Re: [Elecraft] experience with CW and settings
Dale, if you use a handheld that can do AM on VHF or UHF and walk the fence you will find it pretty easy to locate the bad joint(s). Once they are fixed the noise goes away. For Wire fences I put a little grease on the join after I remake it to discourage future corrosion. For tape and string I leave tails sticking out of the knot, burn these back a little with a lighter then twist the now exposed wires together We use an electric fence here, in part to stop the Horses Eating Coax I had for a while an Icom 7800 and even a hint of fence noise would drive the AGC insane and I spent much time mending my neighbors fences. The K3 is Much less sensitive to impulse noise triggering the AGC and as a result I now get less exercise and fewer electric shocks! On 26/09/15 02:37, Dale Putnam wrote: > hmmm.. I have an electric fence, keeps my own horses in.. and without the NB > on, in the K2.. > I can check to see if it is turned on... or not.. especially on 160/80 and > 40.. however.. with the loop, > directly above the fence... all I have to do is turn on the NB.. away goes > the pop, pop, pop. > I'd have horses out all the time without the NB. > > Have a great day, > > > --... ...-- > Dale - WC7S in Wy -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Help identifying this RFI
This sounds like power-line noise the trick to locating it is to work upwards in frequency as you close in on the source, I have had great success in locating power-line noise by closing in on it on 6M in my van then finding it on 2m as you get closer then finally on 70Cm For 2M/7Cm I use either an FT817 in AM mode or my VX7r Hand-held in AM with an arrow 2m/70Cm hand-held Yagi Use logic and method to close in on the source and don't make any assumptions about the faulty hardware on the power company side. For example some Hams have in the past (after locating the approx location) told the power company that it's a 'faulty transformer' Replacing the transformer has in some cases resolved the issue BUT only because the replacement process meant that all the loose hardware is now done up nice and tight.. By the time you get to 70Cm you will be very close to the source and can probably narrow it down to a pole with a small directional antenna Some may suggest hitting the suspect pole with a big hammer, Don't do that! It's dangerous (faulty hardware may result in the line falling ) and it's imprecise the ARRL have some very good info on location powerline noise and the causes which may help your CO-Op 'rooke' better understand the issues Here http://www.arrl.org/power-line And particularly here http://www.arrl.org/power-line-noise-mitigation-handbook-for-naval-and -other-receiving-sites The better job we do on narrowing down issues leads to better relations with the power company. In a few cases here In Ireland we have been the early warning system for things that were potentially dangerous faults and as a result we now have a good working relationship with the Irish power utility Hope this helps 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Wed, 2015-07-01 at 15:31 -0700, Wes (N7WS) wrote: I've uploaded some videos to YouTube that show the problem I'm having. This is my first attempt at using YouTube and my first use of the video feature of my new Sony A6000, so bear with me. The link is here: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpl3gFMWg58kn7afp_K5c6A What these show is the noise that is wiping out my HF/6M operations. This stuff covers the complete spectrum from 160 to 6 meters. I'm in semi-rural location and have walked about a 1/2 mile in all directions with a Sony ICF -SW7600GR receiver, using the telescoping antenna and cannot pinpoint a location. My power company (co-op) is trying to be helpful, but the knowledgeable guy has left the company so I'm dealing with a rookie. Furthermore, in addition to the short-term, cyclic intermittency (5 -10 minutes) evident in the videos, there can be longer term periods of quiet, which Murphy dictates occur when the power company guy is looking for noise. I'm hoping there is some expert here that can point me in the right direction. Wes N7WS __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Synthesizer Issue
Wayne, This IS a big improvement for us Diversity users, particularly when using diversity to keep track of a pile of callers in a contest pileup. With the Old synths since the phase relationship between the 2 vfos would shift after TX the positioning of callers in the Image would alter after each transmit operation, with the new Synths this no longer happens. The already very good Diversity mode has gotten much better with this upgrade. I'd also suggest that folks who didn't take to diversity before might wish to give it a second try. For Diversity reception the RX antenna needs to be different than the TX antenna (E.g a vertical and a beam, or a doublet ) you don't need a dedicated RX antenna, it just needs to have different characteristics than the main antenna. Physical separation /or polarity differences will also help. For me, the price of the upgrade was worth it for the Diversity improvements alone 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Mon, 2015-03-02 at 18:21 -0800, Wayne Burdick wrote: Some users of the new synthesizer have also reported an improvement in the way diversity mode sounds. This is due to a change in the way the receivers are driven by the synths. In diversity mode, as long as the main and sub crystal filter offsets are matched, both receivers are driven by the main synth (the sub synth is not used in this case). So, when the VFO is moved, the local oscillator phase relationship remains stable between the main and sub receivers. With the original synths, moving the VFO even a small amount causes both the main and sub synths to be updated. Since they use separate LC oscillators, the phase relationship will change. The two will remain phase-locked to the reference, but the absolute value of the phase between the two synths will be some value between 0 and 180 degrees. We'll add this to the FAQ. 73, Wayne N6KR On Mar 2, 2015, at 6:10 PM, Walter Underwood wun...@wunderwood.org wrote: Start with the FAQ here: http://www.elecraft.com/manual/KSYN3A%20FAQ-ver-C-2.pdf The original announcement on this list described it like this: The KSYN3A synthesizer module is a completely new design that improves on the original KSYN3 in several ways: ULTRA-LOW PHASE NOISE The KSYN3A significantly improves the K3's already excellent RX and TX phase noise at close carrier spacings. This in turn noticeably improves the K3's top performing close spaced Rx dynamic range, yielding even better weak signal detection in the presence of strong signals. FASTER CW BREAK-IN AND MORE ACCURATE CW ELEMENT TIMING EXCELLENT MECHANICAL STABILITY The KSYN3A is virtually immune to both physical vibration and magnetic coupling, and operates over a very wide temperature range. 600-METER COVERAGE The KSYN3A extends VFO tuning down to 100 kHz, with sensitivity gradually falling off below 450 kHz. Transmit output is as high as 1.0 mW for use with a suitable external amplifier. (Note: 600-m and below operation also requires the KBPF3 and KXV3 options.) wunder K6WRU CM87wj http://observer.wunderwood.org/ On Mar 2, 2015, at 6:02 PM, James D. (Jimmy) Walker, Jr. via Elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net wrote: Can someone please give me a summary of this synthesizer issue or a useful link so I can understand all this conversation about new boards. I have a three year old K-3 and a one year old sub-receiver. Do I need these boards? What would they do for me? An off-list reply is welcome since it appears I’m the only one who doesn’t know what’s going on. Thanks. Jimmy, WA4ILO __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to wun...@wunderwood.org __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n...@elecraft.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help:
Re: [Elecraft] Sherwood Engineering Tests
I was one of the people who could most definitely hear the DSP artefacts above 12Khz prior to the DSP low pass filter upgrade. The low pass filter upgrade completely resolved it for me, this along with the various other changes over the years now has the K3 sounding very good to my ears. Do make sure that the speakers and headphones you are using are reasonably efficient so that the K3 can drive them effectively without having to run the AF amp 'flat out' For speakers I use a couple of old Motorola 2way radio speakers (3 Ohm impedance I think). As a headset I generally use a beyerdynmic DT-109 with 50Ohm earpieces, this works wonderfully with the K3 but as I am a fairly soft talker I made up a small preamp for the mic element http://ei6iz.com/?p=28 On Tue, 2015-02-24 at 09:48 -0800, Wayne Burdick wrote: ... Or you can add just the audio filter section as a small daughter board for $39 (K3DSPLPF). The upgrade does improve the spectra as viewed on an audio spectrum analyzer, but many operators won't be able to hear the effects by ear. Those who can hear them have told us it was a major improvement. Wayne N6KR -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] How to build a quick split macro for memory button
Hi Don, macros are a great feature. As you are building them you can test them with the Elecraft utility and when you are happy you upload them to the radio you can set up a macro for anything you can define as a series of commands. take a look at the K3 programming reference guide to see what commands are available for use (basically everything including accessing menus ) Once macros are uploaded to the radio you can assign them to M1-M4 tap and M1-M4 Hold as well as PF1 and PF2 My Spit +2 looks like (assigned M2-tap) DV0;SWT13;SW13;FT1;UPB5;XT0;SB1;MN111;MP001;MN255;BW$0100; Broken down this is DV0; (diversity off) SWT13;SW13; (two taps of AB) to copy all settings FT1; Split on UPB5; up 2 Khz (UPB4; up 1KHz UPB6; up 3Khz, UPB7; 5Khz ) XT0; (XIT off ) SB1; (Sub RX on) MN111;MP001;MN255; (L-mix-R) to A Ab (main in both ears, sub in right) BW$0100; (Set VFOB filter to 1Khz to make hearing the callers easier) I also have a clean-up macro that puts things back to a normal, consistent state (assigned M2-Hold) FT0;RT0;DV0;SB1;MN111;MP000;MN255;SB0; Broken down this is FT0; Split off RT0; RIT off DV0; Diversity off SB1; SUB on (needs to be on for next command to be valid) MN111;MP000;MN255; (set L-mix-R to A B ) SB0; SUB off again hope this helps On Sat, 2015-02-21 at 14:30 -0500, gold...@charter.net wrote: Ok more reading and searching the internet has got me started. I see you need to use the elecraft utility to make a macro and assign it to a memory button. I was trying to figure out how to do it using the radio front panel. ~73 Don KD8NNU FH#4107 -.- -.. ---.. –. –. ..- On Sat, Feb 21, 2015 at 1:17 PM, gold...@charter.net wrote: All the talk about split has made me want to build a quick split macro or memory button. I started to read the manual but its not making sense to me. I guess some stuff I just need some help to learn. Anyway what I think I want is to set up a macro button that would do the AB double tap function then add 5k to VFOB (up 5) and then put the radio in split. Also a similar one for adding 1k to VFOB (up 1 for CW). How would I do this and assign to M1 or M2. I know this should be simple but what I am reading is not sinking in. Thanks in advance for someone who can explain into my thick skull. ~73 Don KD8NNU FH#4107 -.- -.. ---.. –. –. ..- __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to gold...@charter.net __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Split operation - display of Transmit frequency on keydown
Hi Tony, Yes you can set the VFO bandwidth as part of your macro Mine is as follows DV0;SWT13;SW13;FT1;UPB5;XT0;SB1;MN111;MP001;MN255;BW$0100; BW$0100; Sets VFO B filter bandwidth at 1Khz for 2.7KHz you would want BW$0270; MN111;MP001;MN255 sets up the internal audio mixer to A Ab so that the main is in both ears and the sub in right ear only my 'clear' macro FT0;RT0;DV0;SB1;MN111;MP000;MN255;SB0; undoes the audio mix On 18/02/2015 11:31, N2TK, Tony wrote: While we are on this subject, I have PF1 programmed for split up 2KHZ and PF2 programmed for split up 5KHZ. Is there a way I can program RCVR B to have a very wide filter setting tied into PF! Or PF2? Right now after holding in either PF1 or PF2 I need to go into B SET to open up the bandwidth. I like a wide bandwidth on the B RCVR to make it easier to find who the FDX is working. Tnx N2TK, Tony -Original Message- From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick Sent: Wednesday, February 18, 2015 1:17 AM To: d...@nk7z.net Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Split operation - display of Transmit frequency on keydown I argued for this a long time ago, but Eric and others convinced me that a flashing Delta-F LED would be too (!) annoying. Maybe they will recant, given this discussion. Wayne N6KR On Feb 17, 2015, at 10:08 PM, David Cole d...@nk7z.net wrote: Why not flash the Delta f lamp when in split? -- Thanks and 73's, For equipment, and software setups and reviews see: www.nk7z.net for MixW support see; http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/mixw/info for Dopplergram information see: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/dopplergram/info for MM-SSTV see: http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/MM-SSTV/info __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to n...@elecraft.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to tony@verizon.net __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Split operation - display of Transmit frequency on keydown
In my opinion the K3 already does a more than adequate job of indicating split. The Delta LED is Eye catching enough. Mind you my P3 is to the left of My K3 thus the LED certainly within my eye-line when operating. However from the point of view of a standalone radio it might make better sense if the Delta LED was just to the right of the main display, but I am sure there are good design reasons why this is not the case. Fundamentally however we have an operating problem, far too many jump straight into a pileup without first listening to see what is happening. Taking a little time to listen first always pays dividends in terms of working the dx and lessens the chance of footshooting. If I was to suggest one change it would be for an option to prevent the Delta LED coming on when small amounts or RIT/XIT are applied, Even 1 Hz of RIT or XIT applied activates it, thus training the operator to pay less attention to the Yellow LED. Perhaps an option to only enable the Delta LED when the TX/RX offset is greater than 200Hz or 500Hz ? In IT we have a technical term for a certain type of problem that involves the operator, it's PEBKAC (Problem Exists Between Keyboard And Chair ) I too have occasionally been the problem in pileups but it's my fault, it's PEBKAC and not the fault of the radio. 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Changing KX3 VFO
I found the ball-bearing VFO to be a great upgrade. I like a VFO that that moves very freely and for me the upgrade was like Night and day. On Tue, 2015-02-17 at 18:27 -0500, Mike Weir wrote: I have the KX3 with the non ball bearing VFO and I am going to be placing an order with Elecraft for the new synthesizer board for my K3 and if the KX3 ball bearing VFO is a good mod to do then I will include that in my order as well ? Mike Weir VE3WDM -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Beta 5r10 and LINK
Johnny, I had the 7800 for a while, the reason it can't do diversity is that since the main and sub use different IF frequencies there is always a small (Sub 1Hz frequency different between the 2 receivers due to DDS rounding error differences between the main ad sub synths Neither link or diversity are 'going away' see the release notes * EASIER DIVERSITY RECEIVE SELECTION: A regular hold of SUB now goes directly into diversity receive, without first having to go through LINK. This should benefit most users of the KRX3 sub receiver, since few use the VFO linking function. Those who do use VFO linking can still turn it on by setting CONFIG:VFO LNK to ON. This menu entry can be assigned to a programmable function switch for easy selection if desired, eliminating the need to bring up the menu. Note: Remote-control command LN is another way to accomplish VFO linking. On Mon, 2015-02-16 at 00:51 +, Johnny Siu wrote: Hello Arie, I agree with you 'LINK' should not be abandoned. Please excuse my language, I would consider the idea of abandoning the 'LINK' is stupid. During APDXC 2012 in Icom HQ Osaka, I spoke to Mr. Inoue JA3FA that I did not understand why IC7800 did not have the function of LINK for both VFOA B so that I could use the dual receivers for diversity reception. I also mentioned that their competitor K3 had that function which I often used. Skillful use of diversity reception will enable you to pick up the odds even with simple antennae. 73 Johnny VR2XMC 寄件人︰ Arie Kleingeld PA3A p...@xs4all.nl 收件人︰ elecraft@mailman.qth.net 傳送日期︰ 2015年02月16日 (週一) 1:10 AM 主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] K3 Beta 5r10 and LINK Tony LINK ties both VFO's to the mail freq dial en keeps them insync when you turn the dial knob. So both receivers keep working on the same freq. What I often use i diversity listening so with two receivers and two antennas on the samen freq. Diversity puts the main RX audio on the left ear of the headset, and the Sub on the right ear. That's the normal situation. In my case, the F9-F12 buttons in N1MM contain commands to the K3 that switch the audio to my liking (that can also be done in the Config, but that takes too much time during QSO) This way I can switch listening from diversity (listen both MainRX and SubRX at same time) to only main RX (main RX audio on both ears) or only sub RX (Sub RX audio on both ears) depending on where the signal is best. The commands to do this are in the programmers manual of the K3. It's really fun to control some beautiful K3 features from the keyboard like this. 73 Arie PA3A N2TK, Tony schreef op 15-2-2015 om 16:38: Hi Arie, I am not sure I understand what LINK does to help when both receivers are on the same freq. What does F9-F12 below do to help? Tnx N2TK, Tony . - F9 = listen A-B - F10 = listen A-A - F11 = listen B-B - F12 contains the commands to copy VFO freq and mode from A to B and LINK the VFO's. __ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] LDMOS for QRO [OT]
