I've used a Timewave DSP-59+ with a variety of radios from something as
basic as a RockMite-40 to Kenwood TS-820 TS-940 and Yaesu FT-100, all
with good success. I haven't started building my K2 yet (it just
arrived yesterday) but plan to use the DSP-59+ with it initially as
well, and maybe
Okay, here is my first post to the group during assembly/test. This
seems minor and may not really be a problem, just want to make sure.
During the checks the first time the unit is powered up I get an
annunciator for PRE. It was not specified as such in the manual. The
PRE/ATTN button
I'm just at the point of testing the PLL Reference Oscillator Range as
well and am measuring 9.11 kHz. This is low compared to the spec of 9.8
to 15 kHz per the manual. Before I proceed to much farther, is 9.11 kHz
okay as is? Should I be getting a 12 uH replacement L31 as well? What
is
Was baptized tonight with a QSO from Allentown, PA to Clearview, FL
with K4IBZ on about 7034.3 kHz. Thanks, Bill! Signal was strong and in
the clear just after midnight east coast time. Bill was definitely 599
here and he gave me a 589 while I was running 5 W (I know, it is
overkill). Why
Well, I'm not sure if the bands are just doing really well today or if
it is the new K2. I don't really operate much, or at least I hadn't in
the recent past, however that may all be changing now that the K2 is in
my life. Since I hadn't used the big rig for quite a while I don't
know how it
Thanks, Steve.
You were one of my very few contacts using the K2. I was considering
using the FT-100 mobile rig which is permanently mounted as well, but
the only thing I did with it was use it to tune the ATAS120 antenna I
was using. Speaking of which , I think that was the reason for such
If T4 1-2 and 3-4 were symmetrical I would think it would be okay.
However, they are not symmetrical as 1-2 has 2 turns and 3-4 has 3
turns. Sounds like you should unsolder it and try installing it the
other way. It may be easiest to cut the bare wires (5-6 and 7-8) before
unsoldering the green
This past week I installed both the 60m 160m modules as well as the NB
to my otherwise stock K2 (#4786). Initially I had a similar problem but
then reallized I hadn't formally completed all the steps for setting up
the 60m option. I hadn't set the menu for D19 = Y. After I did that
then I
Funny story about this. I was at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia.
Great science museum for kids of all ages! They have at least three or four
places where you can try sending some code. One was a spark gap, one was an
old railroad telegraph sender and one used the MFJ-461 or similar.
About one year ago when I built a RockMite-40 and was about to try it I heard
somebody calling CQ on 7040 kHz. I quickly plugged in my Bencher paddles to
find that only one side was working and the other side didn't (new stereo 1/8
plug from R.S. was bad). Couldn't find my straight key right
Dan,
Thanks for running the net. My first ECN/30 check-in. Was glad to hear Steve,
N7VS whom I had worked a couple of weeks ago when I was at Pulpit Rock for
MoonLight Madness with EPA QRP Club. I was calling him to let him know that
during the net I was finally finishing the QSL card for
When recently building mine I had a similar problem. I moved my ground
connection to one of the small loops on the board and that was enough to
give me a higher reading and tweak R1 into range. Seems that the
Ground that I had picked wasn't as good of a ground as I thought!
There certainly
Mike, I agree with your comments. Since I was installing a couple of mods at
once I sort of thought ahead rather than blindly following the manual. I
sanded off the painted area actually I think when I was doing the initial heat
sink installation of the basic K2 in order to save a step later
It depends on the units of measure for the mojo. If it is a linear unit, then
they multiply, if it is a log unit (like dB) then they add.
Mark, NK8Q
k2 #4786, it definitely has mojo!
Must be that mojo thing I guess. Well I suppose I was cheating by using
VP8 mojo as well. Do two mojos add or
Well, going to the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary:
Main Entry: mo?jo
Pronunciation: 'mO-()jO
Function: noun
Inflected Form(s): plural mojoes or mojos
Etymology: probably of African origin; akin to Fulani moco'o medicine man
: a magic spell, hex, or charm; broadly : magical power
Hey, that
I'm holding on to my HP15C which I bought in college in 1987, still have the
receipt. My boss here was looking for a good RPN calculator and figured he
might find that one on eBay cheap. WRONG! Turns out that very good examples
of it, complete with manual and case are about $300 to $400.
