Re: [Elecraft] Make this email list more manageable - a forum instead?

[Michael Babineau]

Drew et al : 

The only solution that I can think of that comes close to meeting the criteria 
you mentioned is perhaps Groups.IO.  Many Ham Radio related Yahoo Groups have 
migrated to Groups.IO (including one that I own) and
it has a number of options including email, email digest as well as web-only 
and it has threading based on topic to make facilitate following a 
conversation.  
One nice feature is the ability to create sub-groups that members of the main 
group may choose to subscribe to, which is great for reducing the load on a 
busy group that may have 
discussions on topics that not all members are interested in. Also it has Wiki 
cababilites as well as storage for photos and files and the usual calendar with 
notification options and polling as well. 
The plus over Yahoo is that their search capabilty actually works properly ! 

Migration from Yahoo to Groups.IO is painless but I suspect that it would take 
a fair bit of work to migrate from a list-server such as this group over to 
Groups.IO and I am not sure you could preserve the 
existing postiing history very easily, which is a downside. 

Cheers

Michaell VE3WMB  

>From: Drew AF2Z >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Make this email list more manageable - a forum instead?
>Date: August 21, 2017 at 3:37:38 PM GMT-4
>To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net 
>Reply-To: pu...@af2z.net 


>Main difference to me is that with mail reader software I can use keyboard 
>exclusively. Web forums require mouse pointing/scrolling/clicking which gets 
>on my nerves very quickly. But for some people the mouse is easier.

>The only solution is a good software solution that combines listserv with 
>forum. This still does not exist. In the meantime there's no point trying to 
>convince people that their particular preference must be wrong.


>73,
>Drew
>AF2Z
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Re: [Elecraft] Experiences using a portable HF loop

[Michael Babineau]

I agree with almost everything that Ron says in the post, except I would 
substitute the 
statement  "The very BEST magnetic loops are incredibly inefficient” with “The 
very BEST magnetic loops are incredibly inefficient on the lower bands”.

Pretty much all of the Magnetic Loops on the market are around 1 meter in 
diameter, which means that circumference of 
the radiator is about 10 feet.  This size of loop if well constructed can have 
efficiencies approaching 90% on 10m and something
in the range of 30 to 40 % on 20m, so they will work reasonably well on these 
higher bands. 
The wheels start to fall off on 30m and especially 40m, where typically you 
would be looking at single digit efficiencies.  
This is really not surprising, if you put a 10 foot vertical on 40m you are 
going to find that it is not very efficient either ! 
If you had a 2 meter diameter loop then efficiencies on 40m and 30m would be 
significantly improved, but you would lose the
ability to resonate it on 10m/12m and likely on 15m and 17m too. 


What a 1 meter diameter Magnetic Loop has going for it is extreme portability 
(at least for those with a foldable radiator), 
quick deployment (typically < 5 minutes for something like the Alex Loop), 
ground independence (no need for radials), some bi-directionality
in the plane of the loop but more significantly a very deep null broadside to 
the loop which can be effective at killing a noise source.
It also typically provides continuous band coverage from 10m through 40m with 
2:1 SWR bandwidths for a well
constructed loop around 100+ Khz on 10m dropping to something around 10 Khz on 
40m, all in a very small package. It is both a reasonable DX antenna
on the higher bands as well as a usable NVIS antenna on 40m. As with any 
antenna they work better if higher, but as a minimum they must be 1 loop radius 
above ground, so 
mounting on a lightweight camera tripod works ok. 

It is possible to make NVIS QSOs on 40m using only a few hundred mW of power, 
often with surprising signal strength, so putting 5 or 10 watts into an 
antenna with  5% efficiency can still yield a usable signal. 


Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. The secret to squeezing out the best performance when building a loop is 
having a solid conductor that is welded/soldered to 
the tuning capacitor (you need to try to avoid mechanicalconnections as they 
add resistance) and using either a split stator or butterfly air variable 
capacitor or a vacuum variable capacitor. Cheap capacitors with wiper contacts 
on the rotor will kill your efficiency. 

The radiation resistance of a Magnetic Loop is low (typically less than a few 
ohms) and it drops as you press it into service on lower frequencies. Even 
small additional
resistances add up and become significant when compared to the radiation 
resistance on the lower bands and this is what causes the Loop efficiency to go 
down the toilet. 


>From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Experiences using a portable HF loop
>Date: April 21, 2017 at 11:00:09 PM GMT-4
>To: "'Phil Hystad'" >, "'Eddy Avila'" 
>>
>Cc: "'Elecraft'" >


>The very BEST magnetic loops are incredibly inefficient, yet like any
>"incredibly inefficient" antenna one can make amazing contacts on them when
conditions are right. 

>The problem is with resistive losses. The day we have room-temperature
>superconductors, we will have efficient small transmitting loops. Until
>then, only a few percent of the power applied is radiated. 

>For now, they are great when simplicity of setup allows operation where
>otherwise nothing could be done. 

>73, Ron AC7AC
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Re: [Elecraft] (OT) - portable radial idea?