What might be even more interesting is mineral oil immersion cooling. You would still need a heatsink to conduct heat away from the PA device(s) but the advantage to oil immersion cooling is that it can also efficiently cool all the other parts such as Low pass filter coils, Voltage regulators, power supply etc. It's becoming a thing in High performance computing for servers http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2012/09/04/intel-explores-mineral-oil-cooling/ I guess one of the questions at RF is how much the dielectric constant of the oil will change things and if it's enough that it needs to be taken into account at the design phase. For our application the thermal mass of the oil combined with our duty cycles would also help keep the radiator requirements reasonable I love the idea of having a silent High power Amplifier. On Tue, 2014-12-16 at 12:06 -0700, Doug Person via Elecraft wrote: This is really a fascinating idea. I have noticed that there are water cooling kits made for computer CPU's. Some of the bigger CPU's run over 225 watts of power. I wonder how applicable one those CPU kits might be. They include a heat sink, pump and radiator. 73, Doug -- K0DXV On 12/16/2014 11:10 AM, David Cutter wrote: Hi Dick Start from the LDMOS data sheet and work out the temperature you wish to keep within at the junction. Because water cooling is so good, you can choose either to run the device cooler than you would with air cooling to improve reliability, or stick to the same temperature and get more power / use a smaller cooling plate / use less water. There's a direct relationship between reliability and temperature, but it's not linear. Then use the temperature rise per W rating of the device to get to the surface temperature. In work I did 10 years ago all devices were directly bolted to the liquid-cooled plate without an intermediate spreader, however, these LDMOS devices are so small (ie very high heat density) there is a good reason to spread the heat out first before cooling proper takes place, I'm somewhat hazy what thickness, but you must achieve good flatness of contact against the plate. Some very large devices eg IGBTs and rectifiers the size of your open hand are supplied curved and the bolting-down process achieves the flatness with the correct torque setting on the bolts. Then you do the same sums as you do with air cooling ie temperature rise v watts dissipated from the heat sink data. Say you want to dissipate 1kW of heat continuously (eg in a data contest) then a small 2 pass model would give you around 90 to 100K rise at the surface of the plate with 1 US gallon per minute, whereas a 4 pass model would give you around 20K rise on a 152mm length plate. This of course assumes that the heat is being delivered into the plate evenly over the whole surface, ie using a spreader. Heat sink paste adds a little to the thermal gradient and is needed in very small amounts, evenly spread. Do the sums several times with different criteria until you get to the one you feel comfortable with. If you live in a cold climate you can dump the heat into a small central heating radiator to keep the shack warm and no fans required just an aquarian pump to run it; if you live in a hot place, then put the radiator on the shade side of the house or even bury it. If water is abundant, eg river water or a pond, you can re-cycle it back to the source. You can make your own water cooling plate, see here a small example cooling a dozen TO-220 devices: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WGpau-raMho Somebody here will check my sums I'm sure. 73 David G3UNA - Original Message - From: Richard Solomon w1...@earthlink.net To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Tuesday, December 16, 2014 4:44 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] LDMOS for QRO [OT] If one wanted to use one of these to cool an LDMOS VHF KW, where would one find the design info to calculate which cold plate would provide sufficient cooling ? I envision a stack something like this: LDMOS PC Board Copper Heatsink (thickness need be determined) Cold Plate Aluminum Heat Sink (is this really necessary ?). 73 es HH, Dick, W1KSZ On 12/14/2014 4:32 PM, David Cutter wrote: I'm a little surprised that folks in this group haven't suggested liquid cooling for this modest application. Semiconductor cold plates have been around for a long time, are economical to use and in my view a much better solution than forced air cooling. They are compact, quiet, require far less cabinet space, keep junctions cooler and more stable than air could ever and enable higher reliability. Look at Aavid for instance, whose devices I used on many occasions: http://www.aavid.com/sites/default/files/products/liquid/pdf/liquid-cold-plate-datasheet-hicontact.pdf If you
[Elecraft] Sad news, G4ILO
I was greatly saddened to hear that Julian G4ILO passed away yesterday, I suspect that quite a few of us here knew him at least via RF and the reflector. http://onefootingrave.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/25-october-sad-message.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Accuracy of clock
Firmware that decoded the BCD encoded by wwv on HF would be a pretty neat party trick for a portable rig though ;-) On Mon, 2013-12-02 at 15:49 -0800, Walter Underwood wrote: The KX3 Utility could estimate the clock adjustment, if it is the only thing that sets the clock. It knows the time it was last set and can measure the drift. wunder K6WRU On Dec 2, 2013, at 3:43 PM, Fred Jensen k6...@foothill.net wrote: Actually ... atomic clocks such as the UTC one hanging on the wall of my shack [that I won at radio club raffle] don't poll 10MHz. They listen for WWVB on 60KHz, which mine hears only at night here in CA. WWVB broadcasts a continuous IRIG-H time code with a somewhat obscure AM modulation scheme [they recently added the same time code using a phase modulation scheme *very* loosely resembling PSK-31]. Doing this in the K3 would require a 60KHz receiver, demodulator, decoder, and probably a ferrite antenna. Whether or not mine updates at night depends on a number of factors, not the least of which is ambient noise. It usually is in sync with WWV on any of the MF and HF frequencies, but that's not guaranteed, I just checked and it's about 35 secs slow now. My dive watch does vastly better. :-) I volunteer at the local blood bank and recording times is important to the documentation of the process. Consequently, they installed atomic clocks, our little center has 5 of them, not all the same mfr, scattered around to be visible to the staff. I've watched them differ by more than 90 seconds at times, and rarely are any two of them in sync. I assume my K3 runs the clock [which I never use] off the one of the processor clocks. I recently built a 40-station irrigation controller for my wife [we live on 5 acres and she's a kamikaze gardener] using the Hamstack components. Their C-library includes a clock adjustment capability. I have two separate CPU's, one is a little fast and one is just a tad slow. I now have them adjusted so they're within a second or two of each other after a month or so. Maybe the K3 could include something like that, accessible through the K3 Utility? 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014 - www.cqp.org On 12/2/2013 12:14 PM, Todd Atkins wrote: I wonder how easy/hard it would be to have the radio poll 10Mhz (like the atomic clocks do) every so often when powered on, to keep the time more accurately. That would be a pretty cool feature. Todd, K4MSW __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- Walter Underwood wun...@wunderwood.org __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Bit image backup: Safe sectors
dd or dd_rescue copies of SSD's are fine and no problem. The controllers hide all the fancy wear levelling stuff from the computer and present a disk that to the OS looks just line any other sata hard disk. dd_rescue is a variant of the linux dd utility which can deal with disks that ate not 100% healthy see http://www.garloff.de/kurt/linux/ddrescue/ you will find dd and dd_rescue along with a bunch of other useful tools for copying partitions/disks on the knoppix distribution which is a bootable 'live cd' or can be used from a USB stick http://knoppix.net/ Trinity rescue kit is supposed to be very good too http://trinityhome.org/Home/index.php?wpid=1front_id=12 On Tue, 2012-05-22 at 15:03 -0700, Jack Brindle wrote: John; Be very careful with a sector-by-sector backup utility if you decide to use an SSD. Solid State Drives constantly are moving sector locations around in order to avoid writing to the same flash location too many times. This occurs whenever a file needs to be updated or rewritten, and is especially true of the directory sectors. Because of this a backup may catch a file relocation in mid move, or more often catch a directory update while it is being moved, The result will be a completely useless backup. We discovered this recently when a friend needed to restore his system from a backup. The answer is to use a normal file-oriented backup instead of a sector- by-sector backup. Those backups are very much useful when needed. With the trend to replace disks with SSDs, especially in laptops, this will become very important. For those wondering, TIme Machine is indeed a file backup and not sector-by-sector. I recommend it whole heartedly! Jack Brindle, W6FB On May 22, 2012, at 11:22 AM, John Ragle wrote: Hi, Jim... There are several programs that make literal copies (mirror copies) of disk contents. This includes the OS and all program files as well as data... I happen to have been using one called Macrium Reflect Professional for the last few years. It produces a bit-for-bit literal image (a mirror copy) of the TOTAL contents of one or more hard drives, and can re-load such images. It does much more than copy data files. At present, I am using a PC with 2 inboard hard drives, each of 250 GB capacity. One of these is my WIN7 Ultimate OS and associated files (including programs, etc), and is about 80 GB in total content. The second is my Ubuntu 11.10 OS and a somewhat smaller collection of files (including programs, etc.) I back up the former almost daily onto a 1 TB external USB hard drive, and somewhat less frequently onto a Sandisk 64 GB stick...the 80 GB on the C:\ drive fit nicely onto the 64 GB stick with the compression used by Macrium. The rate-determining step in these USB-based devices is the USB transfer rate itself; 80 GB takes about 25 minutes to back or restore, and I do it last thing at night, letting Macrium close down the PC when finished. If I had a third drive bay, I would probably choose to back up onto a third drive...hard drives have become so inexpensive that you can practically use them like floppy drives. This would be significantly faster, about 10-12 minutes for the 80 GB contents of C:\ A while ago, I used a Sparc 20 with a shoebox tape drive and DAT Tapes, but that had little to do with my ham radio operation. These were unsatisfactory because the error rate was significant. I also tried using an elderly PC as a network server at home on our LAN. That too was somewhat cumbersome. My wife is an active software developer (vide the OWL system from Cengage), and separately uses a version of Macrium onto a 1 TB external drive, but much of her work is stored on a corporate cloud, and hopefully backed up there as well. I do not have a high opinion of Windows Restore -- it is significantly more involved to use than is Macrium Reflect. An advantage (to me the most significant one) of doing a bit-image backup is that when it comes time to restore program files (i.e. .exe files, etc), one does not have to search out the distribution media and play baking cookies with those media for hours to rebuild the system. A disadvantage of doing a bit-image backup is that in the absence of good garbage collection one keeps using the same general structure over and over again...a case can be made for rebuilding from scratch (not from the bit image) on a regular basis...some have suggested once a year, at least. The Linux crowd can tell you of several useful Linux based utilities for total backup, restore, partitioning, etc...I won't enumerate them here, though many of them are very useful. In general, I don't favor running anything off the cloud. My ISP is sometimes down for 1 or more hours, and that mode of
Re: [Elecraft] OT - kits for young kids?
Hi Glenn All 3 of my daughters learned to solder at about 7 Years old so I would not consider 7 to be 'too young' by any means. They needed a little supervision and some encouragement to get started but did just fine. Make sure that the kid wears safety goggles and works carefully. the first kit my kids made made was the 'Drawaudio' from here http://www.adafruit.com/products/124 It's Fun to play with when done and the build time is about right for the limited attention span of a 7 year old they have each made 4 or 5 more kits in the last couple of years and my eldest who is now 11 is probably ready to have a go at something more complex that will take a few sessions to build. On Mon, 2011-11-21 at 21:40 +0100, ON4WIX wrote: Hi group, My oldest son, nearing his seventh birthday, .. Of course, considering his age soldering is still out of the question. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] P3 as a TDR
Not sure about the P3 doing TDR service but I have had great results with this circuit http://www.epanorama.net/circuits/tdr.html On Fri, 2011-10-21 at 06:59 -0400, DOUGLAS ZWIEBEL wrote: For those of us unlucky enough to have many runs of coax, each of considerable length, often going through switch boxes, having a TDR would be heaven in helping search out issues on the line. Seems like a stretch to make a P3 into a TDR, but hey, I work in healthcare, not ee, so what do I know? Sign me up for this one! de Doug KR2Q __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 V 1.6 firmware released
Great news, Which output does 6m map to by default? On Thu, 2011-10-13 at 10:12 -0700, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: We have released new firmware for the KRC2 that can be downloaded from our web page at: http://www.elecraft.com/K2_Manual_Download_Page.htm#krc2 This version includes: - Added 6 meter selector in default band-map - Holding F4 on power up now replaces band-map with the default band-map. - Fixed problem with serial communications when loading band-maps. 73, Eric -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] The tortuous road from Aptos to UK
Just as a point of reference: The Irish Postal system generally handles Elecraft ( indeed other Shipments ) correctly and reasonably efficiently. If the correct tariff codes are used then for lower value items they ship them though and the postman collects a Cheque at the time of delivery. They use the full tariff code, not just the first part... For higher value Items like entire K3's the package is generally held in Dublin and you are advised of VAT + handling charge by post. You can pay by credit card or Check. On Mon, 2011-09-19 at 14:31 +0100, David Honey wrote: I have used international parcel post twice. The first time it got lost and I had to wait about 2 months for a reshipment from Elecraft that did get through. I don't think the original shipment was ever found. The second time, it came to Parcelforce's international clearing centre (somehere in the midlands). They erroneously charged me import duty despite the fact that the correct tariff code was there on the documentation. I wrote a letter of complaint and a claim for that to be returned. I did get my money back after 2 months. Their excuse was that their import duty system only allowed the first part of the tariff code, and then chose the one with the highest duty! No apology, and this has to rank as a pretty feeble excuse. I suggest you write a formal complaint and a claim. On other occasions I have used UPS and each time the service was faultless if expensive. Regards, David M0DHO __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KSB2 screw up --
I have always had great results with the simple Spring loaded solder suckers that you use with your normal iron. There is a bit of technique in using them effectively and it's important to keep the solder sucker well cleaned. In addition to this do ensure it's lubricated once in a while and replace the tip when it gets worn. If using a spring loaded sucker spend some time practising on old PCB boards to perfect your technique before using it on stuff that matters. An added bonus to this practice is that it's an opportunity to add free stock to your junk box. Solder wick has it's place too, one trick with solder wick is to ensure that it's not exposed to the air too much when not in use as this seems to degrade the flux somewhat, so wind excess back into the holder and don't be too stingy about the amount you chop off to start on the next bit of the job. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Tue, 2011-09-13 at 13:37 -0700, Wayne Conrad wrote: I don't think anyone has mentioned my favorite fix the goof soldering tool, a great big vacuum desoldering pump. I use a Soldapult Deluxe that usually cleans the holes right out, without the foul language that solder braid seems to need. Do the experts prefer solder braid, or is that just where the conversation led? 73, Wayne Conrad KF7QGA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Octopus box for station equipment interconnection
For Audio/PTT/Keying routing and redistribution I used an audio patch bay. I also have my K2 I/O routed via the patchbay and one could even route RS232 via this if required since the K3/K2 only require RXD/TXD and ground for radio control. see http://ei6iz.com/?p=67 Good quality second-hand patchbays pretty cheap on ebay these days 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Sun, 2011-09-04 at 03:33 -0700, David Windisch wrote: Hi, all concerned: Operating computer-assisted digital modes has become easier and simpler, for me at least, with the K3's accessibility features. I started with WSPR, added WSJT-HF, and am looking at other modes, after reading a post here somewhere by K9YC (thanks, Jim, heh heh). Talk about wired wireless: has anyone come up with what I call an octopus box, which would centralize and redistribute all the FP and BP audio and control functions of the K3, in order to reduce or eliminate entirely cable-switching and secondarily the wear-and-tear on the K3's connectors which cable-switching causes? I have looked at W8ZR's lovely offering, and the WestMountain RCA14, and searched further without finding such a comprehensive accessory. Any ideas out there, please? Brgds, Dave, N3HE -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Octopus-box-for-station-equipment-interconnection-tp6758094p6758094.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 #181
