Re: [Elecraft] Another Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread Paul Van Dyke 
Years ago when the KX3 just came out and I was one of the 1st 2 to have 1,
I thought I would have some fun and hooked it up at our club station.a
TH11DX at 120'. I was running a whopping 12 watts.(before upgrade). Then
some beginner asked to talk to me thru Net Control. N6XX called me on KX3
#7 to my KX3 #24 and we dropped to 5 watts and carried on with perfect
clarity. Then gave it back to Net Control. The impact was crazy...

And then was the time.

Never MIND

See you on the air
73

Paul Van Dyke - KB9AVO
K3S #11103
K4D #76
KX3 #24
KXPA100 #22
KX2 #38

On Mon, Sep 13, 2021, 5:30 PM Jim Brown  wrote:

> On 9/13/2021 11:18 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
> > Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE)
>
> I suspect it was K8TE. Good guy.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC
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Re: [Elecraft] Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread Jim Brown 

On 9/13/2021 11:18 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote:

Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE)


I suspect it was K8TE. Good guy.

73, Jim K9YC
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Re: [Elecraft] K3 transmitter power woes

2021-09-13 Thread jerry 

On 2021-09-13 12:56, chetsubacco...@snet.net wrote:

Any other suggestions before I bit the bullet and prepare to send it to
Elecraft? Thanks for any ideas.

Generally, when miscellaneous weird stuff happens to a piece of complex 
equipment - stuff that seems to have no relationship the one to the 
other- my first instinct
is to check the power supplies.  Not just the main 13.8V power, but also 
any lower

( or higher! ) transformed voltages.

  Here's an example - I have a Fluke 3000 signal generator that mostly 
worksexcept when it doesn't.  It has a pair of 18V power supplies - 
plus & minus.  The RF guts are
in a multitude of little shield cans.  In each can - well, in most of 
them - are a
couple of 10uF tantalum caps, one on the positive leg, one on the 
negative leg.  Once in a while, one of them will short out, disabling 
that particular power supply.  When one of those 18V supplies goes out, 
pretty much everything dies.


  Power supplies are like octopi - with tentacles going into every part 
of the radio.
No guarantees of course - but when seemingly unrelated stuff starts 
failing, that's where I look first.


  - Jerry KF6VB


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Re: [Elecraft] K3 transmitter power woes

2021-09-13 Thread Don Wilhelm 

Chet,

It sounds like you do not have sufficient audio drive.

In DATA A mode, how many ALC bars do you obtain?  You must have 4 bars 
solid with the 5th one flashing.
Adjust the audio levels from the computer to achieve that - I assume you 
are using LINE in.


73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/13/2021 3:56 PM, chetsubacco...@snet.net wrote:

My K3 transmitter has been struggling for months to behave. I've heard the
service dept turnaround in CA is very long so I might not see it the rest of
the year if I sent it in and wanted to avoid that if possible. I've followed
advice suggested here with no lasting success.

Especially on 6M the power sometimes takes a long time deciding to reach the
setpoint. Sometimes it will be OK, but a few hours later after just sitting
there, it again won't, and drops to a low output level.

I've run the transmitter gain calibration routine again and again and it
fails. Sometimes I get an ERRTXG on 160, 80, 40M. Sometimes the 5W
calibration shows errtxg as it runs but the utility says the calibration had
succeeded.

I've checked that the bandpass filters are OK by using an antenna analyzer
with an attenuator to check receiver sensitivity- all bands seem pretty
close.

I've rechecked if the LPA FET's are ok (I changed two last year), and set
their bias current levels again and all seems well with them.

I've upped the supply voltage- that seems to work for a day or two but then
same old problems come back

I've replaced the fwd and rev power meter Schottky diodes, no fix.