[Michael Babineau]

Stan : 

Unless the “radials” are to be elevated a few feet above the ground there is 
really nothing to be gained by trying to cut them for resonance on each band.
If they are laid on the ground they will be detuned and the legnth will be all 
off anyway. 

The rule of thumb that I used is to make the radials at least an 1/8 wave for 
the lowest band, so in this case it would 16 feet long.  

I take a 20 foot length of computer ribbon cable (5 or 6 wire) and unzip it for 
all but the
last 4 feet. Then on the unzipped end I strip and tin each of the wires and 
then attach them all to a banana plug. Having the last few feet of 
cable still zipped makes routing the “radials” away from the rig and off of a 
picnic table much more convenient.  To make  storage and re-deployment
simpler I pull the loose ends of the wires parallel and then I attach an IKEA 
bag clip on the end then I can roll the whole thing up, tie it with a 
velcro tie and put it into a zip-top sandwich bag. . It keeps the wires from 
getting tangled. 

Why 5 radials ??? I have found from experience that 5 or 6 is about the limit 
of my patience for deployment.  I have a few sets so if I am not in a rush
I can use more.  This is easy to do with a Pomona banana jack to BNC adaptor as 
both the red and black terminals will each accept two banana plugs.

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

>From: stan levandowski >
>Subject: [Elecraft] (OT) - portable radial idea?
>Date: March 10, 2017 at 7:14:50 PM GMT-5
>To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 


>I found the plans (June 2010 Elecraft Reflector) to build a 40/30/20 meter 
>"linear loaded" portable antenna for my KX1 (using a crappie rod, 300 ohm 
>twinlead for the radiator, a BL2 balun, and ribbon cable radials cut to 1/4 
>wavelength for >each of the bands (16, 25 and 33 feet).

>My question is how terrible would it be to use a piece of that thin computer 
>ribbon cable cut to the three lengths but NOT separated?  This would make it 
>easier to deploy and roll back up.


>Has anyone ever tried using unseparated ribbon cable counterpoises?  The 
>materials are on order and I'm sort of anxious to know.


>Obviously, this is a compromise antenna and I'm shooting to design a package 
>for maximum installation speed vs. maximum efficiency.


>Thanks, Stan WB2LQF
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Re: [Elecraft] (KX1) A Story for a Winter Day in NY

[Michael Babineau]

One of my fondest KX1 operating memories was working F5VHY on 20m CW while 
operating pedestrian mobile with my KX1. 
I was using a 4 foot loaded telescopic whip and a 13 foot drag wire and 
standing out in the middle of a field at Lobstercon. 


Cheers 

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] Random wire lengths for antennas

[Michael Babineau]

I use an 84 to 86 feet (W3EDP length) of #26 AWG Wire on a plastic camping 
clothesline reel 
and it matches quite easily with the KAT2 (K2 internal tuner) or the Elecraft 
T1.  This will match 
(and work reasonably well) from 80m through 10m as it is not close to a 
multiple of a half wave 
on any of the ham bands so it presents a reasonable impedance that can be 
matched by an autotuner. 

I use 5 X 16 foot radials on the ground as a minimum or Google “W3EDP" if you 
prefer to use an 
elevated “counterpoise”. 

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 



>From: Wayne Burdick >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Random wire lengths for antennas
>Date: January 29, 2017 at 12:01:14 AM GMT-5
>To: "Emory Schley" >
>Cc: Elecraft >


>Generally something in excess of 50' for both wires will provide adequate on 
>80 meters and up.

>Wayne
>N6KR
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[Elecraft] Fwd: What Two Bands would you pick for a K1?

[Michael Babineau]

Whoops .. forgot to send to the group ;-) 

> Begin forwarded message:
> 
> From: Michael Babineau <mbabin...@magma.ca>
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What Two Bands would you pick for a K1?
> Date: January 26, 2017 at 9:14:46 AM GMT-5
> To: k...@earthlink.net
> 
> I agree with Mike.  My choice for a 2 band K1 would be 40m/20m.  Although 30m 
> is a great band, it seems to rely on having a few sunspots .
> Propagation lately on 30m has been very poor, whereas 40m is doing great. In 
> spite of the lack of sunspots 20m meters still has its moments. 
> 
> When I built my 4 band K1, I went with 40m/30m/20m/17m, the rational being 
> that this gave me (more or less) a set of daytime/nightime bands that were 
> Non-WARC and WARC
> so I could choose to participate (or not participate) on a busy contest 
> weekend, depending on my mood. 
> 
> Michael VE3WMB
> 
> P.S. The great thing is that you can always choose to build up a second 2 
> band board with different bands on it. It is a bit of a PITA to change out 
> the band boards, even more so if you 
> have a KAT1 installed, but it can be done in few minutes. 
> 
> 
> >From: Mike Morrow <k...@earthlink.net <mailto:k...@earthlink.net>>
> >Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What Two Bands would you pick for a K1?
> >Date: January 25, 2017 at 3:09:13 PM GMT-5
> >To: Harry Yingst <hlyin...@yahoo.com <mailto:hlyin...@yahoo.com>>, Elecraft 
> >Reflector <elecraft@mailman.qth.net <mailto:elecraft@mailman.qth.net>>
> >Reply-To: Mike Morrow <k...@arrl.net <mailto:k...@arrl.net>>
> 
> 
> 
>> What Two Bands would you pick for a K1?
>> My first thoughts are 40 and 15,
> 
> >There are only six bands that Elecraft supports with KFL1-2 band parts:  
> >80m, 40m, 30m, 20m, 17m, 15m.  Some have customized their own boards for 
> >other bands, notably 160m and 10m.
> 
> >When I built a K1 in 2000, only two-band filter boardz were available.  I 
> >built two filter boards, one for 40m/20m, and one for 30m/15m.  I used those 
> >until the KFL1-4 four-band board for all four of those bands was available.  
> >I converted the >40m/20m KFL1-2 to 80m/17m.
> 
> >Without any doubt or question, if I were limited to one two-band board, 
> >40m/20m would easily be my choice even as we head further into a long 
> >(perhaps very long) period of minimal solar activity.
> 
> >Mike / KK5F

