Re: [Elecraft] K3: vs a Collins S-line RX
Bill I think Mike K0AZ that is on this board might comment on that, he has to me anyway. He does have a Collins line in his shack that he has compared to the K3 as well as his Drake's. Fred/N0AZZ -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bill Clarke Sent: Saturday, February 02, 2013 7:12 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] K3: vs a Collins S-line RX It has been many years since I sat down to a Collins 75-S3. So long that I cannot remember if they were really that good. Anyone out there have a Collins receiver they'd care to compare to a K3? I am only interested in the quality of the receive audio. Of course there is no DSP, memories, and all that. Comments? Thanks, Bill W2BLC __ 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] Digest Vol 106, Issue 3 = Treasure trove
Although I appreciate the usual FB inputs to the forum, this issue was singularly spectacular. The discussion on surge protection, for an appliance operator (my skill set is airplanes), was very instructional and educational. The brilliance of PigKnob by N3WG and follow on suggestions opened the door to a lot of 'what ifs'. Finally, Ron AC7AC, explanation of using AFV, one of the built in tools of the K3, for evaluating not only the K3 ATT/Preamp but also comparing antennas was exceptional. Well done gentlemen, Bravo Zulu. Just another example of the professionalism and high level of quality inputs. 73 Tom CX7TT __ 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] unsubscribe 197QP7 w3vg...@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
Re: [Elecraft] [OT} Whole House Surge Protection
These were very popular in Kenya where black-outs, drop-outs, brown-outs, high surges and spikes were common: http://www.sollatek.com/product-list/voltshield/ http://www.sollatek.com/product-list/voltsafe/ Many fridges, freezers and all household equipment is saved using the plug-in units. It was typical for the mains to read 400V (240V nom) when the power returned after a drop out and the little units would just hold off the load till those passed and a timer dropped back on. David G3UNA - Original Message - From: AG0N-3055 mcduf...@ag0n.net To: elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Friday, February 01, 2013 10:29 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [OT} Whole House Surge Protection On Fri, 1 Feb 2013 11:59:00 -0600, Richard Fjeld wrote: I built a box with an AC relay that locks up through it's own contacts. Did the same thing, except that the path also goes through a timer relay that doesn't energize the AC path relay until power has been on for at least 30 seconds without interruption. Gary -- http://ag0n.net 3055: http://ag0n.net/irlp/3055 __ 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] KTCXO3-1 TCXO
Does anyone know the approximate warm-up/stabilize time of the KTCXO3-1? Thanks,ChadN0YK __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
So this morning I started rechecking everything. I've found that the 5V on U4 pin 5 is intermittent. Not in a way that would indicate a loose or poor connection, but either that it is there, or it isn't (mostly isn't) when powering up the unit. U7 always has the 5V on pin2. I checked the resistance between U7 pin2 and U4 pin 5 and found about 300k. Looking at the schematics however, it looks like U4 pin5 is actually connected to U7 pin5 (SDO). There is less than 1 ohm of resistance between U4 pin5 and U7 pin5, so it would appear that U7 may have an issue. The other odd thing is that even when there is 5V coming into U4 pin5, the symptoms at R30 (0.020V) and the low band frequencies are still there. It looks like U7 may provide U4 a clock signal as well. I was seeing the 8V at R30 after reflowing all of the joints near the PLL Reference. Could the increase in temperature in the are have triggered the thermistor? The only thing changed between having the 8V at R30 last night and then losing it was the rewinding of T5 to bring it back up to 16 turns of red. The continuity checks are good through it, and L30 still changes the frequency when adjusted. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569573.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
Re: [Elecraft] KXBC3 behavior