I haven't been around the Elecraft history long enough to know, but I recall
that earlier versions required CAL PLL on all bands while new versions only
require it to be run on 40m. If the AppNote still is useful information but
out of date it should as well be updated to reflect the current
Great idea. Expanding on that idea, have it so that it is expandable
with weather station accessories that can be interfaced to the computer
to get date/time/WX. Could include a wireless/remote WX sensors for
indoor/outdoor temperature, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed
and
One of my fellow local hams is also building a K2 now. He got his before I
ordered mine after we had discussed this for some time. I'm glad he ordered
his first, because it was the kick in the butt that I needed to order mine!
Anyway, I got off the ground running with assembling mine first,
Now that I have the KIO2 installed I'm anxious to test it out. I see quite a
long list of programs that provide support for the K2. Just wondering what is
your favorite such program and why? I don't (at least initially plan to) do
remote control over the network, but that would be slick
I just sent out a note to the list and commented that I planned to use
RigBlaster with the K2. I have Heil microphones so have already changed R14 to
increase the gain and that seems to work well.
Two issues. First, I noticed RF on 160m to 40m when using the microphones into
the Rigblaster.
Well, early for me at least. The dog woke me up around 5:30 AM local
time. Normally I don't get up for another couple of hours, but if I do
I go back to bed. Well, knowing how things are going to be at work
today and needing to get a head start, I got up, showered and a chance
to play a bit
Hmm, I have an unlisted telephone number that my DSL service is connected with,
so does that apply?
Mark, NK8Q
B. Hard-wire control from point to point
C. A telephone link via an unlisted telephone number
Hmmm...
I guess it comes down to interpretation as to whether an internet link
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the detailed description. I think I'm getting it now. Sometimes
I'm a bit slow, sometimes I'm a bit fast, I guess I have a high amount of
jitter on my clock (sorry, it is a work related joke, and probably a poor one
at that).
Now, I think I only have three more
They sold out a while ago on the first run of kits. A couple of months later I
checked and they had gotten another set of kits put together. I think in the
meantime you could still get the bare circuit board and then order the
individual parts, mostly from Digi-Key and/or Mouser. It isn't
Kevin,
I think I heard you around 9:10 PM local time here on 40m. Band
conditions were very strange indeed. I had a QSO with a local station
about a 1 hour drive north of here who was 599 while he was running 100W
and he gave me 579 with my 5W. He was amazed with my signal. Suddenly
he
My previous email reply was bounced from Rolf (I think). Here is the short
version of my response:
I have the Heil ProSet Plus (normal version, bought last fall, long before I
thought about buying a K2). I also have a Heil GM4 (I think) which has the
same HC4 HC5 microphone elements that
Good question, Andy. I started to investigate this last night actually and
found the keying using the interface from the computer RS232 port to the KIO2
with K2Remote much better than the keying using a keying circuit built into a
DB9 connector and using Log-EQF. I've only used the keying
Okay, so is it really time to upgrade my from my C64? Just kidding. I meant
to mention that the keying issue I noted was during a contest in October and/or
November using my work laptop, which is a P4-1000 to key my big rig. The
test last night was with my desktop which was running a P3-550,
Of course the results could be skewed since it is not a completely
random survey as well. That is, you are tallying results from only
those who responded. Maybe those folk who are left handed felt more
compelled to respond than those who are right handed. Interesting,
nonetheless, as to
I haven't had lots of different tuners to compare myself, but I do have
a Johnson KW Matchbox tuner. It does a great job on Balanced lines. I
didn't really know about the Palastar but just checked it out on the
website. Looked like an interesting tuner. But to me the downside of
it was
You are correct, Stuart. But, while lacking 160m, it did cover 80 to 10m.