Sometimes when the transmitter fails to reach the set power level, I can
tweak the pwr knob and it will reach the changed level, but sometimes not
and it falls back to a lower value. On 6M, while in "tune" if the power does
not reach the setpoint (e.g. 30W) and I turn the pwr knob down below 12
where the 100w amp is bypassed and then turn it back up to reengage the 100w
amp, the power will sometimes reach and stay at the setpoint (30W). But that
condition does not stay Ok too long.

The transverter output also exhibits similar power problems

I've reloaded the firmware. The utility initially reported  "checksum
reconciliation value" and I have no idea what that means.

And finally, this weekend, when I set the  receive mode to data-a, the audio
output had shifted to a higher freq spectrum width (e.g. 500-3300) on the
WSJT spectrum display with clearly more hiss in the speaker. Cycling the
xtal filters, normalling the shifts and widths had no effect. Changed the
mode to USB and the audio spectrum was normal, change back to data-a and it
was shifted. So I operated WSJT-X in USB. Hours later, data-a was back to
normal. First time I've observed that. Today it is AOK. GOK what happened
Saturday.

Any other suggestions before I bit the bullet and prepare to send it to
Elecraft? Thanks for any ideas.

Chet, N8RA

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[Elecraft] K3 transmitter power woes

2021-09-13 Thread chetsubaccount 


My K3 transmitter has been struggling for months to behave. I've heard the
service dept turnaround in CA is very long so I might not see it the rest of
the year if I sent it in and wanted to avoid that if possible. I've followed
advice suggested here with no lasting success. 

Especially on 6M the power sometimes takes a long time deciding to reach the
setpoint. Sometimes it will be OK, but a few hours later after just sitting
there, it again won't, and drops to a low output level.

I've run the transmitter gain calibration routine again and again and it
fails. Sometimes I get an ERRTXG on 160, 80, 40M. Sometimes the 5W
calibration shows errtxg as it runs but the utility says the calibration had
succeeded. 

I've checked that the bandpass filters are OK by using an antenna analyzer
with an attenuator to check receiver sensitivity- all bands seem pretty
close. 

I've rechecked if the LPA FET's are ok (I changed two last year), and set
their bias current levels again and all seems well with them.

I've upped the supply voltage- that seems to work for a day or two but then
same old problems come back

I've replaced the fwd and rev power meter Schottky diodes, no fix.

Sometimes when the transmitter fails to reach the set power level, I can
tweak the pwr knob and it will reach the changed level, but sometimes not
and it falls back to a lower value. On 6M, while in "tune" if the power does
not reach the setpoint (e.g. 30W) and I turn the pwr knob down below 12
where the 100w amp is bypassed and then turn it back up to reengage the 100w
amp, the power will sometimes reach and stay at the setpoint (30W). But that
condition does not stay Ok too long.

The transverter output also exhibits similar power problems

I've reloaded the firmware. The utility initially reported  "checksum
reconciliation value" and I have no idea what that means. 

And finally, this weekend, when I set the  receive mode to data-a, the audio
output had shifted to a higher freq spectrum width (e.g. 500-3300) on the
WSJT spectrum display with clearly more hiss in the speaker. Cycling the
xtal filters, normalling the shifts and widths had no effect. Changed the
mode to USB and the audio spectrum was normal, change back to data-a and it
was shifted. So I operated WSJT-X in USB. Hours later, data-a was back to
normal. First time I've observed that. Today it is AOK. GOK what happened
Saturday.  

Any other suggestions before I bit the bullet and prepare to send it to
Elecraft? Thanks for any ideas.

Chet, N8RA

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Re: [Elecraft] Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread Richard 
How about this? K3s, 100w, Hex Beam, Central Florida to Australia, 20 meter 
SSB, LONG PATH, 15,727 miles; he was 5x3, I was 5x5.