Fred, Most likely the battery temperature got up to 45 degrees C and charging was suspended until they cooled to 40 C. Normally a message should appearwhen that happens. 73, Rich AC7MA On 02/01/2013 12:02 PM, Fred Carvalho wrote: Hi Folks. Sorry if this has been asked/explained before. I have installed the KXBC3 NiMH Battery Charger module. I am using 2300mh/h NiMH AA cells. I have plugged a bench power supply with voltage/amp meters so I can check what is going on. My cells were not empty, so I have chosen 4 hours charge. I set the PS to 14VDC. The PS amp meter reads 390mA during the charging, which is about 190mA for the rig RX drain plus 200mA for the batteries. So far so good. I monitor the elapsed time in the MENU/BAT CHG and the BAT voltage, which goes up to 11.7V. After 1 hour and so, the elapsed time chronometer stops. The PS amp meter reads only 190mA. So it seems that the charger stopped charging. That is in-line with the fact that the battery was somewhat charged. I go to MENU/BAT CHG and turn the charger OFF. I also unplug the power supply. The battery voltage drops to 11V on the screen. In any phase of the process I got no error message. Is this an expected behavior ? I have not seen anywhere an explanation of what happens if the battery is totally charged. Is the counter supposed to stop, or it should keep on sending charge to the battery until the total programmed time elapses?. Any input is appreciated. Thanks __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Jeremy, U7 pin 2 and U4 pin 5 are both the SDO signal which comes from the microprocessor over on the control board. If you have 300k resistance between those two points there is a break between them. I don't know why you mention U7 pin 5 (unless it was a typo) because that pin is connected to ground. U7 feeds U6A which in turn controls the voltage on the PLL varactors. Your PLL is working just fine, so there is no problem there. Recheck the resistance between U4 pin 5 and U7 pin 2, or better yet between U4 pin 5 and pin 24 of U6 over on the Control Board - you should have close to zero ohms. 73, Don W3FPR On 2/3/2013 10:51 AM, JeremyJones wrote: So this morning I started rechecking everything. I've found that the 5V on U4 pin 5 is intermittent. Not in a way that would indicate a loose or poor connection, but either that it is there, or it isn't (mostly isn't) when powering up the unit. U7 always has the 5V on pin2. I checked the resistance between U7 pin2 and U4 pin 5 and found about 300k. Looking at the schematics however, it looks like U4 pin5 is actually connected to U7 pin5 (SDO). There is less than 1 ohm of resistance between U4 pin5 and U7 pin5, so it would appear that U7 may have an issue. The other odd thing is that even when there is 5V coming into U4 pin5, the symptoms at R30 (0.020V) and the low band frequencies are still there. It looks like U7 may provide U4 a clock signal as well. I was seeing the 8V at R30 after reflowing all of the joints near the PLL Reference. Could the increase in temperature in the are have triggered the thermistor? The only thing changed between having the 8V at R30 last night and then losing it was the rewinding of T5 to bring it back up to 16 turns of red. The continuity checks are good through it, and L30 still changes the frequency when adjusted. __ 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] KTCXO3-1 TCXO
A guess is 10-15 minutes. I call it a guess because the KX3's TCXO is either similar or identical to the K3's, and the setup for temperature compensating the KX3's OSC requires 10-15 minutes of run time before the procedure is started. Even without the temp compensation, KX3 #6 was stable to +/- 5 Hz on 6m, well before 10 minutes passed by. 73, matt W6NIA On Sun, 03 Feb 2013 08:45:36 -0600, you wrote: Does anyone know the approximate warm-up/stabilize time of the KTCXO3-1? Thanks,ChadN0YK __ 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] KTCXO3-1 TCXO warm up time to stabilize
Greetings, I find that 3 hours in 70F room is required to reach stabilized frequency. Jim, N8OQ __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Looking over the board I did find that I had U8 C45 connected to pin7 instead of pin6. That has been corrected. U6 pin 24 to U4 pin5 is less than 1 ohm, however U6 pin24 to U7 pin2 is 300k ohm. I don't see any damage on the board. I also noticed going back to the beginning for the resistance checks on the control board that Q1 collector should be great than 1M, but is reading 5k. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569578.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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Jeremy, Do I recall correctly that you had a good PLL range? If so, I have trouble believing there would be 300k resistance from CB U6 pin 24 to RF U7 pin 2 while you have zero ohms to U4 pin 5. Are you certain you counted the pins correctly? Pin 1 has a circular solder pad and the rest are rectangular. If you want to check the operation of RF board U7, monitor the DC voltage at pin 7 while rotating the VFO knob - the voltage should change gradually while tuning through a 10 kHz range and then jump back to its lowest (or highest depending on which way you rotate the knob) at the end of each 10 kHz interval. Did you remove the Control Board when you made the measurement on the collector of Q1? If not, then somewhere in the vicinity of 5 k is not unreasonable. 73, Don W3FPR On 2/3/2013 12:41 PM, JeremyJones wrote: Looking over the board I did find that I had U8 C45 connected to pin7 instead of pin6. That has been corrected. U6 pin 24 to U4 pin5 is less than 1 ohm, however U6 pin24 to U7 pin2 is 300k ohm. I don't see any damage on the board. I also noticed going back to the beginning for the resistance checks on the control board that Q1 collector should be great than 1M, but is reading 5k. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569578.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