Hi Peter Diagnose/fix the Isolation problem between U3 and the heat spreader before proceeding, Isolation here is 'not optional' it's required. Inspect U3 carefully for signs of damage. Check for 240 Ohm between U3 pin 1 and U3 pin 2 (this tests R4 a SMT resistor on the underside of the PSU board ) U3 controls the power to the cooling fans, is fed from the HV and if shorted will prevent these operating IF you are lucky your 0HV message will go away once you ensure that the insulation between the heat spreader and U3 is ok. If this does not cure the problem also check to see if the HV interlock switch is being depressed correctly by the top cover Be sure to test to see if the fan speeds are all working correctly before operating the amp (setup, fan and step thought the speeds ) On Wed, 2011-08-03 at 17:49 +1200, Peter Dent wrote: My KPA500 went together well EXCEPT I could not get isolation between U3 and the heat spreader but I continued assembly any way. Now when I switch on I get 0 HV message in the readout. BTW the reason for the delay between assembly and this email is that the XYL and I have just spent a week in VK3 land (Melbourne) Australia.. Any thoughts or suugestions? Peter ZL1PWD __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Pileups and the KPA500
very nicely.. ST0R on 40,30m,20m,17m and 6m all cw On Fri, 2011-07-29 at 06:58 -0700, Lee Buller wrote: For all you ops who are DXershow is the KPA 500 holding up working DXlike ST0R Just curious Lee - K0WA In our day and age it seems that Common Sense is in short supply. If you don't have any Common Sense - get some Common Sense and use it. If you can't find any Common Sense, ask for help from somebody who has some Common Sense. Is Common Sense divine? Common Sense is the image of the Creator expressing revealed truth in my mind. - John W. (Kansas) __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 and KAT500 Ports
1/ Tuner can select only for the output port in use, this leaves 'the other choice' available for other radios. If the tuner is currently on antenna port 2 then it does not drive the outputs associated with antenna port1 2/ Tuner can remember previous tunings per selected antenna driver (rather than per port) 5/ with an input for interlocking logic the KRC500 ( thus the KPA500/K3) could be made aware when no antenna is selected and select a a second choice or even inhibit TX 4/ Space savings, the KRC2 has buttons and features that are not required 'just for selecting antennas' 6/ more reasons to buy the KAT500 ;-) The KRC2 still does not support 6m with the K3 and much of the 'glue' to make this happen is going to be already in the KAT500 as it is already going to have to decode the band and band segment that the K3 is tuned to 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Wed, 2011-07-13 at 17:01 -0700, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Why not just use two KRC2s? They are complete and shipping. :-) 73, Eric --- www.elecraft.com On 7/13/2011 4:22 PM, Brendan Minish wrote: I think that 2 Antenna ports on the KAT500 is a good fit, after all 2 ports is what the K3 (+ATU) has so many of us have configured our stations to work with this configuration I would suggest however that there be an (optional?) module (s) for the KAT500 that provides for sink or source outputs, one per band (plus a few more?) that can be further configured via software to to clever things (like selecting 2 different antennas for 80/75m, or multiple bands on one antenna ) It would be even nicer if this was duplicated for the second antenna output either in the same module or as a second user installable module. These would be driven by the auxbus data that will presumably be fed to the KANT500 and decoded by it's CPU anyway. An input (per antenna port) that can be used to indicate to the KAT500 that the requested antenna is not available might also be a good idea so that the KRC500 can then select the second choice on the other port (complete with recalling the last used tunings for the secondary ) would also be nice. Think of this as the functionality of (2x ?) KRC2's built in and it would make for superb versatility since the KRC500 could then be configured to automate pretty much any external automatic antenna switching arrangement. I don't know if this is practical to fit into the box but it sure would be nice. The KRC2 may already form the basis for much of the required circuitry/firmware. The Sink/source outputs could be selected sink/source by internal jumper and the output could be on DB15 or DIN connectors to minimise rear panel real estate. (perhaps with pre-made breakout cable supplied ) Another option might be to have the 'Glue' internal to the KPA500 and the Sink/source drivers in a 'dongle' to conserve internal space and provide for easier breakout. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Tue, 2011-07-12 at 15:34 -0700, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Gary, Having 4-5 RG8 antenna cables, plus the input cable, hanging out the back of the desktop ATU is both likely to pull the ATU off the desk, and will easily not fit in the box size we are planning. It also adds a lot of complexity and cost to the basic ATU in order to accommodate more connections with the needed isolation etc. We certainly do not want to price the ATU out of the range of most hams, or make it too large. Many of us use manual or automatic switches external to the amp / tuner to provide these functions. A much better solution for those needing more than two auto-selected antennas is to use an external relay switch box, controlled by the radio. This has the advantage of getting the cables, clutter, and switching network off the desktop and either under the table or outside. There are certainly a number of external antenna switches out there that can do this, but if we offered something that was tightly integrated with the K3 (and KPA500/KAT500) as a product, what features would be desirable? (Number of antennas, rigs inputs, switching options etc.) 73, Eric WA6HHQ --- www.elecraft.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 and KAT500 Ports
I think that 2 Antenna ports on the KAT500 is a good fit, after all 2 ports is what the K3 (+ATU) has so many of us have configured our stations to work with this configuration I would suggest however that there be an (optional?) module (s) for the KAT500 that provides for sink or source outputs, one per band (plus a few more?) that can be further configured via software to to clever things (like selecting 2 different antennas for 80/75m, or multiple bands on one antenna ) It would be even nicer if this was duplicated for the second antenna output either in the same module or as a second user installable module. These would be driven by the auxbus data that will presumably be fed to the KANT500 and decoded by it's CPU anyway. An input (per antenna port) that can be used to indicate to the KAT500 that the requested antenna is not available might also be a good idea so that the KRC500 can then select the second choice on the other port (complete with recalling the last used tunings for the secondary ) would also be nice. Think of this as the functionality of (2x ?) KRC2's built in and it would make for superb versatility since the KRC500 could then be configured to automate pretty much any external automatic antenna switching arrangement. I don't know if this is practical to fit into the box but it sure would be nice. The KRC2 may already form the basis for much of the required circuitry/firmware. The Sink/source outputs could be selected sink/source by internal jumper and the output could be on DB15 or DIN connectors to minimise rear panel real estate. (perhaps with pre-made breakout cable supplied ) Another option might be to have the 'Glue' internal to the KPA500 and the Sink/source drivers in a 'dongle' to conserve internal space and provide for easier breakout. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Tue, 2011-07-12 at 15:34 -0700, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote: Hi Gary, Having 4-5 RG8 antenna cables, plus the input cable, hanging out the back of the desktop ATU is both likely to pull the ATU off the desk, and will easily not fit in the box size we are planning. It also adds a lot of complexity and cost to the basic ATU in order to accommodate more connections with the needed isolation etc. We certainly do not want to price the ATU out of the range of most hams, or make it too large. Many of us use manual or automatic switches external to the amp / tuner to provide these functions. A much better solution for those needing more than two auto-selected antennas is to use an external relay switch box, controlled by the radio. This has the advantage of getting the cables, clutter, and switching network off the desktop and either under the table or outside. There are certainly a number of external antenna switches out there that can do this, but if we offered something that was tightly integrated with the K3 (and KPA500/KAT500) as a product, what features would be desirable? (Number of antennas, rigs inputs, switching options etc.) 73, Eric WA6HHQ --- www.elecraft.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KPA500 and KAT500 Ports
Every time this comes up everyone seems to forget about the KRC2, it speaks auxbus leaving the BCD outputs available for other things and is a very flexible device It does need 6m support to be properly sorted out but other than that it does a superb job of controlling just about any remote antenna switch you can come up with. On Tue, 2011-07-12 at 12:30 -0400, Edward Dickinson III wrote: It's been said that the KPA500 might be either desktop or remote. If this is the case, I would suppose a similar, add-on antenna switch could be offered. 73, Dick - KA5KKT _ The other thing that seems to be missing. The K3 ought to be switching the antenna switchbox, not the computer or some other device. The reason is obvious, the proper antenna will always be connected quickly. The same cannot be said for other approaches. I used to use computer switching with a transceiver that had no BCD output via a logging program. Pouncing on a spot and transmitting often resulted in the wrong antenna still being attached and then hot switching of the correct on in line. Not nice with an amp attached. If some other slower device has to be used, some kind of inhibit signal should be applied to the K3 until switching or switching + tuning is complete. 73 de Brian/K3KO __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] CW QRQ
QRQ mode is not just 'for fast' it sounds super at all speeds, it's a real improvement on the already great QSK. There are some limitations, it's disabled when split or RIT/XIT is on but in the latest firmware this is handled seamlessly (i.e QRQ is used where possible and falls back to standard QSK when it has to ) Anyone who uses full QSK should give QRQ a try to see if you prefer it On Tue, 2011-06-28 at 19:19 -0400, aa...@me.com wrote: I haven't tried the QRQ (I'm not that fast) but the full QSK by itself is amazing. At field day, several peoe had to keep looking to make sure they were actually transmitting, the QSK is so good. Of course, the full PIN diode TR switches make it even more entertaining when someone first runs the rig and is listening for relays... Chuck - AA3CS -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Managing Multiple Keys/Paddles More Easily
My approach ash been to use an old audio patch-bay, you can pick these up pretty cheaply on ebay I wrote it up here http://ei6iz.com/?p=67 I have expanded the number of inputs in use a bit since and fills up the now vacant Icom 7800 sized hole in my my shack nicely.. It also allows me to do things like plug in a second headset for a shack visitor, Great for K3 diversity demos. On Mon, 2011-06-20 at 09:12 -0800, Edward R. Cole wrote: Having struggled with cable changes to connectors on the back of radios for years, my solution, when I built my current ham shack, was to space my radio table out from the wall 2 feet to allow access behind the equipment. My radio cabinet is now three shelves above the table top. I bought some ordinary peg board (with all the holes) attached to behind the table to floor level and attach wiring runs with tywraps thru the holes. Photos: http://www.kl7uw.com/station%20layout.htm It is still a mess of cables but an accessible mess. In time I expect the configuration will reach some level of maturity so I can make the cable layout a little neater. One thing I would do if the room were larger is allow at least 3-feet space behind the radio table as it is a tight fit when I need to kneel down to make connections or test something. My wife tells me that she will build me a whole new ham shack attached to the garage if we ever win the lottery or other such windfall. Still I keep fit running between the workbench in the garage to the ham shack to the two towers outside. Having the ham shack adjacent to the workshop and direct outside entrance would save some shoe-leather! My wife would have the third bedroom for normal use and the noise would be gone! The question is whether the radios are the noise or am I? Ha! 73, Ed - KL7UW -- Message: 3 Date: Sun, 19 Jun 2011 13:09:37 -0400 (EDT) From: stan levandowski sjl...@optonline.net Subject: [Elecraft] Managing Multiple Keys/Paddles More Easily To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net I have multiple radios and every one of them has the key/paddle jack on the rear apron. Because I built a custom 'cubby' for my station it's become annoying to change keys/paddles. I have to reach behind or around the radios and feel for the right place, or move the radio. =snipped 73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45 == BP40IQ 500 KHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com EME: 50-1.1kw?, 144-1.4kw, 432-100w, 1296-60w, 3400-? DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubus...@gmail.com == __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Portable Wire Antenna Weight
Geoff Can you explain how this system works in a bit more detail? I have some very high trees to use but because of clutter and the shapes of the trees I have never had much luck getting a line over the higher branches I do have a 10m pole and would be more than willing to invest an hour or two to get a line over a choice upper branch On Sun, 2011-06-19 at 13:58 +0100, Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy wrote: FWIW my favourite method to place a line in a tree makes use of a strong but light fibreglass pole almost 10m in length, through which runs a drop line. It does takes longer to place a line than when using a missile system, about an hour to place a line at 100ft in a tall pine exactly where one wants it so not very useful when operating portable. Because a tree's branches are used as hoist points for the pole on the way up, the pole must not weigh too much when placing a line in a tall pine, whose lower branches have long gone leaving short branch stumps. 73, Geoff GM4ESD -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] OT - Solar activity article
I have worked some fantastic DX during the bottom of the current cycle, 30M really shines as does 40m and 160/80m really come alive. low activity is no show stopper, it's just that the fun is on different bands. a 1/4 wave vertical for 30m is possible for most and at greyline times during periods of low solar activity out performs my log yagi (due to better low angle takeoff angle) Don't use low solar activity as an excuse to not operate ;-0 just stay active and enjoy the hobby, after-all the colder winders will make you feel less guilty about staying indoors.. On Fri, 2011-06-17 at 14:33 -0700, Wayne Burdick wrote: As any QRP operator can tell you, the meaning of DX changes from day to day, and accepting this fact lowers your blood pressure :) Working a weak station is a worthy challenge wether they're across the state or two hops around the globe. Wayne N6KR -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Diversity Mode - DATA-A
Don't combine! when signals are present on both antennas they may cancel out due to phase differences on arrival (/or within the K3) Ideally the software should process each path separately and handle extracting the signal On Wed, 2011-06-15 at 16:52 -0700, vk4cmv wrote: I've also set up a macro in HRD to send !BEFF to the rig which, according to previous posts, combines the audio in diversity mode. Having done that, I had this sneaking feeling that I was copying (decoding) better - but it could be wishful thinking and needs proper testing, not just playing around. When I say decoding better - it's not just a matter of dBs, it's a matter of the reception holding together for a full 48 seconds in each minute through QRM QRN. Anyone else out there tried diversity in DATA-A? rgds, Julian VK4CMV PS: Any news on when VOX is going to be implemented on a per-mode basis, ie. DATA-A vs Phone? -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Diversity-Mode-DATA-A-tp6481155p6481155.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 Audio output
The surplus Motorola speaker are truly excellent speakers for radio use, both mobile and in the shack. They have high efficiency and a frequency response that is ideal for Radio use. I don't know what type of AF amp the KX3 will use but there are now some really superb class 'D' switching audio amp chips available that can generate lots of clean audio with very high power efficiency See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Class_D_Amplifier and http://www.analog.com/en/audiovideo-products/audio-signal-processors/ad1990/products/product.html Also Motorola made some amplified speakers these are very good for noisy vehicles too On Fri, 2011-05-27 at 12:09 -0700, George Winship, NC5G wrote: Thanks Wayne, for your prompt reply. I will check out this out. Presently I use an old Motorola mobile speaker with the IC-730. Most of my mobile ops are in a 1995 3/4 ton Chevy. No CD, but maybe can find an old cassette interface. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Interface for MRP 40
Since MRP40 CW uses the computer's sound card all you need with the K3 is a 1/8 stereo jack to hack cable the K3 already has a line out that is transformer isolated and at the appropriate level to drive PC sound-cards I see that MRP40 CW advocates using AFSK in SSB to send CW, please don't since unless very carefully done with a high quality computer soundcard it will result in a very wide and grotty transmitted signal. I hear quite a few crappy AFSK CW signals on the bands and I am pretty tired of having QSO's ruined by AFSK CW a couple of KHZ away from me. the K3 has the hardware required to CW key and activate PTT via RS232 built in In summary, you need an audio cable and perhaps an RS232 cable On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 09:34 +0100, Gavin Keegan wrote: I would like to use the MRP40 CW program with my K3 (1336) connected to my laptop and need details of a suitable interface unit, preferably homebrew. Can anyone help with either a design or details of a proprietarily made unit please? Gavin Keegan - G6DGK __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Interface for MRP 40