Richard
W4KBX


> On Sep 13, 2021, at 3:03 PM, barry halterman  wrote:
> 
> Reminds me of the time, way, way back going up on MT. Diablo with a two
> meter lunch box and a simple J pole antenna. Man, what a blast that was!
> 
> On Mon, Sep 13, 2021, 2:38 PM Hank via Elecraft 
> wrote:
> 
>> Great story!!!
>> 
>> I remember in 2019 making a cool contact like that. I was running the KX3
>> at 10 watts with the AX1 sitting in a hiking chair on top of Pigeon Mtn in
>> NW Ga and made a 20m USB contact with a gentleman in Mexico running a b new
>> to him K3s at 100 watts into a wire dipole.
>> 
>> That was one exciting POTA contact!
>> 
>> Hank
>> K4HYJ
>> 
>>> On Sep 13, 2021, at 2:19 PM, Wayne Burdick  wrote:
>>> 
>>> I was out hiking with my son yesterday at Las Trampas Wilderness (about
>> 25 miles east of San Francisco). We took a break at the highest point to
>> taken in a 360 degree view of the Bay Area.
>>> 
>>> After lunch, I pulled out the KX2, attached a 4' whip, and immediately
>> found Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE) calling CQ on 20 m SSB from New Mexico. I tried
>> a couple of calls using the KX2's built-in mic, but wasn't quite getting
>> his attention through the QRM. So I attached the KXPD2 keyer paddle and
>> called in CW mode. Bill came back to me right away.
>>> 
>>> First K4 to KX2 cross-mode QSO? (Not quite a "200 Meters and Down"
>> achievement, but gratifying just the same.)
>>> 
>>> Wayne
>>> N6KR
>>> 
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Re: [Elecraft] Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread barry halterman 
Reminds me of the time, way, way back going up on MT. Diablo with a two
meter lunch box and a simple J pole antenna. Man, what a blast that was!

On Mon, Sep 13, 2021, 2:38 PM Hank via Elecraft 
wrote:

> Great story!!!
>
> I remember in 2019 making a cool contact like that. I was running the KX3
> at 10 watts with the AX1 sitting in a hiking chair on top of Pigeon Mtn in
> NW Ga and made a 20m USB contact with a gentleman in Mexico running a b new
> to him K3s at 100 watts into a wire dipole.
>
> That was one exciting POTA contact!
>
> Hank
> K4HYJ
>
> > On Sep 13, 2021, at 2:19 PM, Wayne Burdick  wrote:
> >
> > I was out hiking with my son yesterday at Las Trampas Wilderness (about
> 25 miles east of San Francisco). We took a break at the highest point to
> taken in a 360 degree view of the Bay Area.
> >
> > After lunch, I pulled out the KX2, attached a 4' whip, and immediately
> found Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE) calling CQ on 20 m SSB from New Mexico. I tried
> a couple of calls using the KX2's built-in mic, but wasn't quite getting
> his attention through the QRM. So I attached the KXPD2 keyer paddle and
> called in CW mode. Bill came back to me right away.
> >
> > First K4 to KX2 cross-mode QSO? (Not quite a "200 Meters and Down"
> achievement, but gratifying just the same.)
> >
> > Wayne
> > N6KR
> >
> > __
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[Elecraft] 40 meter SSB net 9-12

2021-09-13 Thread Steve Hall 
THANKS TO ALL RELAY STATIONS.
WM6P STEVE GA K3S NETCONTROL
W3SA JOHN NC TS890
K8NU CARL OH FTDX101
KO4LLC GEORGE VA FT891
K5PD PETE TX K3
KD9HYM BILL IL IC7300
KB9AVO PAUL IL K4 (WELCOME BACK)
W4FO PAT FL FLEX6600M
WB9JNZ ERIC IL FTDX101
ABOR DAVE MN K3
W6SFG BRUCE VA FLEX6400
W4NDK DAVE NC FT891
NC0JW JIM CO KX3
N8SBE DAVE MI IC7000
K7BRR BILL AR FTDX101
W5DML DOUG TN K3
WN8A JIM MI K3
WN8A JIM MI K3
K3FBR JOE PA K2
WN3T RICK VA IC7610
KO4BHN GARY SC IC7300
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Re: [Elecraft] Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread Hank via Elecraft 
Great story!!!