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Re: [Elecraft] K2 Filter question

[Michael Babineau]

It is also worth mentioning that the KAF2 (audio filter and real-time clock) is 
 a good addition for CW reception.

IMHO it does help a lot when copying weak signals and also having the real-time 
clock is useful. 

http://www.elecraft.com/kaf2.htm

Michael VE3WMB (K2 #5995) 


>From: Don Wilhelm >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 Filter question
>Date: January 8, 2017 at 11:45:09 AM GMT-5
>To: Mike Smith VE9AA >, 
>Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 
>Reply-To: donw...@embarqmail.com 


>Mike,

>The K2 has a built-in 5 pole filter on the RF board that you can set to 
>variable widths using the CAL FIL menu - you must have the internal counter 
>probe to change the filter settings.
>There are 4 filter settings for each mode.

>These are not "roofing filters" as used in the K3, but IF crystal filters.  
>The filter type in the base K2 is of a Cohn design and the width can be 
>changed as I stated above.  Its design width is about 500Hz >and gives a nice 
>passband from about 1.5kHz down to about 200Hz.
>It can be widened out to SSB listening levels, but the passband becomes quite 
>ragged at those wider widths.  It is however suitable for SSB listening.  The 
>filter on the KSB2 option board has a nice flat >passband.

>The KSB2 option (for SSB) has a fixed width 7 pole filter.  The early filters 
>were 2.1kHz width, but more recent filters are 2.4kHz.
>Elecraft has a capacitor kit which will allow you to change the filter width.

>The crystals used in the K2 filter were upgraded to better speced crystals at 
>SN 2560.  I would recommend that K2s below that SN be upgraded with the new 
>crystals.  Elecraft sells a kit of matched >crystals at a very reasonable 
>price a set of 7 for the base K2 or a set of 14 for both the base K2 and the 
>KSB2 option.

>73,
>Don W3FPR
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[Elecraft] EFHW (was Small QRP antenna)

[Michael Babineau]

Anyone interested in EFHW antennas should read Steve, AA5TB’s excellent website.

http://www.aa5tb.com/efha.html

Some of the currently available EFHW tuners (QRPGuys& QRPkits SOTA )
use the tapped inductor approach, but I much prefer Steve’s idea of using a 
transformer.
 The advantage is that it helps to isolates the feedline.
I have found that this approach gives more predictable results when deploying 
the antenna
in different situations and with different coax lengths as compared to the 
tapped inductor 
approach where the coax shield becomes the “counterpoise”.  

I actually purchased a QRPkits SOTA Tuner kit, swapped out the toroid core for 
the one
Steve recommends (T-50-2) and wound a transformer as Steve suggests in figure 12
and it works great with the suggested elevated 0.05 wavelength counterpoise. 

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

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Re: [Elecraft] Small QRP antenna question

[Michael Babineau]

If you want to cover 80m through 10m with a single wire try something in the 
range of 84 to 86 feet. 
This length is not a multiple of a half wave on any of the ham bands so it will 
present a reasonable impedance 
that can be be matched with a tuner and not surprisingly this is the W3EDP 
length. 

If you don’t care about 80m then the suggested 26 to 29 foot wire will work 
great (I personally recommend 28 to 29 feet as I have found that 
a 26 foot wire is sometimes a bit harder to match on 40m depending on how it is 
deployed). 

Ground radial length isn’t critical, but i suggest at least 1/8 wave on the 
lowest frequency of operation and more is better.
I normally use 5 radials made out of a 20 foot length of 5 conductor computer 
ribbon cable with all wires shorted together at
one end and connected to a single banana plug. You then unzip the wires from 
the end opposite the banana plug so that you only have
about 4 feet at the banana plug end that is still ‘zipped”.  This makes it 
convenient to route the radial wires off  a picnic table etc. before they
splay out on the ground.  When packing up I just pull all of the wires straight 
together and clip them together at the unzipped end with an IKEA 
bag clip before rolling them up.  I use a 5 conductor cable as that is about my 
patience limit for radial deployment ;-) 

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB (KX1, K1, K2) 

>From: Walter Underwood >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Small QRP antenna question
>Date: December 27, 2016 at 2:12:09 AM GMT-5
>To: Elecraft Reflector Reflector >


>For 80 meters, try a 53 foot wire in the air. For 40 meters and up, try a wire 
>26 to 29 feet long.