The requisite keying interfacing for DTR and RTS is ALREADY built into the K3 you just need to enable it on the K3 No need for any interface, just an RS232 cable On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 10:00 -0400, nr4c wrote: To decode the CW signals, (no transmit) all you need do is use a patch cord (1/8 inch stereo both ends) from the LINE OUT on bacxk of the K3 and connect to LINE IN or MIC IN on the computer sound card. For TX, see the uper partr of the schematic shown here: http://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/IF.gif, the part with the opto-couplers. A patch cord from computer OUT to K3 LINE IN Will get you the audio. The K3 already has transformer isolated in/out on the LINE interface. bc nr4c On Tue, 24 May 2011 09:34:11 +0100, Gavin Keegan wrote: I would like to use the MRP40 CW program with my K3 (1336) connected to my laptop and need details of a suitable interface unit, preferably homebrew. Can anyone help with either a design or details of a proprietarily made unit please? Gavin Keegan - G6DGK __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Interface for MRP 40
In this case you may wish to consider just breaking out the RTS and DTR lines and connecting them to your second com port the grounds can be tied together (pin5) On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 10:31 -0400, nr4c wrote: Thanks for this note. I had completely forgotten this capability. I have to use a second RS-232 port for keying my rig due to software restraints (N3FJP won't use same serial port for CW as CAT). ...bc nr4c On Tue, 24 May 2011 15:24:25 +0100, Brendan Minish wrote: The requisite keying interfacing for DTR and RTS is ALREADY built into the K3 you just need to enable it on the K3 No need for any interface, just an RS232 cable On Tue, 2011-05-24 at 10:00 -0400, nr4c wrote: To decode the CW signals, (no transmit) all you need do is use a patch cord (1/8 inch stereo both ends) from the LINE OUT on bacxk of the K3 and connect to LINE IN or MIC IN on the computer sound card. For TX, see the uper partr of the schematic shown here: http://www.polar-electric.com/Morse/MRP40-EN/IF.gif, the part with the opto-couplers. A patch cord from computer OUT to K3 LINE IN Will get you the audio. The K3 already has transformer isolated in/out on the LINE interface. bc nr4c On Tue, 24 May 2011 09:34:11 +0100, Gavin Keegan wrote: I would like to use the MRP40 CW program with my K3 (1336) connected to my laptop and need details of a suitable interface unit, preferably homebrew. Can anyone help with either a design or details of a proprietarily made unit please? Gavin Keegan - G6DGK __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 Setup
Yes this will get 6m sent on AUXBUS, BUT the KRC2 (at least the 2 I had here) won't decode 6m to a relay driver this REALLY is over-due fixing.. On Sun, 2011-05-22 at 19:38 +, iain macdonnell - N6ML wrote: There's a setting in the K3 that optionally maps the 6m band to 10m. If that setting is enabled, you'll be trying to pass 6m through your 10m BPF, which probably won't work well :) Go to CONFIG:KRC2 and tap the '1' button until you see bnd6=b6 73, ~iain / N6ML On Sun, May 22, 2011 at 6:48 PM, Jim Brown j...@audiosystemsgroup.com wrote: I've been loaned a W3NQN bandpass filter setup that uses an Array Solutions FM6 switch box controlled by a KRC2 connected to the Aux Bus of my K3. Everything seems to work fine on 160-10M, with those bands for which there are no filters being bypassed, but 6M doesn't get through the switching network. There's a KRC2 config utility that I've downloaded and installed, and it fails to show any options for 6M other than for analog voltage band-decoding. It does tell me that I have the latest version of the KRC2 firmware installed. Documentation on using the KRC2 and the config utility is something that only the programmer's mother could love. It refers to maps, but doesn't tell me how to set up those maps to cover 6M. Can anyone help me get this running by some means other than adding switches to bypass the switching matrix entirely? Thanks and 73, Jim K9YC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft and Apple
On Thu, 2011-05-19 at 09:53 -0700, Sverre Holm (LA3ZA) wrote: Judging from the volume on the list regarding the new KX3, Elecraft seems to have as loyal a following as Apple - only a smaller customer base. Maybe Elecraft has learnt from their neighbors? Ohh I do hope not! Apple don't want their end users taking the lid off or making non-approved mods/changes and upgrades (hardware or software) and make a lot of their money out of the user AFTER they have bought the item.. It sounds like the KX3 might be a dream HF /MM rig once the 100W amp/ATU is factored in, especially if the 100W amp/atu can be remotely mounted -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Clarification on QRQ mode changes in recent K3 beta firmware (4.36)
Tom, Have you any advice you might be able to share about how to best progress towards true QRQ CW? I am currently a reasonable CW contest op and can ragchew ok ~ 25WPM most of the time when I am not trying too hard When I try 'too hard' I start to loose the ability to headcopy easily and once the head-copy is gone altogether you might as well bring our cat into the shack to finish the QSO ;-) I have spent many hours listening to text (books ) converted to CW at 35 to 50WPM and it has helped a bit, but it has not helped nearly as much as I had hoped it would. Just occasionally I can get into the 'zone' and follow a book just fine at 40WPM but, then I 'notice' myself doing it and it all goes to pot again, after that it's back to getting words here and there perfectly, then missing the next one. On 28/04/2011 12:06, Tommy Alderman wrote: Gary, All it takes is a 'little' practice! [:)) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Clarification on QRQ mode changes in recent K3 beta firmware (4.36)
On Thu, 2011-04-28 at 10:14 -0500, Jack Brabham wrote: I'm sure that the few dozen hams on the planet that operate CW at ridiculous speeds are thrilled by this otherwise meaningless update. Actually QRQ mode is much nicer sounding for full break-in operation 'normal' CW speeds too The k3 works just fine with mfj auto-tuner and when I had a K3 with the AM filter it was simply a matter of selecting AM and I was good to go -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] 14.316 help!
Almost every computer and device with an Ethernet interface has a clock running at 14.316MHz -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 DXBase 2007
Does it set the frequency if you click on a dxspot ? On 23/04/2011 21:42, Fred Townsend wrote: John, if you have a P3 does it report the frequency correctly? -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of John Harden Sent: Saturday, April 23, 2011 2:13 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] K3 DXBase 2007 My K-3 works fine with DXBase 2007 with one exception. It does not read the K3's frequency. I am using the Radio.ini file From EI6IZ. Both K3 and DXBase are set at 38400 baud. Any ideas? I'm using WIN 7, 64 bit I'm using a USB serial converter on COM3. 73 , John, W4NU -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3/100 power supply
I have had 2x Samlex 1223's both are running for about 9 years 24/7. one of these floats 2X 160Ah deep cycle batteries. replacement cost would be ~ 140 Euro including shipping, at this stage they owe me nothing. If you are so worried about reliability, then buy a spare On our high-sites (telecomms) we use some expensive 48V DC supplies made by a 'reputable' telecomms supplier, we regularly have to replace bits of these On Wed, 2011-04-13 at 16:51 -0700, VK5ABQ wrote: Conclusion: I'll put off buying the K3/100 for now until I can bothered to have another look for an electrically and audibly quiet 20A power supply suitable for 240V. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] linux/wine for K144XV/K3 Utility
I on the other hand have never had any issues with symlinking usb serial ports under linux, I have done it on several machines under several distros thing to watch out for though is that in some distros these devices may be placed in a different group than the standard TTY devices by udev On Tue, 2011-04-12 at 08:27 -0500, Nate Bargmann wrote: It has also been noted that the com1 symlink must point to a *real* serial port, i.e. /dev/ttyS0 or such. I have had no luck with a USB to Serial adapter, i.e. /dev/ttyUSB0, under Wine for any program. However, the adapters work flawlessly for native Linux programs including the K3 utility. This would seem to be a problem in Wine rather than Linux or the Windows program Wine is running. 73, de Nate -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Another KPA500 on order!
On 09/04/2011 03:02, Jeff Cochrane - VK4BOF wrote: I just could not resist any longer...So I ordered a KPA500 kit. Now to figure out how to tell the missus! The box it's in looks too small to be expensive, you should be fine ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Reconfiguring band boundaries
On Thu, 2011-03-17 at 11:45 +, Thomas Horsten wrote: So I'd like to change the band limitations to lock the unallocated sections out and avoid accidentally transmitting outside the licenced bands. For example, I sometimes hit TUNE and scan up and down the band to make sure that the SWR is reasonable across the entire band, PLEASE DON'T do this, It's VERY inconsiderate to other band users. there is already plenty of QRM on the bands. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KPA-500 FCC docs
On 16/03/2011 05:26, Gary Gregory wrote: *We have lots of fruitcakes in VK - some have an amateur license !!! But not many have KPA500's yet ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] decisions, decisions
On 13/03/2011 12:07, Gary Gregory wrote: The PR-6 is a good investment for you if you like 6M. the PR-6 is excellent if you are in a quiet location but if you are currently limited on 6m by external noise then the PR6 won't help. On the other hand if your location is quiet then with the PR6 you will hear down to the band noise floor -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] KX-1 Operation
On Sat, 2011-03-12 at 16:50 -0800, arnie lewin wrote: Dear folks: I am using, for the first time, a KX-1. The antenna, as recommended on the Elecraft FAQ page, is a 24 foot wire and a 16 foot radial. They are connected to the KX-1 with a BNC to a double banana plug. I am on the road from time to time and spend a number of evenings in hotel rooms. Earlier this week, I fired up the KX-1 for the first time since purchase. I took the 24-foot antenna and dropped it out the 6th floor window. That gave me about a 2 to 3 foot horizontal run to the window and the remainder straight down. you need to get the antenna wire away from the building, the building is full of lossy concrete and rebar, I use a wire on the end on a tennis ball 'secured' with tape and launch this outwards at anything it might catch in, when you are done pull on the wire and the tape lets go, the tennis ball you can collect after you check out ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 transmit/amplifier relay
Turn VOX off ? On 11/03/2011 21:26, Scott Ellington wrote: Not necessarily. The PTT Out line may control more than just the internal amplifier relays. For example, if one uses a separate receiving antenna, there should be a relay which disconnects it from the receiver on transmit. The amplifier output may also be switched by an external relay. There might even be a relay which terminates a shunt fed tower on receive, so it doesn't re-radiate into the rx antennas. So, there could be 3 relays switching. Even if they're quiet ones, I'd rather they didn't in PTT rx mode. Perhaps there is a situation where it is desirable to do what the K3 does, though it escapes me. In any case, it would be nice to have the option of turning it off in PTT mode. Scott K9MA On Mar 11, 2011, at 3:01 PM, JAMES ROGERS wrote: It seems to me that switching your amp to standby while doing your adjustments would solve the problem? 73s Jim On Mar 11, 2011, at 2:47 PM, Scott Ellington wrote: I think this is normal, and it's annoying. I don't know of any other transceiver that behaves this way. 73, Scott K9MA On Mar 11, 2011, at 2:40 PM, Sy Botan wrote: Most of my operating is on CW. While staying in the CW receive mode I operate the paddle to adjust speed and monitor level. The transmit relay activates and the amplifier relay also is activated. Being in the CW receive mode there is no RF output but the relay clanking is annoying. Neither VOX or QSK is selected. I tried to find some menu item that might have an affect on the relay activation. Did I overlook something or is this normal? Tnx de Sy K6PWP # 5223 (one week old) __ Scott Ellington Madison, Wisconsin USA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html JIM ROGERS, W4ATK w4...@bellsouth.net http://web.me.com/jimrogers_w4atk K3/100 P3 K2/10 Scott Ellington Madison, Wisconsin USA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Why I bought a K3
On Thu, 2011-02-24 at 16:48 -0800, Bill W4ZV wrote:
A few ex-IC7800 users: EI6IZ, EI2CN, W2UP, K3WW (all avid contesters BTW).
73, Bill
Actually I think EI2CN's (Doug) other radio is an orion
My own progression may interest some, for a good number of years I had a
756Pro2 and a K2/100.
I found I preferred the K2 for CW operation and for contesting.
In one of my early serious efforts at CQWW cw contest I A/B'e the
756pro2 and the K2 extensively and kept preferring the k2, particularly
on the low bands as it was better at digging out weak stations between
the big guns.
I did however prefer the Ergonomics of the 756pro2 for general
operating.
When the improved ('mk2') version of the 7800 came out I decided to buy
one as I liked Icom's ergonomics.
I also really hoped that the two 'identical' receivers could be used for
diversity reception on the low bands as I had considerable experience
with diversity reception with my Racal RA3702 and knew how well it
worked for digging out hard to copy tropical band BC DX stations.
Regretfully, due to a design limitation the two 'identical' receivers in
the 7800 have their first (High) IF separated by 100KHz from each other.
This ensures that the 2 receivers are nearly always offset from each
other by a fraction of 1Hz (Due to DDS decimation limitations I suspect)
rendering the 7800 nearly useless for diversity.
You can do diversity with the 7800 but it's incredibly fatiguing
because the signal is always rotating between ears in the headset.
In addition to this the 2 VFO's don't track. I assume this is so as not
to highlight the slight offset between the 2 receivers
For cw contesting the 7800 was a better radio than the K2 but the
difference was surprisingly small.
The 7800 is a fine radio with good ergonomics and excellent basic
performance, as I am sure the 7700 is
When the k3 was announced I placed my order pretty quickly, on the basis
that if it bettered the k2 then it was going to be a very fine radio.
Having had the k2 for 7 years I was also sure that elecraft would take
care to ensure that any improvements could be carried out on the earlier
models.
When the K3 arrived I had initially considered keeping the 7800 but I
rapidly found I preferred the k3 and after doing quite a bit of A/B
testing in the CQ WW 160M cw contest I decided to sell the 7800. The
7800 is no bad performer but the K3 has the edge, at least for the kinds
of operating I do.
When the k3 sub receiver came out I was really pleased with how well
diversity works and these days I use diversity nearly all the time.
It's not just a superb tool for digging out weak ones on the low bands
but it's also a very useful tool for digging call-signs out of a pile
up.
Diversity also often helps with hearing 'around' QRM because the QRM
usually has a different phase relationship to the desired signal
relative to my antennas (usually my TX antenna and a beverage or
doublet)
Ergonomically the K3 and the Icoms are very different radios, Personally
I find the K3 ergonomics excellent and find it a very comfortable radio
to operate.
A big advantage of the k3 is it's modular design, this not only makes it
possible to tailor the configuration to suit your operating needs but
also greatly simplifies things should repairs ever be required.
Elecraft have evolved the K3 since release ( are continuing to do so)
thus there will be no need to buy a K3 'Mk2' in a couple of years time
just to get the latest features and improvements.
Those considering buying a high performance HF radio should consider the
K3 very carefully in their decision making process.
--
73
Brendan EI6IZ
__
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] UK Elecraft Net
David Myself and at least one other on the net today are primarily CW operators. I did not copy a full call sign, I copied a couple of letters on top of someone else's transmission. Had I copied a callsign I would certainly have tried to pull him in I am sure a CW call in would have worked just fine IF it had been timed to coincide with any of the many pauses that were left between transmissions. On 20/02/2011 12:06, David Pratt wrote: In a recent message, AD6XYm.j.wil...@rl.ac.uk writes Can't hear me on properly SSB obviously though you are 59 down here but noise is low. So, I call in in CW and you say This is an SSB only Net - go away! CW is an ideal fallback when conditions are such that wide bandwidth modes are difficult. Unfortunately these days, not everyone is capable of CW or can be bothered developing their skill in the code. I heard you at RST 559, Michael, but unfortunately I was not in a position to be able to call in. 73 de David G4DMP -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] FW: FW: K3: KPA500 on a generator?
The KPA500 has a linear PSU and uses a conservatively sized toroidal mains transformer followed by a pair substantial filter capacitors It's over and under-voltage protected by firmware, I strongly suspect it would not have any particular issues with a poorly shaped input mains waveform. If the generator voltage regulation is very poor indeed then the firmware may take action to protect the KPA500 from damage by taking it off line or protectively shutting it down. I hope to have my KPA500 on line for the UK elecraft net tomorrow morning. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Sat, 2011-02-19 at 12:33 +, Dave, G4AON wrote: I run an Acom 1000 portable from a Yamaha EF2800i generator. The generator does cough a little on CW but the voltage remains steady. Given the high value of the radio and amplifier I would not skimp on a generator. The output of the generator on an oscilloscope is cleaner than the mains supply. I am sure a generator of this type would be ideal for the KPA500. 73 Dave, G4AON However, small generators I have seen do not produce mains-quality sinewave output: it's more triangular and I just want to know if Elecraft are happy with their kit running on this sort of supply which is also varying in voltage and frequency. I can think of several mechanisms to stress a psu. David G3UNA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] FW: FW: K3: KPA500 on a generator?