I remember in 2019 making a cool contact like that. I was running the KX3 at 10 
watts with the AX1 sitting in a hiking chair on top of Pigeon Mtn in NW Ga and 
made a 20m USB contact with a gentleman in Mexico running a b new to him K3s at 
100 watts into a wire dipole. 

That was one exciting POTA contact!

Hank
K4HYJ 

> On Sep 13, 2021, at 2:19 PM, Wayne Burdick  wrote:
> 
> I was out hiking with my son yesterday at Las Trampas Wilderness (about 25 
> miles east of San Francisco). We took a break at the highest point to taken 
> in a 360 degree view of the Bay Area.
> 
> After lunch, I pulled out the KX2, attached a 4' whip, and immediately found 
> Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE) calling CQ on 20 m SSB from New Mexico. I tried a couple 
> of calls using the KX2's built-in mic, but wasn't quite getting his attention 
> through the QRM. So I attached the KXPD2 keyer paddle and called in CW mode. 
> Bill came back to me right away.
> 
> First K4 to KX2 cross-mode QSO? (Not quite a "200 Meters and Down" 
> achievement, but gratifying just the same.)
> 
> Wayne
> N6KR
> 
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[Elecraft] Unique QSO

2021-09-13 Thread Wayne Burdick 
I was out hiking with my son yesterday at Las Trampas Wilderness (about 25 
miles east of San Francisco). We took a break at the highest point to taken in 
a 360 degree view of the Bay Area.

After lunch, I pulled out the KX2, attached a 4' whip, and immediately found 
Bill, W6H (AKA W8TE) calling CQ on 20 m SSB from New Mexico. I tried a couple 
of calls using the KX2's built-in mic, but wasn't quite getting his attention 
through the QRM. So I attached the KXPD2 keyer paddle and called in CW mode. 
Bill came back to me right away.

First K4 to KX2 cross-mode QSO? (Not quite a "200 Meters and Down" achievement, 
but gratifying just the same.)

Wayne
N6KR

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[Elecraft] FOR SALE

2021-09-13 Thread Neil 

For Sale:

A Pristine Elecraft K2 S# 6066 that has a number of upgrades. The unit 
has been checked and calibrated by Dave W8FGU who is the man who 
specializes in Elecraft units. Hi service report is included. The unit 
is in excellent condition and is just surplus to my needs. I decided I 
am not a QRP kind of guy and 3 HF radios is more than I need.  Dave also 
did a mod so that a standard (non-electret) mic can be used. Here is a 
listing of the installed modules and options: All service and 
installation guides are furnished


*KSB2   SSB adapter*

*KAF2   AF filter/clock*

*K160 RX   160m with RX antenna switch*

*KNB2   Noise Blanker*

*KAT2ATU*

*KIO2RS232*

*K2 Fixed Audio output for digital*

*N0SS Amp Relay*

Replacement value is about $1,800. Shipped insured with all manuals and 
docs to Con-US for $925.00


Photos are available   Neil   N4FN770-321-9348  or 
arche...@gmail.com 


--

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Re: [Elecraft] K2/100 RS232 trouble

2021-09-13 Thread David Woolley 
The problem of using a standard cable with the serial port is not that 
it might fail to operate as a serial port, but rather than it might 
permanently destroy the (non-RS232) internal signalling within the 
transceiver.


If that signalling is destroyed, the set won't be able to do anything 
useful, so won't be able to operate the serial port.


In fact there seem to be two pins that are used for signals that cannot 
tolerate RS232 voltages.


This is only a may, because it depends on which wires in the cable are 
actually connected at the other end.  The special cable basically leaves 
some pins unconnected.


--
David Woolley
Owner K2 06123
On 10/09/2021 13:12, Andy McMullin wrote:

You are using the special RS232 cable aren’t you? You must connect with a cable 
matching the special pinout first. If you try a straight connection it will 
fail.



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