Okay, so the bandswitch was discrete in the bands available at the time, but it
I have used it on the other bands we have now and it still worked there, at
least with my 340' double extended Zepp. I didn't measure the
I just installed the new chip for v1.07 from v1.03 on my KAT2. It
defaulted to ATU CALn mode instead of ATU Auto (of course, the
microprocessor doesn't know that I already did this once with the old
chip, right?). Do I have to repeat any of the calibration for the null
or power meter
Hi George,
I suppose you mean specifically an Elecraft transverter. I've used the
Down East Microwave transverters in the past and they worked great.
Were also lots of fun to assemble. Taught me that SMD are not so bad
(the density was quite low). You can find them at
For HF I don't use a hand mic anymore. Instead I use the Heil BM-5 headset.
Solves a few problems. I don't like to use an external speaker for HF mobile
as there is so much road noise and band noise it is difficult to copy weak
signals. The headset is definitely the way to go to improve the
Great point, sorry I forgot the normal lawyer speak disclaimer.
Please note that the headset I mentioned is only a single hearpiece
headset specifically chosen for that reason.
For all future correspondence from myself and others it is suggested
that common sense and failing that adherence
Ed, K3YTR myself will be operating from near the A.T. near PA-309. Both of
us will have capability of operating from our vehicle if the weather precludes
us from operating under the sky. Ed will primarily be on phone and I'll
primarily be on CW near the designated QRP frequencies. We will
Thanks to all who worked me as N3EPA in the EPA QRP Club's TACtical
Sprint today. Conditions weren't the best but I still managed to make
41 QSOs on CW, mostly on 40m, but a few on 20m. I worked a few people
on both bands.
I was using my new K2 (well, it is still fairly new), S/N 4786, and
Or maybe it is instead better to use them on phone as well to broaden the
knowledge of ham radio operators whether they know code or are no-code. If
they are no-code and someday decide to get interested in code it will seem
like an easier transition for them. After all, learning the code
Pretty good explaination. I'll only add that the formula of 468/f already has
a correction factor involved as the real formula is 492/f (for lenth in feet
of a half wavelenth with frequency given in MHz). So, using 492/f and the
proper velocity factor depending on type of dielectric you
Martin: Gruess Gott!
Since I'll be using my K2 for this weekends Field Day for the SSB station I
figured I better start trying it out a bit more on SSB. So last night I
cranked it up on 40m and had several nice QSOs. Other than normal band
conditions that changed I got good audio reports
I've worked at locations that the folk who do soldering nearly their entire
shift have a fume hood to take care of that problem. Of course for 8 hours/day
5 days a week every week, that seems like a good thing to do, and may be
required by OSHA for all I know. I'm currently working at a small
And if that is doable, all inbetween as well plus 903 MHz, so:
903 MHz, 2.3, 3.4 5.76 GHz.
Maybe after all of those are done, then a 47 GHz XVTR!
DC to Daylight (and beyond)
Mark, NK8Q
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu Jun 23 12:26:12 CDT 2005
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft]
I didn't notice any performance related issues (radiowise, operator is another
story) during Field Day due to heat, but I did at one point touch the top cover
of the K2 and felt that it was quite hot with direct exposure to sunlight as
well. My solution was to actually turn on the tabletop fan
That is correct. As we read the rules, only the radio equipment needed to use
the emergency power which in our case was battery. We did run a generator to
operate one A/C unit in a black trailer and only because the long run of cable
from up at the house had too much voltage drop causing the
There is a specific formula to determine if you are in the near field or far
field and the distance is based on the wavelength to give you a specific
distance from the source antenna. It has to do with a changing phase front (in
the near field) or a constant phase front (in the far field).
Thanks for the clarification, John. So I think the analyzer would best
help you determine the impedance match which may be affected by those
various affects and proximities that you refer to. It won't tell you
what your radiation pattern will be. Certainly coupling to nearby
metalic objects
Move the shack to the great outdoors to operate from a nice portable quiet
location. Our local township park (only bad part of mine is the HV power
distribution wires running right through it, about 300 feet from our favorite
tall tree -- aka antenna support, and a picnic table) is fairly
Possibly the best clue you gave was the ferrites that you added to the wall
wart for the Linksys wireless G router, and the 30 kHz spacing on the spurs.