>I use a 16 foot wire laying on the ground. That length either isn’t critical, 
>or changes electrical length due to capacitance to RF ground at every site. Or 
>both. Whatever, the ATU seems to deal >with it.

>I assume you have the ATU.

>I have been using camping clothesline reels for the wire, but they don’t wind 
>up very smoothly. I just got some “midi” wire winders from SOTAbeams 
>(http://www.sotabeams.co.uk/midi->winders/ 
> >). The regular winders are longer 
>than my KX3. Haven’t used them yet.

>wunder
>K6WRU
>Walter Underwood
>CM87wj
>http://observer.wunderwood.org/  (my blog)
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Re: [Elecraft] Field Day report

[Michael Babineau]

VA3OVQ had an all-Elecraft 2A-Battery operation with a K2/10 and a couple of 
KX3s (on 20m and the free-be VHF station on 6m). 
We also had one of our members bring along his Winlink/Winmor Setup to send 
some emails (bonus points), which also used a KX3. 

What impressed me was how well the Elecraft Rigs handled the heat without any 
issues.  On Saturday 
it was in the high 90s F and on Sunday well over 100 degrees F. The K2 was 
literally hot to the touch in spite of 
being in the shade, but we had no problems.

Collectively we drank 24 litres (a bit over 6 US gallons) of water and made 
something in the order of 200 QSOs, so I figure that works out to about 
8 QSOs / litre ;-) 

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] [K2/KX3] Tuning a magloop

[Michael Babineau]

Ron makes a very important point here. Using an ATU in place of 
properly resonating a Magnetic Loop is a no-no. 

If the loop, at resonance, doesn’t provide a good match to 50 ohms, then it is 
ok to use the ATU to “fix” the mismatch. Note the use of “fix” in quotations. 
You are really not 
fixing anything, just making the rig see a resistive 50 ohms or something close 
to it
so that it is happy to deliver full power to the loop.  You will incur some 
additional losses in the tuner, but they are likely minor. Just make sure you 
properly resonate the loop before kicking in the ATU. 

One additional  point worth mentioning.  A Magnetic transmitting loop fed via a 
coupling loop works like a transformer.  The 1 to 5 ratio between the size of 
the coupling loop as compared to the main loop provides an impedance 
transformation that should normally give a good match to 50 ohms.  If, at 
resonance, you are consistently seeing an SWR higher than what you would like 
then it is possible to tweak things by either slightly moving the position of 
the smaller coupling loop, or by slightly deforming the coupling loop in the 
vertical plane (i.e. making it rounder or more oval).  It is usually easier to 
just bend the coupling loop. The process is trial and error but usually you can 
find a configuration that will yield a pretty good match on all bands covered 
by the loop.

I had to do this with my MFJ-1786 Hi-Q Loop as the best match I could get at 
resonance
was around 2:1 SWR. With a bit of tweaking it now typically around 1.5 : 1 SWR 
on most
of the bands. 

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S.  Manually resonating a loop by ear is an acquired skill. With practice, 
peaking band
noise will get you very close to resonance without transmitting. Then with a 
second
or two of applied RF, aided by feedback from an SWR meter,  you should be able 
to hit the loop resonance point pretty much dead-on. 


>From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" >
>Date: December 4, 2015 at 4:09:18 PM GMT-5
>To: "'Elecraft Reflector'" >
>Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K2/KX3] Tuning a magloop


>There are two parts to tuning a small transmitting loop antenna: Resonating 
>the loop at the >operating frequency and matching the loop at resonance to the 
>impedance of the feed line.

>The Alexloop tuner sounds like a great idea, provided it does both at the same 
>time.  

>IMX I tune the loop for maximum noise in the receiver. Properly designed small 
>loops have very >high Q, so the peak is very "sharp". 

>If I then transmit and find that the SWR is high, I'm sure the coupling 
>between the loop and the >feed line is not correct. That is, the loop at 
>resonance is not presenting a 50 ohm impedance to >the feed line. 

>So the challenge for optimum power transfer is to adjust the coupling and 
>tuning to get both peak >noise and low SWR at the same time. 

>If you are not worried about feed line losses, I would expect the loop to work 
>just fine using the >ATU at the rig to compensate for the odd impedance 
>presented to it by the feed line, but be sure >to check the loop tuning after 
>the ATU does its job since it will interact with the loop and shift its 
>>resonant frequency somewhat. 

>It's like two people standing up in a rowboat. You both work together or you 
>both get wet. 


>73, Ron AC7AC
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 Question: Is the DSP Board a Worthwhile upgrade?