[Elecraft] KTCXO3-1 TCXO
Date: Sun, 3 Feb 2013 08:45:36 -0600 From: Chad Wasinger chadwasin...@outlook.com To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] KTCXO3-1 TCXO Message-ID: bay002-w97bd9bbec8db9494e84bf3c0...@phx.gbl Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1 Does anyone know the approximate warm-up/stabilize time of the KTCXO3-1? Thanks,ChadN0YK Chad, I observed the action of my TCXO3-1 closely after initial installation of the EXREF. I noted from cold start up that the TCXO was receiving a continued updated offset for about 20 to 30 minutes, whereby it stabilized out at about an offset of about 78-80. From that time on the offset would only wander a couple points over several minutes. A check of my 28-MHz transmit frequency accuracy was within 2-Hz (indicating 0.1 ppm) and would only occasionally change by 1-Hz reflecting the slow drift of the TCXO between reference checks with the external 10-MHz source. Running the TCXO-3 without the EXREF accuracy is aprox. 0.5ppm or on 28-MHz this translates to a maximum error of +/- 14-Hz. Freq. measurements are made with an EIP-538 microwave counter that is referenced to a Rubidium 10-MHz reference. The K3EXREF is referenced to a separate OCXO which is run on a battery full-time. Short-term stability of the OCXO is +/-5 E-12, Long-term stability is +/-5 E-5 which requires adjustment about every four months to correct about 1-Hz long-term drift. I have a 200K ten-turn helipot for adjusting the OCXO frequency. I use my Rubidium as frequency reference which is +/- 5 E-11 after 30-min warmup. GPS is more accurate but I find the Rubidium sufficient for my needs. eg: 10-MHz is 1.0 E+7, multiplied by 5 E-11 = 5.0 E-4 Hz = 0.0005 Hz See details of the EXREF (and TCXO3-1): http://www.kl7uw.com/K3EXREF.htm 73, Ed - KL7UW __ 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: vs a Collins S-line RX
Since nobody has answered yet, I will give it a shot, although it is entirely subjective and not even based on recent observations. I am commenting only about receive audio, and only ssb. I have a KWM-2, and had the same question on my mind years ago. Here is what I recall. When I got the KWM-2 I had an FT-1000D, and I noticed that ssb sounded much better in the Collins, at the same 2.1 KHz filter width. I attributed this to two separate effects: Class A audio power amp in the Collins vs push-pull semiconductor pa in the Yaesu, and mechanical filter in the Collins vs. xtal filters in the Yaesu. I think the mechanical filters may have less phase distortion and less group delay variations than the xtal units; at least that was my guess at the time. Then I sold the Yaesu and bought an early K3 #18xx. The K3 was much superior to both the other radios in almost every respect, but the ssb receive audio was the rare exception. It was inferior to the Collins. I felt it was also worse than the Yaesu, although both rigs used xtal filters (not the whole K3 story; spare me the flames) and solid state push pull audio pa's. Later I got Elecraft's hardware upgrades for the rx audio, and they made a big difference. I now feel the K3 is at least as good as the Yaesu. Still I don't feel it is as good as the Collins. Later still I got a KX3. It sounds incredibly good in a certain sense that I attribute to the selectivity being affected by on no xtal or mechanical filters. OTOH I feel that its audio pa suffers from not being class A. So the KX3 and the Collins have opposite strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the KX3 wins over the Collins. So, with these radios to choose from, which one do I turn on when I have time to get on the air? The K3 wins overall, and not just because more tx power is available. It is just a little bit more comfortable to operate. BTW I haven't experimented with running the K3 with a roofing filter much wider than the DSP bandwidth; perhaps that would improve the receive audio noticeably? Warning: The above are my subjective observations and not supported by any measurements. I post this with much hesitation. Probably some Elecraft detractor is going use it as justification for writing something on another board to the effect that Elecraft audio is bad. Shame on that person whoever it may be. 73, Erik K7TV Bill W2BLC wrote: It has been many years since I sat down to a Collins 75-S3. So long that I cannot remember if they were really that good. Anyone out there have a Collins receiver they'd care to compare to a K3? I am only interested in the quality of the receive audio. Of course there is no DSP, memories, and all that. __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Rechecked the resistance, and indeed there is 300k from U6 pin 24 to U7 pin2. Looking at the schematic in the manual, it shows U6 pin24 connected to U7 pin5 and U8 pin11. At this point I do have less than 1 ohm. The schematic shows U6 pin23 connected to U7 pin2 which is reading less than 1 ohm. The control board was removed when checking Q1, and it is showing 4.2k to ground. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569582.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
