are no public special
events. There are not enough elmers to encourage people. There are no
longer any towers being put up because of HOA and zoning ordinance rules.
Towers used to be focal points for people to talk about. Why does he have a
tower? Once that question was asked then a tour of the shack generally was
involved and maybe 1 in 10 or 20 became interested to progress into the
hobby. Rarely do you see a tower any more. Less exposure, less questions,
about the hobby. People in general are curious.

If we want Amateur Radio to survive, we as a whole have to whet that
curiosity. We have to be Elmers. We have to welcome people and encourage
them to get involved. We have to be honest about the realistic expectations
of the hobby both in what it can and can not do, what is going to be the
realistic cost to get going from marginal rig/station to contest capable
station. The greatest disservice that is currently being done is licensing.
I traveled for 23 years up and down the east coast. I have attended many
radio club meetings and the focus has been licensing, getting more hams.
Sadly, that is not the answer. Many of those that got the license never
operated. Then there are the shack-on-the-crack 2 meter hams that just get
on repeaters and yack all day long. The same 3 or 4 guys on the repeater
day in and day out talking about the same thing. Heck if I were a new ham,
I would give it up in short order and try to sell my baufong asap. The
problem is even though we get people licensed there is little or No
followup with helping them get on the air. When I got my license over 50
years ago, I studied the Ameco Radio theory course. I bought the ARRL
handbook. That was my bible, my religion when I was 12 years old and living
on the farm. Today you buy a license manual. It has all the questions and
answers. Marking out all the wrong answers so that only the question and
right answer appears and after reading just the questio

[Elecraft] Digital Mode Application Note

[LA7NO]

Hello group,

I am looking for this application note:

"Digital Operation with K3 Remote System"

Can not find it on the Elecraft site.
Any idea where to find it?

73,

Per-Tore / LA7NO




-
73,

Per-Tore / LA7NO

--
Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/
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Re: [Elecraft] WTB: Nifty K2 Manual

[Don Wilhelm]

John, Phil, and others,

It is not a Nifty Manual, but a friend created a nice reference for the 
K2 as he was learning to use it.
It is available for download on my home page - look a few paragraphs up 
from the end of the home page www.w3fpr.com

You can print it and tri-fold it for a nice compact document.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 1/2/2021 2:15 PM, Phil Kane wrote:

On 1/1/2021 7:35 PM, John Mcclun wrote:

Looking for a Nifty K2 manual.  If you have please let me know the 
cost, thank you


Ditto for me as well.  Serious sellers only, please.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402


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Re: [Elecraft] WTB: Nifty K2 Manual

[Phil Kane]

On 1/1/2021 7:35 PM, John Mcclun wrote:


Looking for a Nifty K2 manual.  If you have please let me know the cost, thank 
you


Ditto for me as well.  Serious sellers only, please.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane
Elecraft K2/100   s/n 5402

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest
Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon

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Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide

[Tom Azlin W7SUA]

Hi Dave.

My KX3 does really well. I suspect the KX2 had before would be the same. 
So I would posit that Elecraft has already filled that need in my shack.


73, tom w7sua

On 12/15/2019 12:22 PM, David Gilbert wrote:



By the way, and more directly related to Elecraft and Wayne's original 
post, not too long ago I proposed that Elecraft might consider building 
a smallish, portable, dedicated FT8/4 radio. Something with a screen and 
using the core engine of WSJT-X but with a much better user interface, a 
better logger, and the ability to actually say something (i.e., more 
than four message lines).  It got almost zero traction here, and none 
from Elecraft, but I still think it wouldn't be a bad idea.  Think of it 
as the HF equivalent of texting.


73,
Dave   AB7E


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Re: [Elecraft] Reaching across the chronological divide

[Tom Azlin W7SUA]

Sorry to not agree EricJ.

I have made a lot of friends over multiple QSOs, in my case digital
modes. To me that is the magic that continues. Including long QSOs with
hams across the ponds. But then I got my Novice in 1972.

At local neighborhood watch got asked if I could help if we in this
rural area lost land lines and cell phone service. So I explained how
ham radio can help. No kids there so getting them excited still work in
progress.