[Michael Babineau]

Dave : 

Thanks for asking this question.  As a K2 owner with the KAF2 installed, I have 
also often wondered what I am missing out on
by not having the KDSP2 installed instead.  From the responses to your 
question, the consensus seems to be that it is well worth the upgrade 
if you primarily operate SSB but maybe not so much if you are primarily a CW 
operator.  I personally really like the KAF2 for CW. 

On a related note, it occurred to me that the K2 has been in production for 
almost 20 years !  Wow !   I think that this is a testament
to the incredible job that Wayne and Eric did in designing the rig, then 
working at over the years to continuously improve it.  What other Amateur radio
can you think of that is still in production after 17 years ?  It was an 
awesome rig in 1998 and it is still an amazing performer for its price today.

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] Miniature self-supporting HF antennas

[Michael Babineau]

If you you are looking for a portable self-supporting antenna that is multi 
band and functions well, independent of terrain,
it is really hard to beat a portable magnetic loop like the Alex Loop. 

I have used Magnetic Loops for at least the past 10 years (I have an MFJ and an 
Alex Loop  and I have built a few homebrew ones for portable use)
and I can say that the only real compromise when using a well built 1 meter 
diameter loop on 20m through 10m is bandwidth.  Efficiency on the
higher bands is good to excellent (usually ranging from about 30% up to about 
90% on 10m).  The efficiency does  suffer
when pushing a loop this small to cover 30m and 40m but it isn’t so bad as to 
make it impossible to make QSOs at the 5w to 10w 
level, even on SSB. 

The problem with 1/4 wave verticals (including loaded ones) is that they rely 
on radials / earth to complete the other half of the antenna
and unless you want to spend a lot of time deploying radials (which I think  
defeats the whole purpose of this thread) then results are going to
vary a lot depending on the soil conductivity. I think that most Hams would be 
quite surprised at how inefficient a short vertical with
few radials really is, especially over rocky terrain. Using them near salt 
water is whole different story. 

Horizontal antennas require supports, so they are by definition not 
self-supporting. On most of the HF bands reasonable height is required
to achieve any kind of half decent take-off angles for DX.  Over poor soil you 
don’t have the efficiency issues you do with verticals.
Moxon in his excellent book HF Antennas for all Locations”,  suggests that if 
you are on a mountain/hill you can use the terrain to your 
advantage by mounting a low inverted-vee doublet, partway down the hill in the 
direction you want to work. This will significantly lower
the take-off angle and can be quite effective for working DX in this sort of 
environment … but it still requires a support and this only works 
on a hill.

So what does a well constructed 1 meter diameter Magnetic Loop give you  :

PROs 

- continuous coverage from 40m through 10m with a very close match to 50 ohms 
(SWR under 1.5:1 usually at resonance) on all bands
- good efficiency from 20m through 10m and reduced, but usable, efficiency on 
30m and 40m (assuming proper design and construction of the loop)
- both high angle (useful for close-in NVIS contacts on 40m) and low angle 
radiation for DX on higher bands (note that the radiation pattern is a donut 
standing on its end)
- no need for an antenna tuner (in fact it is not recommended; all tuning 
should be done by adjusting the capacitor on the loop)
- at heights in excess of 1 radius (i.e. 1.5 feet from the bottom of the loop) 
very good ground independence, which makes tuning predictable regardless of 
terrain.
- self contained, self supporting (with small tripod), compact and lightweight 
making it quite portable
- directionality. A magnetic loop has bidirectional radiation pattern with 
lobes in the plane of the loop and a fairly deep null broadside
- very quiet antenna on receive and from my experiences even a slight rotation 
of the loop can drastically reduce nearby electrical interference
- 5 minute (or less) setup and takedown time
- fairly low wind resistance (you will realize the importance of this if you 
have ever operated on the top of a mountain ! ) 

CONs 

- mediocre performance on 40m / 30m  (for a 1 meter diameter loop) 
- narrow bandwidth (typically around 10 Khz 2:1 SWR bandwidth when tuned to 
resonance on a given band)  This varies from band to band but 
  you can expect a wider bandwidth on the higher bands and narrower bandwidth 
on the lower bands.  This means that sitting on a frequency and calling CQ
  works great, while SP is a little more work as it requires frequent tweaking 
of the loop capacitor to resonate the antenna as there frequency changes
- requires a means of either measuring SWR or Field Strength to adjust the 
tuning capacitor to resonate the loop for lowest SWR.
- need to consider RF exposure and limit power to 5W to 10W for a manually 
tuned loop. Also the operator should not be closer than about 1 meter from
the loop during TX at these power levels (I personally try to always sit 
broadside to the loop, no closer than arms length)
- possible RF burn hazard.  This is especially true for a home-brew loop with a 
bare radiator (i.e. copper or aluminum) and not as much of an issue for
an antenna like the Alex Loop as the coax jacket provides protection.

Observations

- manual tuning works well with a little practice and often it is possible to 
achieve a 1:1 SWR just tuning by ear and peaking band noise.
- for SP, moving off frequency  a few KHz from the desired station and quick 
re-tweaking is pretty quick, but doesn’t work with a heavily 
  occupied band (think Field Day on 20m) unless you want to be rude and TX over 
someone else (not recommended).
- I can’t stress the importance of proper 

[Elecraft] USPS shipping rates for non USA

[Michael Babineau]

When did the International USPS shipping rates go out the roof ??? 

