When I travel with my KX-1 I have an antenna that works quite well on all 4
bands.
I bought a 50 ft roll of speaker wire (a.k.a. zip cord) from Radio Shack - it
turned out to be 51 1/2 ft long, but I don't think the length is very critical.
I un-zipped all but about a foot of the wire, and I
20 was all but dead here in NC yesterday evening - One very strong signal:
W0RSR. Other than that, all I heard was a few tones way under the noise to tell
me that I must have been tuned somewhere near the right frequency. Sigh.
A 9PM (EDT) must-see TV show kept me from even trying 40.
73
Ray
I haven't been able to check in for quite some time - sometimes due to being
away (without my KX-1 in tow) over the weekend, but mostly due to propagation
(and, no doubt, the limitations of my stealth antenna - shhh, don't tell the
Covenants Committee).
This Sunday 20 was dead air at this QTH
Dohn wrote,
I am wondering what the groups opinions are about the best end fed antenna
lengths would be for taking my newly built KX1 mobile?
Dohn,
a year or more ago I posted an article reporting my results with a (approx) 50
foot wire.
Just re-capping here: I bought a nominally 50 ft
Paul asked,
I would like to practice sending wo transmitting with my KX-1. Is there a way
to put it into a practice mode w/o using a dummy load? KC9JJU
Paul, the easiest way is to just press and hold the BAND switch (the middle
one) - the number you see displayed is the speed of the
I'm wondering whether some experienced net ops could chime in with suggestions
for getting more QSP going on the weekly Elecraft CW Net?
I don't really know what the right protocol is, but I still have a happy glow
thinking about the one time I actually QSP'd for a station that NCS couldn't
So many postings about K3s these days that I just had to weigh in and say there
are still KX-1's happily piping RF into the ether (yeah, I know, no such thing
as the ether, but it's fun to pretend it's there).
Drove from NC up to No VA this weekend to help prep son's house for the
grandchild
I was glad that I finally had a chance to get to the radio for both nets last
night - but the propagation gods were not smiling, and I could barely discern
the presence of any signals - I detected (barely) N0SS on 40 and W6ZH was
booming in on 20, but t-t-that's all, folks. Sigh.
Ray K2HYD
I've made some ladder line using plastic parts of electrical staples.
Homely Depot, Lowes, etc sell staples for large electrical cable that consist
of a plastic bridge with a nail inserted thru a hole at each end. They come in
various sizes (e.g., for 3/4 inch, 1 inch, two inch service
Kevin,
I also like the hail sign procedure. Tom heard mine while you were calling for
QNI, even tho my signal didn't reach you - next time you called he quickly
tapped out HYD AS and I tapped R, and knew to wait. Sure enuf he called me back
for the QSP.
Now the dumb question: do I respond to
Quite a bit of QRN here, too, Kevin.
Well, here I am again in NC - spent some time Fri and Sat working on antenna
setup at our no-outside-antennas NC second home. My attempt at loading the
aluminum ridge vent came to naught (more on that another time). Current
configuration is an ATU at one
Kevin,
Actually I am in NC, not GA this week. Heard you fairly well but not many
others. And of course Tom
Tom,
Your 20m beam has great front to back ratio (or maybe front to side, or
whatever). Your sig here was well over S-9 at max and barely audible at min. So
you'll be glad to know it's
If this has been posted before, forgive me for the bandwidth.
The following is excerpted from the ARRL letter:
As the so-called Firedragon jammer continues to transmit in one or more
Amateur Radio bands, the International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) and three
of its Region 3 member-societies so
Thanks for the kind comments, Kevin. I think that special electron cloud in the
F Layer that hovered over Virginia, bouncing signals between us, must have
followed me down to North Carolina!
What really pleases me is that my stealth antenna seems to be working FB. So
for those who may get
Joe, W2KJ wrote:
Has anyone used the antenna advertised on the site below???
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Bell-Imel-Group-LLC
Would appreciate any reports on the performance of this antenna by Elecraft
K2, K1, KX1 ops using the internal tuner in these rigs.
Chris, K6DBG asked about logging programs for Palm OS:
When traveling or camping I've been using QSO Diary, a freeware program from
G4FON and I like it a lot. Very easy to use and when you get back home you can
hotsync your palm and then export the log file to other logging programs. I
Fellow Elecrafters,
There's lots of stuff in the antenna literature about inverted V antennas,
i.e., where the feedpoint is higher than the ends. But I can't find anything on
dipoles and such in which the ends are not in the same vertical plane as the
center.