Re: [Elecraft] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Jeremy, I am sorry, I had the wrong IC, RF board U5 pin 2 should be connected to Control Board U6 pin 24. Yes, it also connects to Control Board U7 pin 5 and Control Board U8 pin 11, as well as RF board U4 pin 5. 73, Don W3FPR On 2/3/2013 3:45 PM, JeremyJones wrote: Rechecked the resistance, and indeed there is 300k from U6 pin 24 to U7 pin2. Looking at the schematic in the manual, it shows U6 pin24 connected to U7 pin5 and U8 pin11. At this point I do have less than 1 ohm. The schematic shows U6 pin23 connected to U7 pin2 which is reading less than 1 ohm. The control board was removed when checking Q1, and it is showing 4.2k to ground. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569582.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
[Elecraft] unsubscribe 197QP7 w3vg...@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
[Elecraft] 2013 Visalia Top Band Dinner
Elecraft has donated a complete K-Line as a grand prize for the upcoming Visalia DX Convention. http://www.dxconvention.com Of additional interest: The 2013 Visalia Top Band Dinner will be held on April 19, 2013. There will be a buffet dinner, door prizes including a Hi-Z Antennas Hi-Z 4 level 2 (PLUS6 Amps) System and a special program: Les Kalmus, W2LK: ZL9HR - The Auckland and Campbell Island 160m Challenge. Cost is $40 (USD) per person. For for further details and reservations please see: http://www.dxconvention.com/pages/dinners-topband.html 73 - Steve WB6RSE __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
No problem Don, you've been a huge help. So I went back to the beginning and did all resistance checks in the manual up to this point and everything is good. PLL range test @ 7100.00khz gives me 12099.13 high and 12086.33 low. VCO @ 4000.10 gives me 7840.33 I do still have some bad voltages on U4 and U6 which I'm tracing now to see where everything goes to and comes from. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569586.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
Re: [Elecraft] K3 - ACC Connector - Band0-3 output indicator
Finally got to make up an LED tester for both the Band0-3 and Digout1. Everything looks fine. No problems selecting two antennas on all bands 160-6M. I have the built in 2M transverter. On 2M I get , the same as on 60M. But 2M selects Ant3. So I don't think there will be any problems. Next phase later this week when I hook up the BCD-14 board. 73, N2TK, Tony -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Joe Subich, W4TV Sent: Sunday, January 27, 2013 7:37 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 - ACC Connector - Band0-3 output indicator Has anyone built or bought some kind of 4-indicator for this? I want to do this as a temporary indicator while I am playing with a pair of UM BCD-14 band decoders. Easy enough ... 4 NPN transistors - base to BAND0-3 pins, LED and limiting resistor between +13.8 and collector of the transistors, emitter of the transistor to ground. The output on the KIO3 for 60M has me concerned. Don't know why it should concern you. is just another state and I don't see used for any other band *or* any transverter band. Your bigger concern might be the reuse of one of the other band values for 2 Meters depending on how you decode HF vs. the transverter bands. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 1/27/2013 6:29 PM, N2TK, Tony wrote: I would like to see (LED) the state of the BAND0-3 outputs. Has anyone built or bought some kind of 4-indicator for this? I want to do this as a temporary indicator while I am playing with a pair of UM BCD-14 band decoders. The BAND0-3 outputs come off of 5V through 2.2K pull-up resistors with a 220 ohm resistor in series with the output on the ACC socket. It would seem standard 20ma LED's would not work here with the 2.2K resistor inline. Maybe a diode inline to isolate with a separate supply on the LED's or use some very low amperage LEDs or drive a Mosfet which drives a LED? The output on the KIO3 for 60M has me concerned. I want to make sure it doesn't cause me a problem when switching between 160-2M and between auto antenna selection and manual antenna selection. Tnx for any feedback. 73, N2TK, Tony __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
So I really thing that U4 is faulty. It's putting out 5.029V on pin13 when that should only be 4V. All the components surrounding it seem to have the correct voltages according to the manual. I think I'll replace that and see how things look after. -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K2-VCO-Alignment-only-0-02V-R30-tp7569523p7569588.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