David There is no such implication, I think that's just the generator he had to hand! I can test my FT KPA500 on a generator but my generator too is an inverting one, a 2KW honda. One thing though when those generators are in 'econo' mode there will be serious voltage sags whilst the generator throttles up with large variable loads (such as CW ) and the KPA500 coped fine with that (although that type of intermittent load is not good for the honda..) The PSU in the KPA500 is a linear one (not a switcher) and I would expect it to do fine on any generator that makes at least some attempt to regulate the output voltage. I am not going to rent a conventional generator to test on but the KPA500 copes just fine with my mains variations which go from 225 (night) to 246 (Day) Switchers can actually be more problematic on generator type loads, we have a 15KVA generator with AVR at work that was brought to it's knees by 5Kw of Computing equipment loads. IT loads in common with most devices powered by switchers have a really rotten power factor. Inverting generators can do better with those loads See here for what a modest computer load looks like http://www.flickr.com/photos/bminish/4698934177/ 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Fri, 2011-02-18 at 09:05 +, David Cutter wrote: This is of interest to me, but is there an implication that the K3 + KPA500 MUST have an advanced inverter technology generator - providing stable power for computers and more variety of modern generator? Can I not use a 2kVA legacy generator without the inverter technology at a third of the price? David G3UNA Yes, feel free to forward to the list: I ran my K3 and KPA500 and a desktop computer on a single Honda EU-2000i at 125V, and it worked fine. The amp draws about 1225 VA max and the generator is rated for 1600 VA continuous. The generator didn't like the highly varying load while running in Econo mode (it shuttered enough that it walked off the sidewalk and ended up on its side), but in normal full out mode it had no problems and neither did the amp. It's an ideal 600W amp. for DXpeditions. 73, Bob, N6TV VE7XF asked: During my summertime 6m grid-hopping activities, it would be nice to power a portable station (K3 and KPA500) from my Honda 2000i generator. (AC power is seldom available on a mountaintop.) __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] FW: FW: K3: KPA500 on a generator?
It should be fine, about the only thing you may need to do is put a couple of hundred watts of base load on it or it may not run very smoothly with the big changes in load that will go with keying This would apply with any linear mind you On 18/02/2011 18:36, David Cutter wrote: Thanks, Jim, got the message. Now, I would like to use the K3+KPA500 with an unused Briggs and Stratton 2kVA generator that I fancy for portable work. It's probably the last of the old style ie no inverter technology. I don't expect Elecraft to test their kit with all and sundry generators that were ever built, but there might some lore about VA ratings and on/off ratios. Any advice welcome. David G3UNA On 2/18/2011 1:05 AM, David Cutter wrote: This is of interest to me, but is there an implication that the K3 + KPA500 MUST have an advanced inverter technology generator - providing stable power for computers and more variety of modern generator? NO! The issue is the GENERATOR being happy and running well with a pulsed load current that is a fairly high percentage of its rated current. My much bigger Honda EU6500 will run a LONG time in economy mode with SMALL loads, but will stagger to its knees with the heavy load of well motors. To run those pumps, which cycle on and off periodically, I have to run the generator in Normal mode, which burns a lot more petrol. See my earlier post about using a 2000i on a CQP expedition with a 500W amp. It ran just fine, and I'm sure that the gen would be equally happy with the KPA500. 73, Jim K9YC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] N3FJP and K3 control issue
The big issue here is that most software that uses 'kenwood protocol' sends the mode change BEFORE the new frequency I modified the radio control file for dxbase to send frequency and mode together as opposed toe setting the mode THEN chaining the frequency My modified command sets mode and frequency in one command string with no pause and it works just fine On Tue, 2011-02-15 at 14:30 -0800, Julian, G4ILO wrote: Greg - AB7R wrote: I also addressed this with Scott a couple years ago and he had no interest in modifying the software for the K3. I think the problem is the K3's habit of restoring the mode last used on a band when you change to that band. It seems to override the mode set in the software. In KComm I overcame it by waiting a bit before sending the mode command to give the unwanted mode change time to take effect. But since I'm only supporting Elecraft radios I can work around the quirks. I can understand a developer's unwillingness to make major logic changes to accommodate one radio which might end up causing issues with several others. I actually would like the K3 to do ONLY what the software command tells it to do. It may be helpful to restore the last used mode when changing bands via the front panel but it is illiogical to change modes when you send a computer command that just says change frequency. If the K3 would do what the computer tells it and only what the computer tells it then it would fix an annoying problem with several programs besides N3FJP. - Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222. * G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com * KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html * KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] UK Import Duty attracted by factory built K3.
You will have to pay Local VAT on the price (including shipping) + a handling fee imposed by the shipping company (usually fairly small ) on importation to the EU there is no 'Duty' on amateur radio equipment coming into the EU providing the correct tarrif codes are used and the paperwork is correctly filled out. Elecraft are familiar with the paperwork requirements. I have 2 K3's and am selling the second one (SO2R is not for me! ) Contact me off list for spec and pricing. I can optionally configure it to you requirements. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Wed, 2011-02-09 at 23:13 +, Geoffrey Mackenzie-Kennedy wrote: Could somebody in the UK please tell me how much Import Duty (roughly) one has to pay if one buys a factory built K3 (100 watt version). With thanks, 73, Geoff GM4ESD __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Take the plung!
I worked 2 stations signing /QPR during the contest In both cases it took multiple repeats to get the full call and the Contact would have been quicker for all concerned had they not sent /QRP each time and just sent their call a few more times In both cases I was happy to work them, after the first thousand fresh QSO's are fairly slim pickings in the CQWW160m contest Sometimes when I am feeling 'ratty' and someone insists of signing /QRP on each over I respond by signing ei6iz/QRO Over the years I have had many enjoyable QSO's with QRP stations, I hear well here as I am in a rural location with fairly decent antennas and I enjoy working other stations regardless of power level I am happy to work QRP stations but signing /QRP is pointless and will not make me more likely to expend effort digging you out of a pileup On 31/01/2011 18:37, Nick-WA5BDU wrote: I made about 380 Qs in the 160 meter test and worked some at the superstition level, a couple I used the APF on, several who were no doubt QRPers. I never heard anyone sign /QRP. So this may be one of those things to be indignant about that has little basis in reality. If someone had signed /QRP, I wouldn't have felt greatly harmed. I worked other stations who took longer than typical to work due to being unfamiliar with contest procedures, etc. I was still happy to get 'em into the log. 73/72- Nick, WA5BDU __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Feature Request
Why would you want this? On Thu, 2011-01-27 at 21:30 -0500, Edward Dickinson, III wrote: 10 Minute Timer - Sound, 'Beep, Beep, Beep.' Alternate, Flash or Dim Display and/or Panel Lights. Reset Timer. Countdown on clock display. 73, -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Elecraft] K3 for sale
I am selling a K3, Ideally to someone within Ireland or Europe I have two of them at the moment as I had initially intended tooling up for SO2R contesting and am now selling the second radio (trying to gather some money to cover the 500W amplifier when it comes out ) K3 # 2068 100W PA KAT3ATU KXV3transverter interface KBPF3 Gen coverage BPF Filters 6k 2k7 1k 500Hz 200Hz KDVR3 Digital voice keyer KTCXO-1 TCXO Hi stab ref oscillator DSP mod done (K3DSPLPF ) PR6 Low noise 6m preamp Total new cost of these parts (kit version) is $3331.45 or without the 6m preamp $3181.55 I would be happy to install (at cost) any extras such as the Sub RX or filter changes that the buyer wants This radio is clean, current firmware and modified fully up to current Spec, with the exception of the PLL stiffener modkit and the negative ALC mod, but if requested I would be willing to carry out these mods if the buyer wanted any other changes done at the same time My price is € 2500 or 2400 minus the 6m premap, Ideally the buyer would collect but I can arrange Shipping by courier from Ireland however Ireland is quite and expensive country to ship from and a Ryanair flight may prove more cost effective. This represents the total kit cost minus shipping and import VAT charge of 21% and represents a saving of around 700 Euro on the price of a new kit as configured above or € 900 on a factory built version. Please contact me directly if interested -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] WSPR with K3
Well since hamblib is 100% free and open source software ANYONE who wishes to improve the hamlib support for the k3 is completely free to do so I would expect any shortcomings with K3 support under hamlib to get fixed in fairly short order In addition to this WSPR can use com port signal line PTT which the K3 supports On Fri, 2011-01-07 at 15:35 -0600, Tony Estep wrote: Ouch! So I guess we shouldn't get any new versions of WSPR until this changes - if it ever does. Tony KT0NY -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Will the K2 noise blanker help with this QRM?
no the noise blanker is not going to help with that sort of noise, it's designed for impulse type noise (ignition noise, electric fences etc ) The DSP audio filter has an auto notch feature that can remove a carrier and this may help somewhat On Thu, 2010-12-23 at 18:29 -0800, Owen B. Mehegan wrote: Now that I've had my K2 working for a few weeks, I've begun to get a sense of what the local RF conditions at my location are like. I live in a dense urban environment, in an apartment building, so I know that I'm going to have to live with a fair amount of QRM. That said, I'm seeing some noise on 80m that is always present at night, on 3580 khz and other places. It looks like strong, steady carriers every 10-20 hz. The noise level is a constant S9 or more. I'm just wondering if the K2 noise blanker would help with this. You can see a waterfall screenshot and listen to a wav file example here: http://nerdnetworks.org/stuff/80m_waterfall.png http://nerdnetworks.org/stuff/80m_qrm.wav Thanks in advance for any suggestions! -- o...@nerdnetworks.org (Owen B. Mehegan) 'Thank you in advance for having my back.' --Chas __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Re： SCS Pactor 3 modem with K3
On Mon, 2010-12-06 at 00:40 +0100, Dr. Werner Furlan wrote: I think it was me who persuaded Jim KE6RK into adding the Elecraft transceivers to the list of supported radios in Oct. 2008 ;-) You weren't the only one who asked him for this ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Re： SCS Pactor 3 modem with K3
Airmail DOES speak K3 CAT commands I am not sure about the PTC modems ability to support the K3 directly since my PTC2e does not support rig control directly. if this is important to you then prehaps it would be worthwhile asking SCS to add K3 support, this should be easy for them to do as it's just a small extension of the kenwood protocol which they already support In my station rig control is by means of a second com port connected directly to the k3. Surely in almost any set-up except prehaps a dedicated pactor only station the rig will be connected to the PC via a second com port (or USB-RS232 adapter) for logging, firmware updates etc? I am unsure where the difficulty lies since full K3 control is available via airmail and has been for quite a while I have very successfully used the k3 for pactor with scanning as a private PMBO for EI6GH/MM EI9FYB/MM the K3 works very nicely for pactor On 04/12/2010 23:01, Johnny Siu wrote: Thanks Markus. It is a pitty that K3 cannot work properly with the best pactor 3 modem. HF email is now one of the cheapest and reliable way in marine and ARES. cheers, Johnny VR2XMC 寄件人﹕ hb9brjhb9...@gmail.com 收件人﹕ elecraft@mailman.qth.net 傳送日期﹕ 2010/12/5 (日) 1:56:32 AM 主題： Re: [Elecraft] SCS Pactor 3 modem with K3 Johnny Siu wrote: I would like to connect my K3 with the SCS modem PTC-IIusb to operate Airmail. Could any of you advise me the correct wiring diagram between K3 and the modem? AFAIK the PTC-II controllers do not speak K3 CAT commands, therefore the TRX Control port cannot be used to control a K3. Consequence: No frequency scanning (controlled by the PTC-II). The audio part between the PTC-II's TRX Audio port and the K3 is straightforward: PTC Audio output (pin1) to K3 Line in PTC Audio input (pin4) to K3 Line out PTC PTT output (pin3) to K3 PTT in PTC GND (pin2) to K3 GND ;-) 73, Markus HB9BRJ -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] APF in 4.16/2.63 works well!
Variable Q might be nice, it seems a pretty good compromise as is though. the issue I would have with putting the Q on the width control is that this then prevents the user altering the IF filter bandwidth when the APF is selected Currently I am finding that I am still playing with the IF width control quite a bit when APF is selected so far on 160m the APF feature is able to help dig out signals that are too poor to dig out by ear without it. This is a great addition On 29/10/2010 16:58, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote: APF has a very significant improvement on weak signals in the noise. I completely agree with prior posters. HOWEVER... I would like to be able to ***VARY THE Q*** with the width control and LEAVE IT ON with a mild Q, and sharpen it as required. If I can back it out to 2 dB with a width function I would probably leave that on all the time and grind in as needed. I already do that with Width in weak cases that are on frequency. ONLY when APF is on could we have the WIDTH tap toggle between APF Q displaying APF Q=3 in lower display and between Roofing/DSP bandwidth displaying BW 0.40??? You could do the same thing with SHIFT to go back and forth between adjusting Roofing/DSP SHIFT displaying FC *0.45 and APF *0.45.Using WIDTH to control Q is intuitive. When APF is in there is no moderate setting, it takes over the passband and makes copy of a signal up band difficult. It will require repeated use of DUAL PB to go in and out for weak signals and back out for normal use. Use of a HOLD function as a frequent change is a problem. In trying to get used to the HOLD on DUAL PB to go in and out of APF to hear in the rest of the channel, I repeatedly hit NTCH instead. HOLD's are only good for settings that persist for a while during operation. E.g. I don't need APF ONLY as a better substitute for 50 Hz. I need it to work ALSO as a milder center emphasis inside the 400 Hz roofer, and be able to twist a knob somewhere to move between mild and sharp. Even with what appears to be only a 2 dB peaking around 450, the MP was improved inside its excellent dual INRAD 400 selectivity. If this is not done, it will be very difficult to use it well in a contest. No easy-to-use variable Q is a deal-breaker for me. In the end for contests it will cost Q's and will have to tell people to leave it off, just like NR. Only turn it on for a really weak one if you can remember how, and then turn it right back off. Then when I get home chasing weak DX I'll turn it all back on again, and work some stuff I couldn't hear before. 73, Guy. On Fri, Oct 29, 2010 at 11:01 AM, drewkodrew...@verizon.net wrote: Yes, I realize that. I would like to compare what is heard using the APF filter to what is displayed by BeaconSee with its sub-noise signal recovery algorithms. 73, Drew AF2Z On Fri, 29 Oct 2010 10:55:38 -0400, you wrote: I think you may be confused about what APF is. It is NOT a waterfall or any kind of visual indicator. It IS an Audio Peaking Filter (APF) meant to enhance weak signal audio using the processor between your ears. It will not automatically show you where weak signals are in a spectrum, but if you know approximately where to look (either from a Packet spot or waterfall trace) it can help your ear/brain decode the CW audio buried in noise. 73, Bill __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Seeking external speaker recommendations
Surplus Motorola 2 way radio speakers work great with the K3 they are Cheap at hamfests, Efficient and they are well optimised for voice communications, look for 2 or 4 Ohm ones On Sun, 2010-10-24 at 23:25 -0700, George A. Thornton wrote: I am looking for recommendations on external speakers for the K3. I am primarily interested in voice modes. I would use these primarily in my shack. My contesting has thus far been limited to Field Day, but who knows where this might lead. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] CE Marking - was: KPA 500
I am all in favour of the CE rules and CE mark system, It's just a pity that in many EU member states market surveillance and enforcement is lax ( under-resourced) as this allows the unscrupulous manufacturers to get away with cutting corners to the detriment of consumers ( radio amateurs) and hurts companies that invest the engineering time and resources to ensure that their products are compliant with the safety and EMC requirements I am glad that magellan do things right, I have seen (serous) issues with strong interference to marine VHF by some marine chart plotter products produced by another prominent North American Company. Marine VHF is of course FM and as a result most users won't notice the problem that is rendering their VHF 'deaf' when the plotter is on.. On Fri, 2010-10-22 at 16:43 -0700, Matt Zilmer wrote: Not according to this one: Magellan Navigation. And there are many others that play by the rules. matt W6NIA On Fri, 22 Oct 2010 23:39:51 +0100, you wrote: On Fri, 2010-10-22 at 21:58 +0100, David Cutter wrote: But it is for the built version According to certain consumer device manufacturers it seems that CE is just a little sticker you buy on a big roll that you stick on when shipping to Europe ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] CE Marking - was: KPA 500
On Fri, 2010-10-22 at 21:58 +0100, David Cutter wrote: But it is for the built version According to certain consumer device manufacturers it seems that CE is just a little sticker you buy on a big roll that you stick on when shipping to Europe ;-) -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 config menu problem
Juha Reload the Front panel firmware using the K3 utility and see if this clears it up On Mon, 2010-10-18 at 02:58 -0700, Juha - oh6os wrote: Hello everybody, My K3 config menu has got mixed up! For example: I tried set LIN OUT, so upper line show OFF. That is just for previous entry LCD TST. My first and second entries are somelike 221 and upper lines like 0.00 and trn 1. After these all is ok to CW PADL tip=dot. Then there is CW WGHT On? After that every entries has wrong upper line! 73 de juha - oh6os K3 2100 -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 SUB AF - NOR or BALANCE?