I'm thinking of putting up a
Thanks for continuing to run the nets, Kevin.
On 20 last night I heard nary a peep.
I was in bed very early on account of having had some bad insomnia the night
before, but I got back out of bed at 10 EST to listen on 40. Barely, barely
heard Kevin, and didn't even hear every transmission
When I was getting ready to check into Elecraft CW Net last night I hit the
buttons to let the ATU do a quick check of the antenna and was stunned to see
that the output power was only half a watt, even with the external 12V gel
cell. Other observations:
- on my most recent trip I was getting 3
Been running tests and swapping mail w/ Gary at Elecraft trying to solve my
sudden low output problem (had been getting 3 or 4 W but suddenly only 0.5W,
with external 12V battery) Then Paul, WD8OJL said,
When I installed 30m module i had exactly same syptoms as you describe. Found
that longest
Some years ago I was a volunteer fireman in a small Upstate NY town. On one of
our pumpers, a '58 Mack, one of the two (redundancy, y'know) battery strings
(two huge 6V batteries in series) was self-discharging if the rig sat idle in
the barn for more than two or three days. Determined to find
All,
Looks like I really set off a minor comment explosion when I posted my
questions on using ridge-vents as antennas! It's amazing how we Elecrafters
jump in to offer comments and help.
I appreciate all your helpful comments, info and suggestions, and look forward
to doing more
Finished the building yesterday just before we had to leave to go to a concert.
Whew! lots of tight space work! Took me a bit longer than it should have,
because when I got to the part that says, OK now power it up and see if your
receiver is still working, it wasn't. Many, many passes over the
About 3 years ago I built KX-1 #608 with KB-30 and KXAT1. I've had tons of fun
with operating it in my travels at relatives' homes, hotels, resorts and
campgrounds. Usually I use the simple 24 ft wire recommended in the KXAT-1
manual, supported on whatever I can get, with three ground radials
This antenna has worked great for me with the KX-1 autotuner on 80, 40, 30 and
20:
I bought a 50 ft spool of speaker wire from Radio Shack and un-zipped it to
make two 50 ft wires. I think it's 18 gauge, but I'm sure that's not critical.
Mine actually measured 51 ft 8 inches long (and I'm sure
@mailman.qth.net; Albers alb...@embarqmail.com
Sent: Saturday, June 19, 2010 5:13 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Antenna for KX-1
I used to think, :just put a wire in the ocean...and voila good ground.
Not soneed area of contactbronze screen wire cage works great.
Susan
If you don't
If you go to Lowes or Homely Depot and look in the Electrical section you will
find a variety of staples for non-metallic cable (a.k.a. Romex (c) ) that
consist of a plastic bridge with nails inserted into two holes at the ends.
They come in a variety of sizes.
Pull out the nails and the
Last night I was ready to try checking into ECN-20 with my KX-1 but couldn't
get off 40 meters. The band pushbutton simply would not respond. (I did do an
ohmmeter check just now, to verify that it is indeed a switch failure and not a
bad solder joint!)
I haven't kept track, but if memory
Well, lots of suggestions for trap dipoles, multiple insulators with jumpers,
etc etc.
But I get excellent results with my simple antenna. I posted about this 4 or 5
years ago. I went to Radio Shack and bought a 50 ft roll of loudspeaker wire. I
un-zipped it. Turns out actual length of each
I may be mistaken but I thought I saw a recent posting (or two) saying that
batteries could only be transported in carry-on luggage, and that transmitters
were not permitted in carry-on. I’m planning a trip to Little Cayman next
month and will be taking my KX-1 (yes, I did get the necessary
Well, I tried hard to be heard on the 20 meter net last night but no luck. My
KX-1 and the 50 ft of wire inverted L up only 15 feet just didn't do the job
from here in Little Cayman.
NCS was in and out, several were copyable and k4jpn blew
my ears off.
Couldn't hear a peep on 40.
73 de
Tnx Dale.
I'm here for a week of diving and I return home to NC on Saturday.
My ham activity is a bit sporadic but mostly late afternoon and early evening.
30 meters has been best for me so far.
73
Ray. ZF2RA. (K2HYD)
On Mar 5, 2012, at 7:48 AM, Dale Putnam daleput...@hotmail.com
I’ve posted this before, but maybe it bears repeating:
On my camping trips with the KX-1 (with autotuner) I have had very good
results on all 4 bands with my simple wire antenna.