I just ordered a noise blanker for my K2 (~$USD60 ) and the cheapest shipping 
to Canada via USPS came up as $USD38 ! 

Yikes … that almost doubles the cost !  I don’t remember the rates being this 
bad the last time I ordered an add-on to my K2 .. did something change recently 
with
US Post ? 

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] USPS shipping rates for non USA

[Michael Babineau]

I am very happy to report that Madelyn from Elecraft sales contacted me via 
email and offered an alternate USPS shipping option
(slower and no tracking) that was only $USD15 .. which seems pretty reasonable 
to me. 

I love this company, … they truly understand customer service ! 

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

On Jun 11, 2015, at 1:28 PM, Michael Babineau mbabin...@magma.ca wrote:

 When did the International USPS shipping rates go out the roof ??? 
 
 I just ordered a noise blanker for my K2 (~$USD60 ) and the cheapest shipping 
 to Canada via USPS came up as $USD38 ! 
 
 Yikes … that almost doubles the cost !  I don’t remember the rates being this 
 bad the last time I ordered an add-on to my K2 .. did something change 
 recently with
 US Post ? 
 
 Michael VE3WMB

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Re: [Elecraft] Best earbuds for KX1?

[Michael Babineau]

Jay : 

This topic comes up once in a while … the best I have found are Koss “The Plug” 
Originals.

These are very sensitive, which you need for the KX1, especially on 20m where 
the rigs’ RX sensitivity 
is lower. They also fit quite snugly, blocking out external noise. Whatever you 
buy … you want something that is 
rated at least 100 dB SPL/1mW sensitivity otherwise you will probably find the 
volume a bit too low on the KX1.
These Koss earbuds are rated at 112 dB SPL/1mW. 

I purchased a couple of sets a long time ago and both are still working fine, 
so they are quite well made.

You seem to be able to get them for around $10 / pair on Amazon :

http://www.amazon.com/Koss-Plug-In-Ear-Headphones-Black/dp/B1P4XA

Here is the Koss website entry for them :

http://www.koss.com/en/products/headphones/earbuds/PLUG__Plug_In-Ear_Headphone

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. Bonus … they also come with different sized “cushions” so you can 
customize the fit for your ears.
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Re: [Elecraft] (K3) Alexloop Antenna

[Michael Babineau]

Dave : 

I have an AlexLoop on its way from Brazil via Express Mail.  You can also order 
them from W4RT or GigaParts, both are 
US dealers for Alex Loop.  

I finally decided to order one because I wanted an antenna that is 
ultra-portable, deploys quickly (5 minutes) and travels easily without
taking up too much space in luggage when travelling by air. If you want to see 
one in action go to YouTube and search
on AlexLoop and you will find a number of videos. 

Generally speaking this antenna works extremely well from 20m to 10m and on 30m 
and 40m it is a bit of a compromise. 
Apparently Alex is now working on an add-on that allows for remote tuning of 
the loop. At the moment it is manual tune only. 

BTW I also have a MFJ-1786 (30m to 10m) at home and it works very well and has 
a control box that allows for remote tuning.
You might want to look at the MFJ if you intend to put up the loop as a 
permanent installation as it might be more convenient.
The performance of the MFJ is somewhat better than the AlexLoop as it uses a 
fairly large ( 1 inch) diameter aluminum tube that is 
welded to the butterfly capacitor.  

Cheers 

Michael VE3WMB - ( K1/KX1/K2 ) 
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Re: [Elecraft] Working Split with a K1

[Michael Babineau]

Brian :

That is a very good point .. on the K1 both RIT and XIT both use the same 
offset control.
So once the offset is set .. then toggling between XIT and RIT will allow you 
to 
listen to your TX frequency.  Brilliant. 

Thanks for sharing .. this is very useful … I will try this next time, now that 
I have finally managed to
figure out how to re-enable XIT ;-) 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

From: Brian Hunt huntin...@coastside.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Working Split with a K1
Date: January 18, 2015 at 12:19:54 PM EST
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net elecraft@mailman.qth.net


A while back I found a writeup that Wayne did on using the K1 RIT/XIT. It 
mimics the A/B switching of two VFOs. 

1. With RIT  XIT off, tune in the DX station. 

2. Tap RIT and using the RIT knob, tune to a clear spot in the pileup. 

3. Hold XIT. 

Now you are listening to the DX and transmitting in your clear spot - just 
like a A/B VFO swap. 

Slick!

72,
Brian, K0DTJ
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[Elecraft] Working Split with a K1

[Michael Babineau]

Anyone who owns a K1 and has tried to work DX with it quickly realizes that 
this radio, unlike the K2/K3/KX3, doesn’t have multiple VFOs.
All that you have at your disposal is RIT and XIT.  The most obvious method 
when tuning a DX station working SPLIT is to engage the XIT to
move your Transmit frequency somewhere into the range (usually 1 to 2 Khz up) 
where the DX station is listening. 