73, tom w7sua

On 12/14/2019 7:46 PM, EricJ wrote:

We're missing the point here somehow. Siri's answer should have been
 "The best way to contact Helen is to pick up your phone and call
her."

Anything else is pretty much a waste of time and resources just to
talk to Helen. Seriously, there's a sizable investment in specialized
 equipment to make contact via AMSAT or whatever. The contact is set
up for them. Then Jon and Helen wait to be told when the link is
ready. If that's worth doing and will attract young people, then just
shoot me. It sounds terminally boring.

Making that investment in specialized equipment can't be justified as
 utilitarian communication because it's expensive and inefficient. If
the point is to contact your friends any time you want to, they are
already doing that with a half a dozen reliable instant technologies
all accessible from the same smartphone. I don't get where ham radio
comes in to solve a problem they have already solved. Certainly not
with a system that requires waiting 15 minutes for a satellite to get
in position, and a Cupertino Robot to set up the call.

I don't have the answer to attracting young people to a rapidly
changing hobby in an even more rapidly changing world. The aspects of
the hobby that attracted many of us was the sheer magic of radio
itself. We weren't attracted to it because it let us contact our
friends. Even then we had the telephone for that. We were attracted
to the magic. Nine times out of ten, the communication part was "599
OM PSE QSL".

I always heard how DX contacts would allow me to learn about other 
cultures. Actually, it did. After exchanging signal reports, I'd look

up their city with an atlas or encyclopedia. But I learned zip on the
air. A few California Kilowatts could hog a DX station, and chit chat
for a few minutes, and did because they could. But the rest of us
never got beyond the basic exchange and fought like hell for that.
But it was magic so it didn't matter that it wasn't all that
practical.

The magic that attracted us is gone. Maybe there's new magic to be 
found, but it's different magic that most of us with 30-70 years in

the hobby won't understand...and probably won't like. We are the
wrong people to even be considering answers but anyone expecting to
make a living from the hobby will have to find that new magic. It
ain't instant communication and it ain't the ham radio equivalent of
retro turntables.

Eric KE6US

ex-K1DCK, WA6YCF, WB2PVW


On 12/14/2019 5:35 PM, andy.moorw...@moorcom.com wrote:

Question: Can amateur radio reach across the digital divide ? My
answer: It could Follow up Question: Do you think it will ? My
answer:  No, not with current products and modes of use

Why do I say this ? My 20 year old wants a turntable for Christmas.
Why on earth does he want one when he can download any song he
wants from his apple music account ? Answer: People of his
generation are moving beyond mere utility (listening to any song
anywhere anytime), they now want a musical experience, playing a 
vinyl record - could be one of mine - with all the "atmosphere"

(hiss and scratches) to experience the music as it was "made".

Could this experiential notion morph to a communications form? 
Communications utility is being able to contact your friends at 
anytime from anywhere, instantly,  AKA the ubiquitous smartphone.

A communications experience could be one where the path / mode is
dynamic and not guaranteed to succeed (applies to VHF linked
repeater systems and HF).

So why won't this happen ? We (amateur radio hobbyists and
industry) don't follow the usage paradigms they are used to and
frankly expect, built around their smartphones.

The turn tables I'm looking at have RCA jacks to connect to an 
amplifier but they also have Bluetooth to connect to your phone and

speakers, and of course "there's an App for that" on the
smartphone.

People of this generation are not going to configure virtual COM
ports so their apps can access a radio.  Neither will they work
through windows "wizard" configuration screens.  Apple and the
other developers have made set up effortlessly work  and offer
digital assistants to help you on your way.  For example, below is
a conversation from a possible radio future.

Jon, Ham Radio Operator: "Hey Siri what repeaters are near me and
can I link to Helen in Scotland ?" Siri: " Yes Jon there are
several repeaters nearby but the best way to contact Helen is via
Amsat, one will be over horizon in 15 minutes, shall I let Helen
know you want to contact her ? 

