Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Mike, are you AB7RU? I was looking for resources near you. I don’t see any 10 m repeaters in eastern Washington or in Idaho, so that is out. You might listen for the daily 10-10 SSB nets. http://www.ten-ten.org/index.php/activity/daily-nets

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Bob, Thank you very much for sharing all that. I like your dipole approach there, getting at least one end up in the air at the roof level of that condo. I could possibly do something like that, slingshot a line to the rooftop of this apt bldg somehow ... Maybe with some kind of batman grapple

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

I prefer to use the end fed wire in an inverted "L" configuration with the vertical leg running down a FG pole to the radio. Mel, K6KBE From: Barthold Lichtenbelt via Elecraft To: 'Walter Underwood' ; 'Reflector Elecraft'

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Walter, This was a super informative writeup, thank you! I have one question for you. If you throw a 26-29 foot wire in a tree, but it is impractical to sit right at the end of the wire (too many branches in the way, or whatever) to operate, how would you extend it? For example, operate from

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

If you are end-feeding a wire, and it's near a half-wave on the band you're operating (let's say 32 3/4 feet, and 14.300 MHz) an end-fed wire is going to be close to infinite impedance, and you need some kind of Un-Un (9:1 being common) to step up from 50 ohms or thereabouts. If you're trying

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

On 8/13/2017 10:28 AM, Ken G Kopp wrote: > The antenna Jim's is referring to (below) is ... I believe ... better > known as a "T2FD". In a case of conning the unknowing B & W ... and > maybe even themselves ... sold hundreds of them to the Army National > Guard. You see them hanging above every

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

It's not a "con." It is a trade off that provides wide frequency coverage with a simple, sturdy antenna in return for a few dB of loss. Quite reasonable if you are the National Guard. Vic 4X6GP > On 13 Aug 2017, at 20:28, Ken G Kopp wrote: > > The antenna Jim's is

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Sometimes convenience is more important than 3 dB of power. That is the case for many installations, including those T2FDs on National Guard armories. After all, EVERY antenna is a compromise of some sort. For example, consider the unidirectional Rhombic antenna, a staple of major commercial

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

On 8/13/2017 10:32 AM, Walter Underwood wrote: Without the wire on the ground, the chassis is the other terminal, like your BC-459 (previous message), but also includes your body when you touch it, which changes the impedance of the antenna system. Yep. But in a vehicle, the VEHICLE'S

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Typo on my part -- I meant to write UNBALANCED. :) Thanks for catching it! Jim On 8/13/2017 10:22 AM, Bill Breeden wrote: im, All of the transmitters at my place, a K3, a Yaesu FT817 and FT-920, and a Drake T-4XB, have "single ended" (unbalanced) outputs. 73, Bill - NA5DX On 8/13/2017

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

I should have just said “coupled”. Without the wire on the ground, the chassis is the other terminal, like your BC-459 (previous message), but also includes your body when you touch it, which changes the impedance of the antenna system. The wire is important to stabilize the impedance. It is

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

The antenna Jim's is referring to (below) is ... I believe ... better known as a "T2FD". In a case of conning the unknowing B & W ... and maybe even themselves ... sold hundreds of them to the Army National Guard. You see them hanging above every armory here in MT. > Yes, but as noted above,

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Jim, You got it. That is why my first recommendation is for ground independent antennas. For portable use, any antenna that can be hung by a single support should work nicely so long as it approximates 1/2 wave on the lowest frequency. An inverted V with it's center up a tree fed in the

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Jim, All of the transmitters at my place, a K3, a Yaesu FT817 and FT-920, and a Drake T-4XB, have "single ended" (unbalanced) outputs. 73, Bill - NA5DX On 8/13/2017 11:52 AM, Jim Brown wrote: Great advice! With one exception, every transmitter and receiver I've ever seen has had an

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

On 8/13/2017 9:09 AM, Walter Underwood wrote: The 16 foot wire on the ground is a radial “system”. One radial is a lot better than none, but you could use more. The length isn’t especially important Right. because it is capacitively coupled to the ground. It's also inductively coupled.

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Great advice! With one exception, every transmitter and receiver I've ever seen has had an balanced output -- that is, a coaxial connector of some sort. Current flows in loops -- the center conductor feeds one side of the loop, the chassis feeds the other. The exception was my very first

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

"When the antenna is connected directly to the KX3, there is no transmission line, so there is no need to match the antenna to the transmission line. It is putting the ATU at the feed point of the antenna." Ah. I see now. Light dawns on the Rockies. :) Thanks for the clarification! On Sun,

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Fred, I think you've hit on the real major issues. I always state an antennas performance can not be measured by SWR alone, and that there is no one perfect antenna. I suggest that these are just a few areas that a ham really need to worry/think about; can he make his radio accept the

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

In July, five SOTA operators put up seven different antennas on a summit and compared their performance with WSPR. Six of the antennas were mostly within 3 dB of each other. The EARCHI antenna (end-fed with transformer) was between 6 and 15 dB worse than the others. So in one experiment, the