I bought a 50 ft roll of stranded speaker wire at Radio Shack (I believe it was
16 or 18 ga, but I doubt that the
Yeah, it’s getting the dits under control that seems to be the most frequent
problem.
Wish I had a buck for every time I’ve heard someone send my call as K25YD
73
Ray K2HYD
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Elecraft mailing list
Home:
It’s very seldom that my little KX-1 (#608) with my stealth doublet can make it
all the way from NC to KD5ONS.
It’s especially disappointing that none of the four stations that blasted in
here 599 plus on the 40m net – who I would think MUST have been able to hear
me, at least a little – would
Now that I have my KX-3, I’ve decided I don’t need my faithful old KX-1 (S/N
608) any more, so I’ve listed it on e-Bay. Has ATU, 30/80 module, and the N0SS
tuning indicator, home brew paddle. It’s item number 131309605698, if you or
anyone you know is interested.
Tnx and 73
Ray K2HYD
I won’t make any arguments about Iambic A vs. Iambic B. But, please see page
30 or page 37 of the KX-3 manual. Iambic A is the default, but the CW IAMB
menu item lets you change it to B.
73
Ray K2HYD
KX-3 # 6827
---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
I have to say I felt thoroughly disgusted whilst reading the digest tonight.
Someone posted a completely reasonable question about installing a VHF radio in
a Tesla car. Instead of garnering technical answers and discussions, all he
got were diatribes about the pros and cons of electric
My windom antenna (half wave on 40) must have a major lobe that is aimed
right at Kevin's QTH, with just the right takeoff angle to hit my own
personal electron cloud in the F layer.. Kevin, you were booming in here
last night, and you say you heard me well, but I did not hear a single
other
Our fearless NCS, Kevin, wrote:
I wandered into Home Depot this evening and
purchased a bit of 14 guage wire. I will try to get a loop up for 160
which should tune quite nicely for the higher bands. Now to get some
ladder line from HRO this coming week and get it hooked up.
This
J-F, VA2VYZ, wrote,
snip
Just to be sure May I leave my standard Alkaline AA batteries
inside de
KX1 while using external DC supply ???
snip
Oui! No problem. Please look at D2 and D3 in the upper right corner of the schematic - these shottky diodes (low voltage drop) are
Boy, Kevin, you're right about conditions. The only stations I heard
were you (and you dissappeared for a while from about 00:20 to 00:30),
Tom N0SS (barely), N6JW (but so weakly I copied him as N6JA !) and
W7WEL, who was the only strong station.
Good thing I had a fully charged gel-cell
Lisa posted a list of March and April hamfests but missed at least one:
This weekend - Sunday March 13 - the Vienna (VA) Wireless Society
Winterfest at the Annandale
Campus of Northern Virginia Community College - 8333 Little River
Turnpike, Annandale VA
Tailgate and indoor - admission $6.
I tried to post a msg from BVI on Monday but it doesn't seem to have
made it.
What a thrill to have been heard on the ECN 20M net! And congrats to Tom
for pulling my puny signal out of the noise. For the past week, until
this morning, I was operating as VP2V/K2HYD on Torotla, BVI with my
While operating from BVI the little push-button Band/Speed switch on my KX-1
started acting flaky and would require several presses to function (and of
course since many functions are invoked by pressing two swtiches at once,
operation was very frustrating). I almost didn't make the 20 CW net
Jay, W6CJ wrote:
Has anyone found some universal wire antenna lengths that will work
with the
KX-1 and internal antenna tuner - over all four (80, 40, 30, 20) bands?
I bought a 50ft roll of speaker wire from Radio Shack and un-zipped the two
wires so I had an antenna wire and a
Paul wrote,
I would be very interested in hearing your opinions about the KXPD1
.
I've been using a Whiterook Products MK-64 mini keyer/paddle for a few
years now
..
I also liked the feel of the Whiterook double lever paddle so I took
mine apart and took a block of Corian
Has anyone had any experience loading an aluminum ridge vent as an antenna??
We just bought a second home, which is lovely (definition: my wife is
thrilled with it!) but has restrictive covenants - no outside antennas. Grrr.
I have mounted an ATU in the attic and attached a 1:1 balun
A friend once told me, "Almost none of us has a balanced dipole."
What he meant is, few of us are lucky enough to be able to put a dipole
high up and completely in the clear - most of us have to put it up where we
can, and one side will be closer to houses, trees, gutters, chain link
fences.