Re: [Elecraft] Keeps going back to Standard SSB from Data A

[Paul Van Dyke]

AND you win .. a friend used the system and I think moved it ... I
haven't changed it for years

TNK

Paul  KB9AVO

On Sat, Jan 2, 2021 at 8:37 AM Adrian  wrote:

> Is wsjtx settings >  Radio > mode set to Data/Pkt ?
>
> On 2/1/21 11:29 pm, Paul Van Dyke wrote:
> > Hmm as I wait for the K4, I have a bug I never had before.. Setup K3S in
> > Data A mode for WSJT-X FT8 Mode ... transmitted,  then it did not pop
> back
> > to Data A. went back to SSB..  What am I missing? Something simple
> > Tnx
> > Paul  KB9AVO
> > __
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Re: [Elecraft] Keeps going back to Standard SSB from Data A

[Adrian]

Is wsjtx settings >  Radio > mode set to Data/Pkt ?

On 2/1/21 11:29 pm, Paul Van Dyke wrote:

Hmm as I wait for the K4, I have a bug I never had before.. Setup K3S in
Data A mode for WSJT-X FT8 Mode ... transmitted,  then it did not pop back
to Data A. went back to SSB..  What am I missing? Something simple
Tnx
Paul  KB9AVO
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[Elecraft] Keeps going back to Standard SSB from Data A

[Paul Van Dyke]

Hmm as I wait for the K4, I have a bug I never had before.. Setup K3S in
Data A mode for WSJT-X FT8 Mode ... transmitted,  then it did not pop back
to Data A. went back to SSB..  What am I missing? Something simple
Tnx
Paul  KB9AVO
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Re: [Elecraft] External sound card advice needed to attach to K3

[David Wilcox via Elecraft]

Rick,

I think one of the main problems with this is folks (old like me and 
inexperienced in how the  audio side of computers and connecting them to a 
xcvr) who don’t understand fully the concept of what you are talking about once 
they set up a dongle or other sound card and it works they don’t change 
anything and may keep sending computer sounds and noises, etc., without knowing 
it.  I hope someone reading this will direct me and others to a site or two 
that help us understand what is going on.

I just used a cheap Amazon sound card when hooking up two different FT8 xcvr 
kits (QRPGuys and CWTD)  to my W10 laptop and watched paint dry last winter 
while in Florida.  Noting exciting so when we came back home in the spring 
never hooked them up again. Still if the bug hits again I would like to 
understand more.

I read every email on this and other sites re FT8, etc., so again, if someone 
can direct me to a good site or two to assist my weak understanding I would be 
interested.  

Dave K8WPE since 1960 and crystal sets before that.

David J. Wilcox’s iPad

> On Jan 1, 2021, at 11:51 AM, Rick Bates, NK7I  wrote:
> 
> Precisely why (since MS can foul up audio settings routinely on any random 
> update) it's a bad idea.  Leaving one small check mark in a lower level 
> driver setting (looping/routing audio) that leaves a mic hot is but one 
> example.  There are  too  many ways to make an error.  Using the computer 
> sound card on a radio is not 'set and forget'.
> 
> We still have a large base of folks that don't get what is required to 
> operate a clean (legal) station; we all learn as we go.  Setting boundaries 
> is part of that edcucation (OS stays in OS, radio stays in radio).
> 
> Turning off the OS sounds, one would also lose features that the OS and apps 
> that are useful (like JTAlert "DX" announcements, Zoom/Skype audio).  The 
> small cost of a sound device (or second sound card) for the radio(s) is 
> certainly worth the gains and lowering of the risks.
> 
> 73,
> Rick NK7I
> 
>> On 1/1/2021 9:34 AM, Mike Harris via Elecraft wrote:
>> Not really. It all boils down to _*understanding what you are doing*_. 
>> Windows sounds can be turned off. The best sound card in the world isn't 
>> going to stop anyone from transmitting garbage. Understanding includes 
>> setting the audio levels correctly throughout the system. I've used my PC 
>> sound system with two simple audio cables for years. Now I have upgraded my 
>> K3 with the K3s I/O and simply pipe audio, CAT, PTT and PC CW down the one 
>> USB cable.
>> 
>> Regards,
>> 
>> Mike VP8NO
>> 
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