This sounds to me like the wall wart may be a switching supply. Maybe if you
got a linear regulated supply for the router to replace the
I use the Heil Proset Plus with the HC4/HC5 elements as well as the smaller BM5
(I think that is the model number, has HC5 and one earpiece, I use mostly for
HF Mobile). I changed R14 on the SSB Board from 1k to 10k and that helped it
work much better, increasing the gain. I used it for the
Unfortunately, I forgot to post my results to QRP ARCI for the concurrent
running of the mW Field Day. Checked the ARRL results, though, and the QCWA-17
team who used one K2 and 1AB category placed 5th in the country and 12th in all
of EPA against all categories. We only had 4 operators and
I wonder, could a computer just run the thing while you are out
raking leaves.
How about getting the computer to go out and rake the leaves (or mow the lawn)
so I can spend more time operating the radio with less distractions? I'd be
happy to just go out occasionally to fill up the gas
Hi Chris,
I did this last year as I had a terrible head cold so wanted to try to save my
voice energy a bit. I use a Heil ProSet Plus headset and the interface I
used was one of the West Mountain Radio RigBlaster interfaces. The interface
goes between the rig, headset and computer.
On
I just got the KX1 for Christmas from my XYL and found that L9 was supposed to
be a micro sized 100 uH device. The one I have is a mini size, not micro. The
board layout was for the micro as well. I contacted Elecraft and they told me
that the micro size is no longer available so that is the
Hi Dennis,
Probably the cleanest power source you can use is a battery of some sort. Be
sure to fuse the power line going to the K2, or anything you have connected to
a battery as a short circuit on a battery can deliver lots of current. I use
automotive booster packs, one has an 18 Ah gel
From: Kevin Rock [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 2007/02/04 Sun PM 10:07:06 CST
To: Elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft CW Net Report for February 4th 5th, 2007
Good Evening,
Twenty was a bit noisy with QSB. Forty was weak with QSB. Take your
pick :) However, some of
Sorry about my previous reply, I don't know what happened there.
Anyway, I checked in with my new KX1, S/N 1644, running 3W from here in PA.
Lots of QRN and QSB so difficult copy. I also listened on 40m but didn't hear
much there. I heard Kevin once but not strong enough that I would have
Looks like I made #36 for QRP Single Op with my K2 and only a couple of hours
of opearating time.
Mark, NK8Q
From: J F [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: 2007/04/30 Mon AM 07:36:24 CDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft in ARRL 160
Curious how many other Elecrafts made the Top Ten
I've only used 60m a couple of times with my K2, seemed to work okay, but I've
never tried the split channel operation you suggest. I've set up several
memory channels for the 60m frequencies, that way I don't have to remember what
they are. I would think it would be simple enough for me to
I did the same but entered Jackite 31' and found that they also have black as
well as orange.
Mark, NK8Q
From: Jerry Karlovich [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Tue May 09 14:57:36 CDT 2006
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Jackite Poles
Several have emailed me outside the list asking
I agree with Rich. Be vigilant about this. I always forward these to the
[EMAIL PROTECTED] and usually to my ISP as well. Sometimes you may notice an
IP address in the email when hovering the mouse over the supposed link and I
check who the IP is assigned to. Many times it comes from some
Rules should be available on the ARRL website since it is an ARRL sponsored
event.
Yup, here it is:
http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/novss.html
Fun event, one of my favorites every year. Unfortunately I've usually got
something else going on the weekend of the CW event, but I put in
Ed,
I occasionally have to incubate some liquid yeast culture for about 24 hours
for making homebrew mead and other types of wine and found that by keeping the
plastic pouch of yeast close to my body keeps it at the ideal temperature
without overheating it with an electric heater or some other
I almost hesitate to ask this since I know most of us here are pretty hard core
CW enthusiasts, but who else will be running the Phone contest this weekend? I
didn't actually get a chance to operate the CW weekend so I'm pretty anxious to
operate the Phone weekend now. I did so QRP last year
Sounds like a great idea. I've noticed that for some contests I don't have a
valid radio club that I can submit my scores for. If the rules allow for a
non-affiliated club and wide geographical area (and whatever other rules may
apply), I would vote for Elecrafters as a plain and simple name.