Hello Mike I have always used the rear connectors, it helps with usability. I like the flexibility of all the I/O available on the back of the K3 but I got rather sick of reaching around the back of the radio so I reused an old audio patch bay to take care of the routing, it also helped fill out the Icom 7800 sized hole in my station. http://ei6iz.com/?p=4 On Thu, 2010-10-14 at 06:09 -0400, Mike wrote: I've been a lot happier since I plugged both the cans and mic into the rear jacks. 73, Mike NF4L -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Give us a network interface
On Sun, 2010-08-29 at 15:38 -0500, Matthew D. Fuller wrote: And Ethernet is beyond that; I doubt anybody really wants a transceiver that works over _Ethernet_; they want one that works over TCP/IP Not only would it need to support a relativity bug free IPv4 Stack but it would also need to support IPv6. IPv6 may not matter much in the short term, especially on a LAN but in the next few years we will see Domestic Broadband providers rolling out IPv6 to end users, The big advantage here for users will be that there will be enough publicly route-able addresses to give every IP capable device in the house a unique, static address. This will be a big Plus for remote operating etc. The driver for us ISP's is the imminent shortage of IPv4 addresses which will begin to affect our bottom line shortly.. There would be a fair bit of work in implementing TCP/IP properly and the features it would bring have minority appeal (I am one of that minority) I would prefer to see the K3 stay with the well implemented Serial and analog audio interfacing that it currently has. That way I can, if I desire implement my own TCP/IP stack on external hardware running open source software. It would be nice to have Audio I/O available as a digital stream at some stage though. (if you want it over Appletalk or IPX or DECnet, just raise your hand now and somebody will be around to smack you sillier momentarily ;). DECnet is sitting in the linux kernel, unloved and underused, my vote is for DECnet and to keep away from all this newfangled TCP/IP stuff -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Give us a network interface
USB has it place but if it's 'just' to get rid of the serial port by moving the Serial/USB conversion inside the radio then I don't see the point On Mon, 2010-08-30 at 15:44 -0400, Guy Olinger K2AV wrote: The problem of insisting on Ham radio equipment manufactures supporting the patently NON-standard USB standard is driving up mamufacturer's costs and running into problems every time the OS has to be patched to get around some security hack. Followed by Wayne having to upgrade and recertify the Elecraft drivers before the fix can be distributed. Microsoft is NOT paying for this stuff. What's Microsoft got to do with it ;-) In linux USB hardware support is in general very good indeed where vendors publish in full the specs needed to create a driver, it's a bit less good (to non-existent) where vendors treat the interface spec as proprietary. With USB serial adapters (and USB soundcards ) I haven't yet met a single one that does not 'just work' with recent kernels. Windows on the other hand is a bloody nightmare with many USB devices and usb serial converters. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft SSB Net results (8-22-10)
On Sun, 2010-08-22 at 16:19 -0700, Phil and Christina wrote: EI6IZ Brenden CA K3 39 West coast of Ireland actually! -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 Display and Eye Glasses for OTs only
I am short sighted and my near vision is still quite good however I use a set of thin 'dollar store' +2 reading glasses when I do SMT work on my bench, these go over my normal glasses and give me some binocular magnification for doing fine (re)work. Choose the magnification factor in the shop such that you can still focus at your normal working distance and get thin ones so that you can look over the top of them for looking at stuff further away (like the scope, PC etc) Much cheaper than an optivisor and a big help at the bench 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Fri, 2010-06-04 at 20:11 +0100, Doug Turnbull wrote: Mike, Another solution is to have a pair of glasses for radio use. I have set of bifocals which are used for computer and radio with roughly a thirty inch focal length and reading at roughly fourteen inches. I find them very convenient in the radio shack. 73 Doug EI2CN PS What have we come to talking this way. -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Mike K2MK Sent: 04 June 2010 19:50 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 filter display size Hi Joe: Here's a low tech solution: trifocals. I sit about 28 from my computer screen and about the same from the K3. The middle range of my trifocals is perfect. Same problem and solution for the speedometer on the car's dashboard. 73, Mike K2MK Don, Yes, there is a lot of granularity to that display, but it still give a good idea of the filter placement within the audio spectrum The problem is that there is no change between 500/400 Hz or between 250/200 Hz. That means it is not possible to determine if a 400 Hz or 200 Hz filter are selected only from the filter width display. In the case where the FLn icons are too small to be read with one's distance lenses and the radio is too far away for the reading lenses the filter width display should be an important clue to the selected filter. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 6/4/2010 10:00 AM, Don Wilhelm wrote: Mike, That truncated pyramid should change as you move the HI/LO CUT or SHIFT/WIDTH knobs. In other words, it should respond to changes in the DSP filter controls. Set the K3 to SSB and if the HI/LO indicators are not illuminated, push one of the two buttons in - then turn the HI CUT knob counterclockwise. The segments to the right should drop off as you rotate the knob. Then switch to the SHIFT/WIDTH display - rotate the shift knob and the display should move left to right (no change in width), and rotate the WIDTH knob to change the width - when you go counterclockwise, it should go down to 50 Hz and the number of bars will be only two. Yes, there is a lot of granularity to that display, but it still give a good idea of the filter placement within the audio spectrum 73, Don W3FPR Mike wrote: The truncated pyramid icon that displays a filter's width only has 2 sizes, a wide one (11 'segments') for my 2.8 and a narrower (7 'segments') for both the 400 and 250 filters. Is that the way it's supposed to be? The wording on the xfil display is getting too small for these eyes. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3:DSP Upgrade well worth it
GW0ETF wrote: Anyone have any idea which bit of the complete upgrade makes such a significant difference..? I'm toying with the idea of the low pass filter part of the upgrade (K3DSPLPF) as I have no particular interest in enhanced low frequency response. this is all I have done with my K3's and to my ears it's well worth doing. Prior to this I had fitted a R/C Low pass filter to my headphones because I found the HF artefacts irritating, i do have good ears though 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Built in USB interface for K3
On Fri, 2010-05-21 at 07:43 -0700, Phil Hystad wrote: With the exception of ham radio, I seriously doubt that I could find and buy a device that needs RS232. I understand that there might be a device that supports RS232 for some old equipment needs. Or, even devices, as the cited example that for some reason continues to use RS232. Cisco, 3Com and Juniper Routers and switches still all use an RS232 based console port and very handy it is at times too. It's used as the NMEA bus for pretty much all marine electronics where here the big advantage is that you can easily have multiple devices listening to GPS data on the same common bus In the ham shack the same trick is used to control steppir antennas, drive band controllers etc I have yet to meet an X86 based server that does not have at least one on board RS232 port and you can buy USB to rs232 converters for a couple of Euro on Ebay RS-232 is still be best choice for low speed serial communications for many applications -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] OT: The use QRP
I too dislike hearing stations sign /qrp. There is a real basis for my dislike of this practice It is this, when hearing multiple callers I do my best to try to pull out the weak stations under the stronger ones but I can't always hear the weak stations well enough to get a full call in one go whilst the strong ones are calling If I can pull a full call in one go it keeps everyone happy by saving on repeats. The problem with signing /qrp is that often the /qrp is the bit that is being sent once the stronger stations have finished sending their calls. /qrp is not a partial call so I can't even go back to the caller with a partial, this wastes time. What is MUCH more useful is for the calling station to send his/her call a couple of times in a row without additional,unnecessary embellishments. This increases your chances of me pulling out your full, correct call in one go out of a pileup and us then having a successful QSO. I hear well here as I am in a quiet rural area with reasonable antennas and a super CW radio (k3) By all means tell me you are running 5w if you like once we exchange station details if we are having a longer QSO but If I am at the receiving end of a pileup I really have no interest in hearing /QRP it is not going into my log, it's not a legally required suffix, it does not convey useful information and it keeps others waiting. Sometimes If I am feeling particularly grumpy I may sign EI6IZ/QRO in return if the other station signs /QRP on each over , it's just as valid ! -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] CW/CW-REV config option
CW / CW-R can also be a very useful QRM fighting tool. the K3 does not centre the wider roofing filters on the CW passband to maximise opposite sideband rejection Switching from CW to CW -R (or vice/versa) places that interfering signal that is above you (in pitch) below you (in pitch) where the lower skirt of the filter (roofing filter) may be much more effective at filtering out the interfering signal. This is a great trick if you only have wide roofing filters in your k3, it's less useful (but sometimes still helpful) even if your K3 is fitted with narrow roofing filters -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Line in / out socket failure
I use an old audio patch bay to manage the I/O connections for my K3(s) this makes it very easy to reroute things and significantly reduces the need to reach around the back of the radio. http://ei6iz.com/?p=4 patch bays can be found on ebay and normalised (or half normalised) paths can be used for your default configuration so that you will only need to use patch cables when you wish to alter how something is connected by default 1/8 mini-jacks are not the most solid of connectors so one does need to be careful with them. It is also worth checking to ensure that the board that carries the jack sockets (KIO3 audio daugherboard) is not pushed too far back causing the rear panel to prevent the jacks from going all the way in. how far this goes in is set by the black spacer fitted to J91, in one of the K3's I have put together this was a little too far back, it can be adjusted out by (carefully) using a small screwdriver to move it forwards a few mm on the pins of j91 the minijacks themselves are standard parts and all the usual parts suppliers should have them should yours need replacing Stewart wrote: I have found that a number of these sockets on my K3 are becoming loose. Frequently I have to reseat the headphone plug because one channel is missing audio. Also if I move them I get scratching noises. They weren't the greatest when I first built my K3, but they are definitely getting worse. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
[Elecraft] Irish / Northern Irish Elecraft events
I am attending the following events to display elecraft's products and meet with other EI/GI elecraft owners and those interested in elecraft products Enniskillen Amateur Radio show, Sunday 11th April 2010 at the Share Centre, Lisnaskea http://www.learc.eu/ The IRTS AGM Rally, Sunday 25th April 2010 Fairways Hotel Dundalk Co Louth http://www.irts.ie/cgi/agm.cgi I could also do with some assistance on the stand and a K1 if someone has one that they are willing to bring along to display. if anyone is interested in helping out pleas contact me off list 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 power output on SSB
An undershoot of ~ 20% for the first few seconds of transmission on a new frequency might be an irritant but an overshoot or aggressive fast acting ALC leads to spatter on peaks, this is very common issue on the bands today An undershoot of ~20% on peaks (it's less on my K3) is negligible in terms of the receiving end signal strength and a small price to pay for a cleaner transmitted signal. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Mon, 2010-03-29 at 14:59 -0800, ab2tc wrote: Hi, No, please, this is not a power calibration issue! A huge number of K3 users have complained about this propensity of the SSB power to aim conservatively for 50-80% of the requested peak power and then slowly, very slowly climbing up to the requested power. Once reaching 100% it stays there until you perform some kind of QSY operation other than just turning the wheel. It is not a huge irritant to me, but an irritant nonetheless. If I am in a big rush to have full power on SSB after a QSY, I switch mode to TX data FSK D, do a quick squirt of TX and I have instant full SSB peak power. AB2TC - Knut Joe Subich, W4TV-4 wrote: When I whistle to mic and tune my linear amplifier, I notice that last watts going up very slowly. Without linear I tested and sometimes first 80 watts out normally but from 80 to 100 watts it takes about 2-3 seconds. Sounds like a power calibration issue. Double check the K3 wattmeter calibration, the amplifier gain calibrations and TXG VCE. 73, ... Joe, W4TV snip -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] ...and then there was silence (well almost)
I would check very carefully for a Coax failure or other short/Open in the signal path. I would then check the antenna with a second rig or receiver , if you have one available Next check the k3 carefully to ensure that you have not inadvertently selected the wrong antenna port, RX antenna input input etc. If you have the transverter interface check to see if you can hear ok on the RX antenna input, this would help rule out the ATU Your wattmeter will not give meaningful power measurement results without a dummy load, even then the results will be a bit of a 'ballpark figure' Until you resolve other issues carry out your tests at a low power level (20W or less than 2W might be good choices) Also both the Low pass filter and the Surge arrestor expect to operate in a (near) 50Ohm environment but presumably the system is relatively close to this when functioning correctly ? On Mon, 2010-03-22 at 20:50 -0400, Dick Roth, KA1OZ wrote: Next major symptom: sensitivity is gone. Even the Boston big gun 5 Watt WBZ, up the road, is in the noise. I use MW to chase baseball games. I have removed the wattmeter and my BW LP filter as well as the surge suppressor from the line so that nothing stands in the way of my path to my Titan-DX vertical and the symptoms remain the same. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] (K3) Mode change with band unpredictible
Try this without having any software running and see if you have the same issue ? (very?) old kenwood radios needed the mode to be set before the frequency, this does not work so well on modern radios that remember mode on a per band basis On Dxbase I fixed this in the K3 radio configuration file by ensuring that the mode was sent AFTER the frequency rather than in the default order of mode then frequency On Mon, 2010-03-22 at 14:25 -0500, Terry Schieler wrote: My K3 (#474) seems to be all over the board when it comes to changing bands and ending up with the expected or desired mode for that frequency. I can be on 14.030 CW, go to 10 meters SSB and then back to 14.030 and the mode will be USB or LSB there. There seems to be no rhyme nor reason to the mode it ends up on. My old FT-1000MP always went back to the last mode used in the sub-band. It would always go to the right band, freq and mode when I'd click spots on my loggers spotting list. I've shut off mode control on my logging program (N3FJP ACLog) as I thought it may be sending conflicting Mode commands to the rig. No fix. I can't seem find a solution in my manual (v. D-2) but seem to remember reading here that a solid fix for mode by frequency or mode by last used on a band had been implemented. If so, I obviously missed it. Is this related to the missing band stack in the K3? Running 3.79 . Can anyone help me get this set up properly once and for all? Thanks. 73, Terry, W0FM __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Any Consideration of a Receive Only K3?
The next HF receiver I want (but can't afford..) is is the rfspace SDR-IP http://www.rfspace.com/RFSPACE/SDR-IP.html On Thu, 2010-03-11 at 13:01 -0600, Jim Miller KG0KP wrote: I hadn't looked at the Perseus before but before I would spend 1200 bucks on one, I would spend 1449 for another K3 and add 139 for the KBPF3 General Coverage Banpass Module - 1588. Well worth the extra 389 to me to have another K3 instead. Now I have two REAL radios. 73, de Jim kG0KP - Original Message - From: pd0psb p.s.bijp...@gmail.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Thursday, March 11, 2010 9:58 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Any Consideration of a Receive Only K3? I like both; the knobs of the K3 and the eagle spectrum view of the Perseus. Just wanted to correct your statement. The Perseus is not at all a project to use, it's plugplay and light on CPU. Not more difficult than an RS232-USB converter :-) 73' Paul PD0PSB -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/Any-Consideration-of-a-Receive-Only-K3-tp4704530p4716794.html Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Ham Radio Related Podcasts Continued...