Last night I was tuning around on 30m and encountered a TG9 station working 
SPLIT UP 2.  When I went to engage the XIT on my K1 
I realized that at some point I had overridden the front panel XIT with a PFn 
function for spotting. A quick trip through the menus didn’t reveal
how to enable XIT.   What I then did was to note the DX stations TX frequency, 
tuned up about 2KHZ to a clear spot then I enabled RIT and moved
my RX frequency back to listen to the TG9 using the RIT offset.  A couple of 
calls later and  he was in the log … not a bad catch for 5 watts. 

It occurred to me after that there is one big advantage of using RIT in this 
scenario; you can actually hear the frequency you are transmitting on by
temporarily disabling RIT.  Anyone who DXes at QRP power levels knows how 
important that this is as the DX station is not going to hear your measly
5W unless you are totally in the clear.  In this case the RIT button acts like 
an A/B button, allowing you to switch between listening to your 
RX and TX frequencies. Using XIT doesn’t give you this capability.  The one 
obvious negative side-effect of using RIT over XIT in this sort of scenario 
is that the RIT offset is referenced off of your VFO frequency. This means if 
you move the VFO to change your TX frequency you have to
readjust the RIT as well or you will lose the DX station. Presumably if you are 
trying to work DX at 5W, you have picked a station that is reasonably strong
(otherwise your are likely wasting your time) so finding him again shouldn’t be 
a big issue.  

The moral of the story is, as the old saying goes, “There is more than one way 
to skin a cat”. 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 Mikes

[Michael Babineau]

On a note related to this topic … for anyone with the KSB2 module, I highly 
recommend installing the unpcbs.com 
Internal Mic Adaptor kit (www.unpcbs.com).  This little add-on kit  is 
brilliant !  Once installed, rewiring the K2 for a different mic 
(assuming 8 pin foster connector) is simply a matter of removing the side panel 
on the K2 and moving a few headers
on the board … it even allows the selection of proper bias resistors (included 
in the kit).  

The usual disclaimer applies, I have no connection to unpcbs.com, other than 
being a satisfied customer.  

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 
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Re: [Elecraft] A an old-new KX1 build

[Michael Babineau]

Paul : 

I would also add that if you want 80m then I would buy and install the KXB3080 
in place of the KXB30.

This part of the built gets my vote for the most tedious so you probably don't 
want to uninstall a KXB30
and install a KXB3080 later !  It is also worth mentioning that you need to 
heed the frequent warnings
in the manual about component height. Once you see the assembled rig with the 
ATU in place you 
will appreciate how little empty space is left inside the enclosure, so it is 
very important to not 
install parts higher than the specified height. 

Best of luck with the build and enjoy. The KX1 is still my favourite portable 
rig ! 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB (K2, K1, KX1 builder/owner)  

---
From: Don Wilhelm w3...@embarqmail.com
Date: October 25, 2013 1:27:15 PM EDT
To: Paul Harker paul.r.har...@gmail.com, elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A an old-new KX1 build
Reply-To: d...@w3fpr.com


Paul,

There have been no significant changes to the KX1.
You have the KXB30, but if you also want 80 meter coverage, you will have to 
install the KXB3080 instead - they fit in the same space, so there would be no 
possibility to install both.

If you do decide to order the KXB3080, ask for the firmware upgrade.  Other 
than 80 meter support, there is no difference between 1.01 and 1.02.

There are ways to avoid unsoldering components (other than 2 toroids) when 
installing the KXB3080 (nothing to remove if adding the KXB30).  I have 
instructions to do that.  If you want the instructions, just ask me.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/25/2013 12:01 PM, Paul Harker wrote:
 Hello,
 
 I bought an un-built KX1 complete with autotuner, 30meter, and keyer. At
 just over $350, I figure it was a good buy.
 
 It is a bit sad to look at the original invoice, as the purchaser became a
 SK before he had time to assemble the radio.
 
 I have the requisite skills and equipment to build the kt, but I was
 wondering what may have changed since this kit was shipped (May of 2004)
 and today.  Are there any changes or upgrades that might be considered wise
 before I start the assembly process?
 
 I am aware that there is now a 30/80 meter board that is available. Does
 this impact my build with an eye to the future?
 
 I've also written to Elecraft, but trying to cover all bases before I heat
 up the iron.
 
 
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Re: [Elecraft] Fun with CM 500 headset

[Michael Babineau]

Tom : 

I also recently picked up a Yamaha CM500 for use with my Flex-1500.
I still have to build an adaptor cable for the Mic, but I have been using it
just as headphones for now.  I really like the sound, and they are very well
made. 

Overall a very good purchase at $US60.  

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. I am interested in what you find out, as I may also decide to make an 
adaptor cable
to use them with my K2 as well. 
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Re: [Elecraft] anyone using iMic with K3 or KX3 and FLdigi on a PC?

[Michael Babineau]

Julie :

Make sure that FLDIGI is actually using the iMic for both RX and TX and not
the internal soundcard on the computer. 