So after having built a KX1 15 yrs ago, and 5 yrs ago acquiring a KX-3,
I've finally gotten a [used] K3.
I use MixW for logging (I no longer use it for digital modes, and haven't
upgraded it for years). I had interfaced my old ICOM 746PRO and it worked
perfectly, entering the frequency into the
e, Aug 13, 2019 at 6:50 PM Ray Albers wrote:
>
>> So after having built a KX1 15 yrs ago, and 5 yrs ago acquiring a KX-3,
>> I've finally gotten a [used] K3.
>>
>> I use MixW for logging (I no longer use it for digital modes, and haven't
>> upgraded it for years). I
So a couple of days ago I posted tale of woe, trying to get my newly
acquired K3 to work with MixW - well, thanks to a few off line e-mails and
some stumbling around, I got that working. Ditto, got N1MM+ working great.
Next - how to get the K3 to play with my SteppIR vertical antenna
controller.
" are nonsense. The direct version of this e-mail
> includes the schematic for the *STEPPIR* Y cable.
>
>
> 73,
>
> ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
> On 2019-08-14 8:47 PM, Ray Albers wrote:
> > So a couple of days ago I posted tale of woe, trying to get my newly
&
My K3 (used, recently acquired) has the KRX3 sub receiver and the KXV3
separate antenna input installed. I've put up a wire antenna for
receiving, to try diversity reception. Works great except on 40m, where I
hear no signal on the SUB receiver, not even very much white noise.
Works fine on
Thanks to Steve WB6RSE and other commenters. BSET controls where Sub
Receiver input goes, and it IS settable per band.
All OK now.
73
Ray K2HYD
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Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help:
….thanks to comments and suggestions from K9ZTV and W2CS.
My K3 has the Sub Receiver installed, and I have been playing around with
diversity reception, using a random wire connected to the sub-receiver
antenna input BNC connector. Apparently the carrier operated relay that
protects the receiver
I using a used K3 recently acquired: S/N 8240. I notice that when I send
CW, whether in full or semi QSK mode, there is a relay click upon the first
key closure - just for the first character, e.g., if I send CQ CQ CQ, the
relay clicks on each C only.
I thought the K3 uses diode T-R switching
I could use some knowledge and/or opinions on this subject (Radio/Elecraft
related only because it deals with a power supply that powers a K3!)
The other day I was about to initiate a call, and as soon as I touched the
"dah" paddle the K3 instantly shut off. The cause was that the power
supply
Many to all who posted/responded to my recent post about an electrolytic
capacitor failure in my power supply. Lots of very interesting reading
about peoples' industry experiences - thank you!
Several have pointed out that using a 20A supply with my K3/100 is pushing
close to (or over!) the
35A with this problem, I've helped several other
> hams fix this same problem in theirs. Not a random sample, as this is just
> folks on my local machine and in local clubs.
>
> You can get a 50A bridge in the same package for under $3.
>
> Perhaps Astron has fixed the problem since ..
I bought my K3 used. It's now a bit over six years old (S/N 8240). The
seller kindly included the manual, original invoice, a repair invoice and
even the Fred Cady book. The K3 was factory assembled, with a
factory-installed KRX3 subreceiver and the BNC auxiliary antenna connection.
If I had
20 years ago, or thereabouts, when I lived in Northern VA I was a pretty
regular checkin on the Elecraft CW Net with my little KX-1. Amazingly, it
did quite well.
Over the Easter weekend I was once again in NOVA (visiting at my son's
house) and, ever the eternal optimist, I decided to see what I
Kevin writes,
The KX1 has great reports: heck I give them all the time during ECN. They
work quite well in the hands of the best (Ray, K2HYD and Rick, KL7CW
please take a bow). Seems like they can beat their way through pileups to
get my attention ;) I never truly believe them when they
Just got back from my scuba vacation on Providenciales island, Turks and
Caicos. Will post a report in a day or two about my KX-1 / random wire
operating experiences, but did want to say what a thrill it was to be able to
have an actual two-way exchange on 20m with our esteemed NCS! Only other
Got back last night from a week-long scuba diving trip to Providenciales
(a.k.a. Provo) island in the Turks and Caicos. Long days of diving (including 2
X 45 min bus rides to the marina and 2 X ~ hour boat trips to West Caicos where
the diving is best) left not much time for operating, but I
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