On Sun, 2010-03-07 at 22:59 +, Andy GM0NWI wrote: What other podcasts do you know listen to regarding Ham Radio..?? I recently started listening to the ICQ podcast http://www.icqpodcast.com/ Soldersmoke is of course well known http://www.soldersmoke.com/ amateurlogic.tv is a video cast on Youtube that is often good http://www.amateurlogic.com/blog/ eevblog is a video blog about electronics that can be interesting too http://www.eevblog.com/ I am interested to see what others suggest -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function
Here is a macro that does most of what you are asking for (no it doesn't use rit it uses the Sub RX) it makes a few assumptions 1/ that you are already in CW-T mode, you would need to be in this mode to use auto spot anyway 2/ that it's ok to grab VFO B and make it the TX VFO here's the macro FT0;RT0;LN0;DV0;SWT13;SWT13;SWH13;SWT42; First get to a consistent state FT0; transmit VFOA RT0; rx vfo A LN0; unlink the 2 vfo's DV0; Diversity mode off SWT13; SWT13; (twice, copies all parameters to VFOB) SWH13; Turns split on SWT42; activates Auto Spot I tried coding in a couple of commands to enable CW-T then disable it again when the macro was finished but this didn't work too well as CW-T was being disabled before the spot routine had finished Use the K3 utility to load the macro, then assign it to a shortcut button and you have 1 button access to this from the radio. Only use one press as further presses will move the txvfo as well. use the normal spot button if you need to try again. I have tried it, it works. there may be a better way to code this macro I can still see no use whatsoever for this 'feature' but that is simply my Personal opinion. 73's Brendan EI6IZ The Smiths wrote: stop, STOP, STOP. Please stop trying to tell me why I don't want a feature that I'm asking for! I KNOW how the spot works, I use it ALL the time, I KNOW how my RIT works, I use that all the time... I know when and how to use my Width control knob. I know when I can use my spot button with it. People, it's a freaking Spot and RIT combination that I'm looking for here. I'm not looking for any of you to tell me how I can do the same thing, when a simple one button push of the spot button will do EVERYTHING I'm asking for. You don't need to explain to me how I can tune in a second K3 to another band, listen to a harmonic, then hit my sub receiver on, then use the spot button while turning my 3rd receiver's vfo control to zero beat the signal.. I just want the Spot button to simply work as a Zero beat control when the RIT button is on, WITHOUT moving my Transmit freq. I'll worry about how all the rest of the operations of my station function. It's really just that simple. Some of you guys on the reflector just want to make things harder than they need to be, I have to figure it's because you have an engineering degree, and don't know how to think like the simple man. 1. This is why my mother took 12 years to figure out how to set the clock on her VCR. Too bad I had to take it away and replace it with a DVD player. I suspect it will take her another 10 to figure the menus out on that one too. Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function From: ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com To: notforc...@hotmail.com CC: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 01:48:44 + But auto spot can ONLY work on signals inside the passband to it cant help in this situation in any case. Presumably you are using a very narrow filter because you have nearby strong signals I don't see how it can help in this siutaton On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 00:53 +, The Smiths wrote: I DISSAGREE with you completely. When you use a 100/50Hz Narrow Bandwidth setting you NEED to have the other station Zero Beated or they fall out of the bandwidth area, or become hard to find with the Shift control. I don't know about you, but I've set my pitch control to a freq. that I enjoy hearing, or is best for my hearing. If I could QUICKLY and without work just tap a button and Zero Beat the person to the selected freq. that I know suites my hearing, I don't see this as an unnecessary feature. The spot button is used for EXACTALLY the same reason, just with Transmit now.. Why not allow it to do the same helpful thing with receive??? Again, as I've said before, Don't turn it on if you don't find use for it. Yes, RIT works too, but just as the other person was saying in his original post, HE IS TONE DETH and can't tune in the signals to his pitch freq... that's why he uses the SPOT feature. This would allow him to have the same simple control with the RIT as well. For those of you that will argue that we have the CWT goal post indicator, I say this, I've found many times where it either doesn't work well, or it indicates a Zero beat when you are pretty far off. Again, this is an OPTION that can be used to HELP people. It doesn't offer ANY negative operations to your radio. Why people fight things so hard is just wondrous to me. Your E-mail and More On-the-Go. Get Windows Live Hotmail Free. Sign up now. http://clk.atdmt.com/GBL/go/201469229/direct/01/ __ Elecraft mailing list Home:
Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function
I DO understand exactly what you are asking for and WHY doing it in split on the second VFO for TX is not exactly what you are looking for. The best I can do is a macro that uses the Sub RX to achieve a similar result. Yes it means that you can't use your Sub for other things BUT it does allow you and others to test the Idea of spotting the RX separate from TX to see if it is in fact a useful feature. The macro can't turn off CW-T mode, It MUST be on for auto spot to work. CW decoding CAN be off when in CW-T mode. CW-T mode MUST remain on whilst the Auto spot is attempting to zero beat, the amount of time to zero beat varies, Turning it off in the Macro does not give it time to complete the signal detection and tuning routine before the macro turns off CW-T Here is why I, even after trying it out, I think this feature request has no merit, My personal opinion. For auto-spot to work on any signal it must be within the passband of the selected filter. If the signal is within the passband I can hear it, therefore I can copy it, the Pitch of the incoming signal is of no importance to me, providing I can hear it. I have rit on nearly all the time (but zeroed) If I was using auto spot for it's original purpose then this new suggested behaviour would break an existing behaviour If I was relying on a CW decoder then it might be important to be able to net the RX independently of the TX. If it's something like CWget surely you just click on the waterfall or let it find the signal it's self if it's the internal decoder then the macro will work fine since you can't see vfo B anyway when decoding on screen have I missed something in my logic here ? 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 21:32 +, The Smiths wrote: What part of I DON'T want to use my sub receiver, or split operation to accomplish this task didn't you guys understand? I want my sub receiver FREE so that I can listen to another band hunting for DX to come along. Furthermore, I can't read my sub receivers freq. because I have the CWT Text reader running ALL the time. However, I do thank you for all your time that you've invested in this complicated operation. It doesn't go un-noticed Brendan. It's just more work than a one button push would resolve. It's just ONE button guys.. ONE button.. I'm only ask that it do the SAME EXACT thing it does for RIT that it does for XMIT~! It's really not that hard. Why do I need a formulation like the one below to accomplish something that comes close to what I'm trying to do, but involves hanging up my sub receiver from being of any use what so ever It's ONE BUTTON! If you don't like it, DON'T turn the feature on. why is this so hard for you guys to comprehend. You act as if I'm trying to redesign the entire operations of how the K3 function. It's FAR from that. Logic is a hard thing to argue with. I can only sit back and laugh about how hard you guys are fighting this...Trust me, I'm not angry at all.. Not in the least. Date: Thu, 25 Feb 2010 20:30:23 + From: ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function Here is a macro that does most of what you are asking for (no it doesn't use rit it uses the Sub RX) it makes a few assumptions 1/ that you are already in CW-T mode, you would need to be in this mode to use auto spot anyway 2/ that it's ok to grab VFO B and make it the TX VFO here's the macro FT0;RT0;LN0;DV0;SWT13;SWT13;SWH13;SWT42; First get to a consistent state FT0; transmit VFOA RT0; rx vfo A LN0; unlink the 2 vfo's DV0; Diversity mode off SWT13; SWT13; (twice, copies all parameters to VFOB) SWH13; Turns split on SWT42; activates Auto Spot I tried coding in a couple of commands to enable CW-T then disable it again when the macro was finished but this didn't work too well as CW-T was being disabled before the spot routine had finished Use the K3 utility to load the macro, then assign it to a shortcut button and you have 1 button access to this from the radio. Only use one press as further presses will move the txvfo as well. use the normal spot button if you need to try again. I have tried it, it works. there may be a better way to code this macro I can still see no use whatsoever for this 'feature' but that is simply my Personal opinion. 73's Brendan EI6IZ The Smiths wrote: stop, STOP, STOP. Please stop trying to tell me why I don't want a feature that I'm asking for! I KNOW how the spot works, I use it ALL the time, I KNOW how my RIT works, I use that all the time... I know when and how to use my Width control knob. I know when I can use my spot button with it. People, it's a freaking Spot and RIT combination that I'm looking for here. I'm not looking for any of you to tell me how I can do the same thing, when a simple one
Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function
I dislike top posting when replying to this sort of thing But I am sure everyone can follow this in any case 1/ the macro, when uploaded to the radio DOES make this a single button press operation, that's the idea of macros and the facility that the K3 has for associating command macros with front panel buttons. 2/ yes it does tie up your sub RX, BUT if you have CW decode on then you can't actually SEE VFO B anyway. The VFO B frequency will always be the previous VFO frequency, I.E where you were before you pressed the button that you have associated with the macro. Still Want to see VFO B? press REV, that's what it's there for want to go back to the way things were? press A/B followed by either AB (tap) or hold (split off) 3/if you haven't got the CW decoder on you can actually see your transmit frequency all the time on VFOB, if you were using RIT as you requested you would have to clear or adjust RIT before you can see your TX frequency. 4/ in a scenario where you have multiple signals and need to narrow the filters auto-spot is not going to work reliably anyway You claim to give 9 reasons, the macro approach only breaks one of the 9 reasons you give (the ability to use the Sub somewhere else, to receive something else whilst copying CW AND operating split) and can be done right now, it meets 8 of the 9. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 23:07 +, The Smiths wrote: Yes, Brendan, you DO understand what I'm asking for. And YES, your approach WILL work, but it adds MANY more steps in that are not required and causes me to loose a 750 Euro sub receiver that I've paid for. With that said, I will address the other issues. I don't need to test this function, I already know that it works, and it's what I want. Therefore I suggested it. Others are of course welcome to test it as well. I'm sure they will see the usefulness of it if they find themselves using the RIT on a normal occasion. There's a reason that we all set the PITCH freq. up the way we do. That reason is because we've found that our selected Pitch tones helps us hear the code better, Makes listening to code more pleasent, and it can some times actually help eliminate the noise floor some. Yes, a signal must be within the passband of the Filter.. this is true. However, after I send a CQ, I generally keep my filter at 500Hz. If I hear someone that is answering my CQ, but is off by 300 Hz from my pitch freq. then I can simply turn on the RIT (or already start with it on) and hit the SPOT button.. NOW, this gives me the ability to QUICKLY turn the WIDTH knob all the way down to 50 Hz KNOWING that the person answering my call is right in the center of my Passband, and I'm not going to loose him as I narrow down. This is a QUICK and easy operation at pin pointing someone almost instantly. I simply push ONE button, grab the width knob and turn it all the way down... BANG it's done. No fishing around to try and line the little CWT tone into the center of the goal post, no moving the shift around to find the signal as I lower the Passband WIDTH control knob, No having to guess if the tone of my Pitch matches the tone as I fish the RIT knob around. Maybe I'm tone deth and I can't hear when I'm at 500Hz and the person is at the center of my Passband. Maybe I don't have time to fiddle with the knob as he's responding to my CQ. NONE OF THAT.. It's a ONE step operation to assuring all of that.. As well as; 1 - Have the person in the Pitch Tone that A. Gives my ears the best copy of the code B. Gives me the best noise floor level with the NR I may be using 2 - Places the person answering me DIRECTLY in the CENTER of the passband so that I can A. turn on my narrowest filter and not have to touch the Shit control B. have the best/ most accurate internal CW Text decoding available to me. C. Know that I'm still transmitting exactly where I was to begin with when sending the CQ. 3 - Not hang up my sub receiver from being useable for cross band, or in-band monitoring 4 - Not make me turn on and off the CWT Text reader to figure out where I'm transmitting when in split mode. Now, I've just given you 9 reasons that ONE push of ONE button can be helpful. Please, tell me, How does having the SPOT button move your RIT control automatically to accomplish ALL of those things interfere with your normal operations of the K3? Again, KEEP IT IN THE DEFAULT OFF POSITION IF YOU DON'T WANT YOUR RIT TO MOVE WITH THE SPOT BUTTON. There is absolutely NO adverse effect of this VERY SIMPLE programing request. What more do you need to argue against it? Just because the first cars had forward motion doesn't mean that it couldn't also opperate in Reverse too. The same reasoning says that just because the K3 Spot button only moves your TX position now, doesn't mean that it can't also move your RIT position as well. Now, I ask you Brendan, Have you missed
Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function
Surely this is an unneeded feature? Isn't the point of SPOT to ensure that you are transmitting on the same frequency as the other station. Nothing is gained by exactly tuning the station to match your side-tone pitch once rit is engaged. If some guy comes back to you a bit off frequency you can just adjust the RIT until the pitch is to your liking. If it's outside the filter bandwidth you may not hear him and auto spot can't work it's magic anyway just my thoughts on this On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 20:00 +, The Smiths wrote: The Auto Spot feature is indeed GREAT! But wouldn't it be EVEN BETTER if you could turn on the RIT, then AUTO spot someone with the RIT ONLY. That way once you sent a CQ, and got an answer, you could VERY EASILY just turn on the RIT and hit SPOT.. It wouldn't move your Transmitting Freq, and you would be perfectly Zero Beat on the person sending to you, without having changed your Transmit freq like it does now. Seems to me that would be a VERY EASY thing to change. Of course for those that think this is the worst idea ever, they could simply leave this feature off (default) in their CONFIG: SPOT options menu. Wayne, don't you think this would be Helpful? I would love to see it added for people like myself that send more CQ's than we answer them... -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function
But auto spot can ONLY work on signals inside the passband to it cant help in this situation in any case. Presumably you are using a very narrow filter because you have nearby strong signals I don't see how it can help in this siutaton On Thu, 2010-02-25 at 00:53 +, The Smiths wrote: I DISSAGREE with you completely. When you use a 100/50Hz Narrow Bandwidth setting you NEED to have the other station Zero Beated or they fall out of the bandwidth area, or become hard to find with the Shift control. I don't know about you, but I've set my pitch control to a freq. that I enjoy hearing, or is best for my hearing. If I could QUICKLY and without work just tap a button and Zero Beat the person to the selected freq. that I know suites my hearing, I don't see this as an unnecessary feature. The spot button is used for EXACTALLY the same reason, just with Transmit now.. Why not allow it to do the same helpful thing with receive??? Again, as I've said before, Don't turn it on if you don't find use for it. Yes, RIT works too, but just as the other person was saying in his original post, HE IS TONE DETH and can't tune in the signals to his pitch freq... that's why he uses the SPOT feature. This would allow him to have the same simple control with the RIT as well. For those of you that will argue that we have the CWT goal post indicator, I say this, I've found many times where it either doesn't work well, or it indicates a Zero beat when you are pretty far off. Again, this is an OPTION that can be used to HELP people. It doesn't offer ANY negative operations to your radio. Why people fight things so hard is just wondrous to me. Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 auto spot function From: ei6iz.bren...@gmail.com To: notforc...@hotmail.com CC: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Date: Wed, 24 Feb 2010 22:56:19 + Surely this is an unneeded feature? Isn't the point of SPOT to ensure that you are transmitting on the same frequency as the other station. Nothing is gained by exactly tuning the station to match your side-tone pitch once rit is engaged. If some guy comes back to you a bit off frequency you can just adjust the RIT until the pitch is to your liking. If it's outside the filter bandwidth you may not hear him and auto spot can't work it's magic anyway just my thoughts on this On Wed, 2010-02-24 at 20:00 +, The Smiths wrote: The Auto Spot feature is indeed GREAT! But wouldn't it be EVEN BETTER if you could turn on the RIT, then AUTO spot someone with the RIT ONLY. That way once you sent a CQ, and got an answer, you could VERY EASILY just turn on the RIT and hit SPOT.. It wouldn't move your Transmitting Freq, and you would be perfectly Zero Beat on the person sending to you, without having changed your Transmit freq like it does now. Seems to me that would be a VERY EASY thing to change. Of course for those that think this is the worst idea ever, they could simply leave this feature off (default) in their CONFIG: SPOT options menu. Wayne, don't you think this would be Helpful? I would love to see it added for people like myself that send more CQ's than we answer them... -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Hotmail: Trusted email with Microsoft’s powerful SPAM protection. Sign up now. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft Amps