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

There has been a happening in the last 15 or so years. It seems that every antenna is "the best we have ever had" this statement is directly proportional to the number of people who study theory to those who just read others comments on the internet. Or as some say, the SWR is 1:1 so its a great

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Good point; thanks. On Sun, Aug 13, 2017 at 08:43 Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote: > Forget about "what you've been told". Do your own research using various > publications such as ARRL Antenna Book or other like publications. > Personally in the "I've been told" area, it seems

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Forget about "what you've been told". Do your own research using various publications such as ARRL Antenna Book or other like publications. Personally in the "I've been told" area, it seems hams have more incomplete and inaccurate information than correct and complete information. Bob,

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Hi all, particularly Walter (since he mentioned it): I've been bedeviled by a question with multiple possible answers. I'm a fan of the idea of using a field antenna as Walter describes by using a BNC - to binding post connector directly to the radio. I'm leery of that because it flies in the

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

"Guess one gets what they pay for in terms of quality." I'd say "not always". There are some major manufacturers that sell into the Ham market that are pretty poor. The P3 was a real eyeopener watching the low level spikes and mounds of wideband noise drifting across the screen. I made

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

And we used to think plasma panel TV's were bad! Argh! 73 Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Brown Sent: Saturday, August 12, 2017 8:08 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft]

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Not exactly correct.I have 2 which do not, as I measure and listen, create any noise. On the other hand, I purchased a "deal" for a 13V / 30 amp supply. It measures...well it will never be in or around my house as it generated lots of noise from 1 MHz to over 100 MHz. I was

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Yup! And tech geeks like me can have 75 switch mode power supplies in a 1000 ft sq house SMPS are the devil's work and must be destroyed! ;) I've done away with about 1/3 of them so far... Eventually, I hope to eliminate ALL of them from the entire property. 73, __

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

On 8/12/2017 7:31 PM, krug261--- via Elecraft wrote: I came back to radio after a 15 year break. The thing that's changed is the proliferation of noise generators. The RF environment has become so bad that broadcasters have raised the issue with the FCC, and the FCC is studying it in a

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Mike, I had to smile when I read your message. Our situations are so similar. About a month ago, I came back to radio after a 15 year break. As then, I live in an apartment in downtown Manhattan, four blocks north of the World Trade Center. (The antenna from 1 World Trade looms clearly above.)

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

In other words, don't stack the deck against yourself so heavily. Reminds me of CQ article. The author took a 1 w rig, buddipole and a beach chair to the shore. After two days he made no contacts. He said he had fun. So maybe fun isn't all about making a ton of contacts-- perhaps the

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Hi Mike, You're in a perfect storm of - high urban noise, - QRP power, - inefficient modulation if you're using only SSB voice - low sunspot activity, - a very inefficient antenna, and - an urban environment that makes any antenna much less efficient Spokane is surrounded by beautiful

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

I use a similar set up on my KX2 (per the manual) and it works very well. Simple and effective. When the band cooperates. 73! Tom - KB2SMS On 08/11/2017 01:19 PM, Walter Underwood wrote: Try the simplest field antenna for the KX3, two wires connected directly to the rig. Get a BNC to

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

On 8/11/2017 9:33 AM, Mike Parkes wrote: I took my setup to a nearby park and the bands were definitely quieter. So the local manmade noise level is an issue (and one reason I chose the KX3 was the hope that its rcvr and filtering could help with that.) Have yet to make a single contact, so I

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

I have S6 or so noise at home, and am sort of resigned to it; This weekend I'm at my brother in law's house in Western MA with S1 noise. I was astonished. Put my KX3 up and a Superantenna and was able to check into a net where the net control was in MD on 40 meters, using 9 watts. Keep on

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Mike, The poor sunspot levels mostly affect the higher bands, so 40m (and 20m) should be OK (and have been for me). It might be that the noise levels in your apartment are just too high to operate successfully from there - when I'm in London I only operate portable for that reason. If

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

You can get a quick look at band conditions at http://bandconditions.com Using Buddistick on 40 m is a real challenge. I would not be surprised if that was an S-unit or more below a full-size dipole. Try the simplest field antenna for the KX3, two wires connected

Re: [Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

The band has been really crappy lately. Keep tuning around and listening. 73! Tom - KB2SMS On 08/11/2017 12:33 PM, Mike Parkes wrote: Okay I am reaching our to the Elecraft enthusiasts here for some feedback if anyone cares to chime in. I am just getting back on the air after years away

[Elecraft] Is it my KX3/antenna or is it lousy band condx?

Okay I am reaching our to the Elecraft enthusiasts here for some feedback if anyone cares to chime in. I am just getting back on the air after years away from the hobby, so I am not that familiar with band conditions in general. It looks like the sunspot cycle is heading for the cellar (if it