Re: [Elecraft] K3: vs a Collins S-line RX
I have a rig that has many similarities to the Collins KWM-2. The KW2000b made by KW Electronics in Great Britain is often compared to the Collins as it shares many similarities in design.It too has a mechanical filter and very similar audio amp. Is the best sounding SSB rig I have (wish I had a Collins). with wonderful receive audio. Is it the mechanical filter or the class A audio amp? I cant say for sure but there are many audiophiles out there, as well as those that play guitar and rely on the smooth and pleasant sound of the mighty vacuum tube. or in the case of the KW2000b the mighty valve. As far as other receive qualities if I could add DSP and narrow filters it would surely come close to the K3 in busy band conditions.at present it is a great rag chew and net rig but lacks in the tight conditions of contesting. I will mirror Eriks comments that the K3 receive audio is just fine and as good as any of my other solid state rigs. Surely it has no worries from truly qualified comments from Elecraft detractors. On 2/3/2013 15:42, Erik Basilier wrote Since nobody has answered yet, I will give it a shot, although it is entirely subjective and not even based on recent observations. I am commenting only about receive audio, and only ssb. I have a KWM-2, and had the same question on my mind years ago. Here is what I recall. When I got the KWM-2 I had an FT-1000D, and I noticed that ssb sounded much better in the Collins, at the same 2.1 KHz filter width. I attributed this to two separate effects: Class A audio power amp in the Collins vs push-pull semiconductor pa in the Yaesu, and mechanical filter in the Collins vs. xtal filters in the Yaesu. I think the mechanical filters may have less phase distortion and less group delay variations than the xtal units; at least that was my guess at the time. Then I sold the Yaesu and bought an early K3 #18xx. The K3 was much superior to both the other radios in almost every respect, but the ssb receive audio was the rare exception. It was inferior to the Collins. I felt it was also worse than the Yaesu, although both rigs used xtal filters (not the whole K3 story; spare me the flames) and solid state push pull audio pa's. Later I got Elecraft's hardware upgrades for the rx audio, and they made a big difference. I now feel the K3 is at least as good as the Yaesu. Still I don't feel it is as good as the Collins. Later still I got a KX3. It sounds incredibly good in a certain sense that I attribute to the selectivity being affected by on no xtal or mechanical filters. OTOH I feel that its audio pa suffers from not being class A. So the KX3 and the Collins have opposite strengths and weaknesses. Overall, the KX3 wins over the Collins. So, with these radios to choose from, which one do I turn on when I have time to get on the air? The K3 wins overall, and not just because more tx power is available. It is just a little bit more comfortable to operate. BTW I haven't experimented with running the K3 with a roofing filter much wider than the DSP bandwidth; perhaps that would improve the receive audio noticeably? Warning: The above are my subjective observations and not supported by any measurements. I post this with much hesitation. Probably some Elecraft detractor is going use it as justification for writing something on another board to the effect that Elecraft audio is bad. Shame on that person whoever it may be. 73, Erik K7TV Bill W2BLC wrote: It has been many years since I sat down to a Collins 75-S3. So long that I cannot remember if they were really that good. Anyone out there have a Collins receiver they'd care to compare to a K3? I am only interested in the quality of the receive audio. Of course there is no DSP, memories, and all that. __ 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] K2 VCO Alignment only 0.02V @ R30
Jeremy, 5.029 volts at U4 pin 13 means that the PLL synthesizer IC is working. Remember that the manual voltages are for a properly working K2 that has the PLL IC in lock with the VFO frequency. Your voltage only indicates an out of lock condition. What is the R30 voltage now with that 5.029 volts at U4 pin 13? You should now have some voltage there. Can you adjust that voltage with L30? If so, you should now be able to get everything within the normal range. If you are still seeing zero volts at the left side of R30, then U6B or its components is at fault, not U4. 73, Don W3FPR On 2/3/2013 8:31 PM, JeremyJones wrote: So I really thing that U4 is faulty. It's putting out 5.029V on pin13 when that should only be 4V. All the components surrounding it seem to have the correct voltages according to the manual. I think I'll replace that and see how things look after. __ 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