On Fri, 2010-02-12 at 08:33 -0600, Bob Naumann wrote: As an alternative, the Acom 1000 using a tube final (for those who prefer valves in their final) is similar in price/output, but it is manually tuned and runs about 1k out on all bands 160 through 6m. I have (heavily) used my Acom1000 for nearly 9 years now. It works great with my K3 on all bands. It is a full QSK amp. I have also used it for 6m EME I have had a few small issues with the Acom over the years, in each case Acom's support was both speedy and superb -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 in a cw pileup - needs work
The High isolation headphones are of course only going to help if you have much ambient noise in the shack. I find my Beyerdynamic DT234PRO headset very good. It's not a very high isolation headset but it's a fully closed design and my shack is reasonably quiet the DT234PRO is a headset that is produced for language lab type applications and widely used by PC gamers too, it's comfortable to wear for long periods of time and provides reasonable isolation from the surroundings. I get great audio reports from the microphone which is a back electoret condenser with a cardioid pattern. It has a presence peak (like most microphones intended for the spoken word, Heil did not 'invent' this..) and the cardioid pattern helps to reduce pick-up of any ambient noise It's completely Plug and play with the K3, plug it in the back and turn Microphone bias. I paid about 60 Euro for it on Ebay 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Sun, 2010-02-07 at 03:21 -0800, Bill W4ZV wrote: High isolation headphones below means ~30 dB isolation from ambient noise. Heil does not make any in this range and most active noise reduction headphones (e.g. Bose) only have 10-15 dB. Here are some examples of what Barry meant: http://www.extremeheadphones.com/ex-29.html http://www.sennheiserusa.com/private_headphones_dj-headphones_004974 http://www.etymotic.com/ephp/er6.aspx These are all available in the $75-100 range. 73, Bill Doug Turnbull wrote: Barry, Sorry but what do you mean by 'high isolation headphones'. Would the Heil Pro-Set Plus do? 73 Doug EI2CN -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU Sent: 07 February 2010 01:01 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 in a cw pileup - needs work Barry N1EU wrote: You need to maximize your rf/af dynamic range - that is what is going to turn that mush into a beautiful symphony of distinct signals of varying levels. What has worked well for me is AGC off (although AGC on works fine as well), high isolation headphones, and the gain throttling techniques (most important) described by K3NA, W4ZV, myself, and others. Just to continue from previous post - I experienced only mush in pileup reception until fully adopting this technique. High isolation headphones are critical because you want to set gain such that weak signals are lightly heard but clearly copiable. You're maximizing the receive dynamic range delivered to your ears and the high isolation means you can clearly hear fainter signals without turning up the gain and squashing the dynamic range (and too frequently engaging AF Limiter with AGC Off). 73, Barry N1EU -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3-in-a-cw-pileup-needs-work-tp4523884p4527626.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 - 'High Isolation Headphones'
I have, in previous set-ups used Air-conditioning ducting to help a lot with blower noise by rerouting the air-flow (further) away from the operating position. This also allowed me to situate the amp in a location that would have been otherwise unsuitable due to poor airflow needless to say if anyone else wishes to try this, then please take good care to ensure that the airflow is still more than good enough to provide the required cooling and the duct for the exhaust air can handle the heat. I used an aluminium flexible duct for the exhaust On Sun, 2010-02-07 at 10:52 -0800, Bill W4ZV wrote: Amplifier blower noise. 73, Bill -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] cqww 160m contest
I plan on being on with my K3, Please don't forget to listen towards EI, here on the west of Ireland our Greyline is an hour later than most of the rest of europe but BA is tough for us as we have to work you 'though' the EU wall -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] My Predicament
Actually it may not be a case of his computer compromised, just his Gmail account. This can happen in a number of ways other than by having malware running on your PC. There have been a significant number of gmail accounts that have been utilised in this way recently, it's possible that there has been some vulnerability that has been exploited or it may just be cases of users not using good quality secure passwords. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Thu, 2010-01-07 at 13:16 -0700, David Gilbert wrote: It isn't a security hole in the reflector. Someone who is subscribed to the reflector has had his/her computer hijacked, mostly likely via some sort of virus, and the virus is sending this crap out to his entire address book without him even knowing it. Dave AB7E Matt Palmer wrote: Anyone else get this mail from the elecraft list? Its spam/scam. Can the mods do something to plug their holes. THX. On Thu, Jan 7, 2010 at 2:14 PM, Rick Klingensmith kling...@gmail.com wrote: Hi, Happy new year! How you doing? We made a trip to London (United Kingdom) unannounced some days back, Unfortunately we got mugged at gun point last night! All cash, Credit cards and phone were stolen, we got messed up in another country, stranded in London, fortunately passport was back in my hotel room. It was a bitter experience and i was hurt on my right hand, but would be fine. I am sending you this message cos i don't want anyone to panic, we want you to keep it that way for now! Our return flight leaves in a few hours but I’m having troubles sorting out the hotel bills, wondering if you could loan me some money to sort out the hotel bills and also take a cab to the airport about ($1,500). I have been to the police and embassy here, but they aren't helping issues, I have limited means of getting out of here, we canceled our cards already and made a police report, I won’t get a new card number till I get back home! So I really need your help. You could wire whatever you can spare to my name and Location via Western union, below is all you need: Name - Rick Klingensmith Location - London, United Kingdom. I still have my passport so I can use it as identification, email me the transfer details and the confirmation # would def refund it to you once we arrive hopefully tomorrow. I await your reply soon. Regards __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3: Thinking return to K3.
The 7800 is terrible for diversity, there are two issues that make it nearly unusable for diversity 1/ the Main and Sub RX cannot track (tune together ) 2/ there is constant but small frequency offset between the main and sub RX, this is present all the time, even with an external 10MHz reference oscillator. The main and sub Receivers have slightly different IF frequencies (100KHz apart if I recall correctly ) as a result the 2DDS Local oscillators have differing decimation errors and this results in a small frequency offset at all times between main and sub, this makes Diversity reception very difficult and unpleasant to use. been there, done that ;-0 73 Brendan EI6IZ ny9h wrote: And I understand that the 7800 is not as good for diversity reception... as the K3. bill __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] K3 DSP LPF daughterboard - What is an artifact and where can you find them?
there are few if any pairs of 'communications' phones that have significant attenuation above 10Khz yet retain good flat frequency response over the range we are interested in (~ 100Hz to 4KHz ) the artefacts are aliasing products centred around 12Khz, since these are not harmonically related to the fundamental audio the ear is pretty sensitive to them, even though they are at least 60dB lower than the wanted audio. As I have pointed out before, It's subtle, you are not going to hear this at all if you have HF hearing loss, the D to A chip is performing per spec and the K3 prior to this change is already better than a lot of the competition. 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Sun, 2010-01-03 at 03:20 -0800, Julian, G4ILO wrote: Keith Hamilton-3 wrote: I would imagine there are a lot of us who hear the artifacts but just don't realize it? This would account for the undefinable fatigue some talk about. You can see these artifacts with a program like Spectran, but they are only present when modulation is present and they are at a very low level, probably no worse than the THD of budget consumer audio products. As someone said to me in an email recently, they probably wouldn't be an issue if people used communications headphones and speakers with their radios instead of hi-fi models. - Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222. * G4ILO's Shack - http://www.g4ilo.com * KComm - http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html * KTune - http://www.g4ilo.com/ktune.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] K3 on 500 kHz
The thing to watch with class D amps is that the Keying waveform will be significantly modified (Rise and fall Times) and this could lead to keyclicks by distorting the K3's keying waveform . Mostly Class D amps are keyed at the Finals for this reason. I am using my K3 on 500KHz in conjunction with an old NDB amplifier. this AMP was low level Carrier + sideband followed by linear PA stages to 100W. I use it as a linear for my K3 Do take special care to protect the Transverter RX input to the K3 if operating on 500 KHz as it's not as comprehensively protected from strong signals as the the RX antenna input 73 Brendan EI6IZ (some of us in EI are on 501 -504 KHz ) On Sun, 2010-01-03 at 06:38 -0800, Wes Stewart wrote: Another link: http://www.w1vd.com/137-500KWTX.html Wes N7WS --- On Sun, 1/3/10, pd0psb p.s.bijp...@gmail.com wrote: From: pd0psb p.s.bijp...@gmail.com Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] K3 on 500 kHz To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Date: Sunday, January 3, 2010, 6:35 AM Hello Dick, I was immediately thinking of you when 500kc permission in NL got through, it must feel very special to key-down on your old band :-) A good option for 500kc is the Juma kit: http://www.nikkemedia.fi/juma-tx500/ With a few mods (extra i/o's) it might be an elegant solution with the K3. Happy 2010! 73' Paul PD0PSB PA3CW wrote: Hello k3 Nabblers, I was happy surprized that now in The Netherlands we are also allowed to use 501 - 504 kHz in an experimental phase. As ex Radio Officer it has been around 25 years ago since my last transmission in this band! I was happy to discover that my K3 is very ok for receive on 500 kHz. For transmitting the 0,5 mW on the transperter output needs some work. We are allowed here to transmit with 5 W EIRP so i think i can use some output power in order to radiate this amount of power in a relatively short antenna. Who has made an amplifier for 500 kHz including ant switching circuit? I am very interested in a design that i can copy and build myself. Maybe also the team of Elecraft is working on something, however seen how busy they are with other things i dont think this has priority. Who can tell me their experience with the K3 on 500? Many thanks and a wonderful 2010 Dick PA3CW __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 DSP LPF daughterboard - What is an artifact and where can you find them?
Don Rasmussen wrote: I applaude Elecraft for going to all the trouble and expense of engineering a daughterboard for this, and maintain once again that to my ears, K3 is the only IF DSP transceiver that sounds analog. For those of us with good hearing to 12KHz and above really appreciate that elecraft have taken the time to understand the relativity subtle issue that some of us were hearing, create a mod to add the LPF and that this is now standard. Not everyone can hear the issue, or will be bothered by it, it's quite subtle but it was certainly fateuging to some of us who can hear well at higher frequencies. I had initially added an R/C Low pass filter to my headphone ear pieces which worked but the LPF mod does a better job, I was one of the beta testers for it. Incidentally the D to A chip in the K3 is performing well within it's design specs for aliasing products, I have a portabe MP3 player that is nearly unusable to my ears for listening to practice CW stored as MP3 files with a bit rate of 12Khz (You can get a lot of hours of Ebooks converted to CW at lower sapmle rates) 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 and Firewire
Top posting feels all wrong ;-) Forget Firewire for this. Firewire is admittedly very good but it's far from standard on non-apple products and USB3 is going to give it a good run for it's money in all areas except perhaps Pro A/V where latency is a huge concern. However the real issue with both firewire and USB is the need it then creates for the Vendor (elecraft in this case) to maintain drivers for various versions of popular operating systems for the life of the product ( what happens to those drivers when the product becomes EOL) . I have an SDR-14 and I can transfer up to a 190KHz slice of the HF spectrum via USBv1. How much bandwidth is really required ? (Main RX / Sub RX + I/Q of the 12KHz IF + Rig control ? ) A much better solution would be Ethernet and IP based protocols. it's also a lot more flexible in that the connection to the radio can be routed over any network providing sufficient bandwidth is available. This also avoids the need to maintain a set of high quality drivers for a diverse and ever changing range of operating systems. 100M Ethernet should be sufficient but by all means use a Gigbit port, it will only add a small amount to the overall cost. Use a little tiny embedded computer to run the IP stack and there could even be a web server in there allowing for remote rig control, Audio I/O etc without needing to use anything fancier than a Flash capable web browser. Embedded computers are getting very small and very capable, take a look at this one for example . http://www.directinsight.co.uk/products/karo/triton-tx51-imx51.html 73 Brendan EI6IZ On Sat, 2009-12-05 at 21:59 -0500, p...@n4lcd.com wrote: Just thinking out loud into the future Firewire can do a lot of things that USB and serial communications never will. It's faster with video and disk I/O because the protocol is leaner, and you can create networks with it. I think that a FireWire network between a rig like the K3 and a computer would be the perfect interface because every piece of software can have its own dedicated connection to the radio, something difficult to implement with a serial connection. Firewire will also stay around because it's used as the Fly-by-wire bus for the F-22 Raptor. Any thoughts? Paul N4LCD __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 in the CQWW contest
I ran my K3 in the Contest and managed to achieve a claimed score of 1,917,035 in the single operator High power all bands, assisted category. I operated for around 32 Hours and foolishly slept though the Saturday morning greyline after staying up too late at the start of the contest. This is by far my best result to date in the CQWW CW contest and I found the K3's performance outstanding. antennas here are, Inverted L (160m), 80m Inverted V Dipole, 40M-10M M2 7-10-30 Log Yagi (. 2x ~150m long reversible beverages for receive. I use an Acom 1000 Amp I used the K3 in diversity mode nearly all all the time. It really helped with picking out calls quickly when running, even on the bands (20m and up) where the beverages are lacking in receive sensitivity, diversity mode helped by creating a stereo image for the stronger stations which in turn helped with picking out the weaker stations underneath. It sure is good to be able to pull out JA's and VK's when running on 80m from under a pileup of EU stations. Once you get used to diversity CW it's hard to go back to non-diversity. As far as the filtering goes it was fantastic. A Funny thing happened on 80m when I Picked a frequency that was clear and a few hundred Hz away from an RA station, I did call QRL? a few times before starting my run. He obviously felt I was a bit close to his run frequency so He spotted me with a comment to the effect that I should listen more carefully! Once the spot hit the cluster system I had a big run, perhaps not the spotter's desired result ;-0 On the first night I had some power line noise on 160m on occasions and the DSP noise blanker was able to take this out without destroying the Receiver performance in the process. There were some stations that had horrible Keyclicks on TX, this is not always simply down to poor transmitters, Using Amplifier ALC, can if not carefully set up make even the cleanest transmitter generate Clicks and crud 73's Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] Yamaha CM500 Where to buy in EU????
On Mon, 2009-11-23 at 23:50 +0100, Deni wrote: I see this headset /mic comes highly recommended, but Where can I buy it in EU. I can't comment on the Yamaha headset and it's availability in the EU but I have had great success with the following headset Beyerdynamic DT234PRO This headset is pretty widely used for language lab type applications (PC gaming) in the EU, it is reasonably priced. the Microphone is an electret condenser type with an effective pop filter and a cardioid pattern. The headset is comfortable to wear for long periods of time, sounds good and the transmitted audio gets good reports with the K3. They show up on ebay pretty frequently too. 73 Brendan EI6IZ -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Re: [Elecraft] K3 power down problem
I had one of my K3's develop a similar fault. In my case it was a failure of Q2 (FDS6375, RF board) which is the power switching FET. elecraft spares sent me out one and I had it in a few days An IRF7416QPBF might be a junkbox replacement if you are very impatient! it's pretty easy to get at On Tue, 2009-11-10 at 13:05 +, Ian Maude wrote: Mod done, still the same! Odd that it should just appear after all this time. 73 Ian -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