Thanks for the info on FISTS. So, this prompts another question. Since
14.060 is the QRP frequency and (before I had my K2) while operating
rockbound at 14.060 I heard many folks instead of calling CQ and signing
QRP they were looking for other FISTS. Why do they use 14.060 instead
of their
Hmm, mine does as well. I thought it was normal, or at least it didn't bother
me much. If it isn't normal, I'd be curious what causes it and if it can be
fixed as well.
Mark, NK8Q
K2 4786
From: Linden, Mike (BRC-Hes) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Mon Nov 07 08:12:42 CST 2005
To:
Hi Michael!
I hope to work you while we're both out with the Polar Bears. I'm Polar Bear
#4 with the EPA QRP Club and operating from Pulpit Rock on the Appalachian
Trail, near Hamburg, PA. I'll be HF mobile on the way up and using my K2 once
we are up there. Luckily I left some twine in the
Thanks for the suggestion, Jason! I'll try that tonight.
After using my K2 for the ARRL November Sweepstakes Phone contest this past
weekend I became more aware of issues with noise as well. After reading all of
the other emails about monitor noise and having recently discovered how noisy
I tried a USB to RS232 adapter made by Belkin a couple of months ago. Sorry, I
don't have the model # handy. It seemed to work okay for both rig control
(using the specified cable for the K2) as well as for CW keying (using the
keying adapter I had previously built into a DB9 connector
Geoffrey,
Your comments pretty well mimic mine I made privately to Kevin as well.
However, I found that I had to increase the mic gain on the K2 slightly by
changing R14 on the SSB module to 10K (from 1k originally) and now my K2 works
great with my Heil headset. Did yours work as is without
Hi Dave,
Check out the K2 manual, page 32, right hand column. Sounds like you need to
loosen the set screws on the knob and push it in a bit tighter against the felt
washer and then retighten the set screws. The felt washer acts as a friction
brake and the amount of braking force depends on
Hi Keith,
During the solar minimum the higher frequencies don't open as often or for as
long, that is 10 15m. I find that 20m and 17m are open nearly every day and
are both great bands for making QRP QSOs, and similarly I use mostly 17m while
HF mobile (I estimate that the poor mobile
BTW, last night 160m sounded pretty good. I didn't have time to spend on the
radio but I did work my second European DX with 5W from my K2. I worked G3PQA
(I think that was it, my memory may not be 100% since I'm in a training course
today). Apparently he is a fairly big Top Band station.
Maybe easier is all relative. If you learned on Iambic A then it is easier,
if you learned on Iambic B then it is probably easier. The one that is more
difficult is probably the one that you didn't learn on.
I didn't learn both and am not fully aware of the subtle differences between
the
CQ World Wide 160m Contest was this past weekend from Z on Saturday until
1259Z on Sunday.
There are contests EVERY weekend of some sort or another. Some are very
specific to a particular mode or band or even geographical region. The one
listed above was ONLY on 160m and ONLY CW.
For a while I was using my K2 barefoot with a Rigblaster to run PSK31 on 10m
for the PropNet PSK project. It was last summer when I was doing so and I
noted several openings. I made a couple of local and a few other PSK31 QSOs
with it on other bands prior to getting it hooked up for
Hi Keith,
It is exciting getting ready to do some kit building, isn't it? Most of the
things you mentioned are things I have bought for both work and home from a
company called Techni-Tool. See:
https://webvia.techni-tool.com/VIA/index.jsp
There are tools used for bending leads which may
Hallo Werner,
The frequency band for 40m here in the USA is 7000 to 7300 and my K2 covers
that fine as is. So, no, you shouldn't have any modification necessary on your
K2.
Auf Wiederhoeren!
Mark, NK8Q
K2 #4786
From: Dr. Werner Furlan [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: Thu Mar 02 12:24:53 CST 2006
I've used a couple different non-Elecraft Heil headsets with my K2. I use the
standard Heil Proset Plus which has both the HC4 HC5 elements as well as the
BM-5 (I think that is the model, single earpiece with an HC5 element I think).
The only thing I did to the K2 was modify one resistor,
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