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. You might try hooking headphones or a small amplified speaker to the 
output jack of the
iMic to verify that you are actually getting TX audio when you are 
transmitting. If that seems to
be fine maybe it is a cabling problem ? 

From: Julie Royster jsdroys...@bellsouth.net
Date: August 29, 2013 1:02:49 PM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] anyone using iMic with K3 or KX3 and FLdigi on a PC?


Continuing my quest for PSK31 on KX3 hooked to a PC laptop, today I tried
using RigCat instead of Hamlib in FLdigi.
I followed the setup documented on this reflector by Dave Esquer.

The progress is that now, if I click the tune button in FLdigi, the RF
display on the KX3 does show some transmission BUT I cannot get any ALC bars
to light up regardless of whether sound card levels are at 50% or 100%, KX3
mic level is at maximum,  or anything else I have tried.  Per a comment in
the blog of K4MTX, I tried reducing KX3 power a little also.

If anyone has additional ideas I will certainly appreciate all suggestions!
Julie KT4JR



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Re: [Elecraft] Will the K2 and KX3 work with the P3?

[Michael Babineau]

Bruce et al : 

Using N4PYs RCP  (or maybe even DDUTIL) it is possible to slave a Flex-1500 off
of a K2, or other radio, to use it as a Pan Adaptor. So for about the price of 
just a 
Pan Adaptor (P3 or LP-Pan) you can actually get a Pan Adaptor (Flex-1500) that 
can also 
be used as a transceiver. I guess that it depends on what you are looking for, 
but if you can live without the 
K2s full break-in on CW, the Flex-1500 just by itself makes a pretty formidable 
little radio.

The point I was trying to make is that given the base price of the K2, how many 
people 
are going to want to almost double the price by adding a P3 as Pan-Adaptor? I 
guess that it depends
on how tricked-out your K2 is. If you already have DSP, KPA100 then maybe it 
makes some sense.
I am not saying it is wrong to do so, it is just that there a lots of other Pan 
Adaptor options, some lower 
cost and others similar cost but offering more flexibility.  It really comes 
down to wants, needs and the users budget. 

Personally I looked at this option myself (I love my K2) and decided that the 
P3 or LP-Pan options
didn't compute dollar-wise for me  and if I really wanted SDR, buying a 
Flex-1500 to go along with my
K2 works out better for me.  (Selling my K2 isn't an option). 

So my comment regarding the original post is, before adding support for the 
K2/P3 to an existing
control program, the author (Tom VA2FSQ) might want to assess whether this is 
something that users are 
really going to want to do frequently enough to justify the time and effort for 
the new software development. 
Given that the WIN4K3 software is targeted specifically at Elecraft products, 
then maybe the answer
is that the K2/P3 combination should be supported anyway, just for WIN4K3 
product completeness. 
It is possible to make a P3 work with a K2. 

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

From: Bruce Beford bruce.bef...@myfairpoint.net
Date: August 28, 2013 7:50:38 PM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Will the K2 and KX3 work with the P3?


Yes, but it would -still- be a Flex-1500, not a K2 with panadapter...
Bruce, N1RX

 To get back to the original question, I am not sure how many people would
 want to add a P3 to a K2 ? For the price of the P3 (or even an LP-Pan) you
 could pick up a new Flex-1500.
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Re: [Elecraft] Will the K2 and KX3 work with the P3?

[Michael Babineau]

Terry et al : 

Clifton Laboratories makes a product called the Z1B 
(http://www.cliftonlaboratories.com/k2_interface.htm)
that will add a IF port to the K2 or Orion, suitable for use with the LP-PAN 
and P3.

To get back to the original question, I am not sure how many people would want 
to add a P3 to a K2 ? 
For the price of the P3 (or even an LP-Pan) you could pick up a new Flex-1500.

Michael VE3WMB 


From: wb4...@knology.net
Date: August 28, 2013 12:38:40 AM EDT
To: Tom tom...@videotron.ca, Elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Will the K2 and KX3 work with the P3?


I'm not sure what you are trying to accomplish here with the KX3, pardon if I 
mis-interpret.

Using a P3 requires that two issues be resolved: 1) control and, 2) RF signal 
input.

P3 control is via the serial RS232 connection, and can be figured out.

However, the P3 wants to a single RF signal at its IF input.  It then goes 
through a typical DDC-based SDR approach, including an FFT, to display the 
spectrum.  The P3 works with the 8.215MHz IF output of the K3 (or many other 
RF-frequency range, IF signals).  The KX3 does NOT have a single  RF/IF output 
at the proper frequency.   Instead, it has an I/Q output pair at audio 
frequencies (0Hz-approx 48kHz or so) from the internal QSD.  You would need 
to upconvert that I/Q pair back to a single RF signal in order to feed it to 
the P3.  That's a lot of work, with much simpler solutions available.

I don't know much about the K2.  Looking at the manual, internally, it has an 
4.9152MHz IF, but I don't think that's available on a connector, or if the 
drive level is buffered and adequate.  If so, you could use a P3 with a K2 I 
suppose.  The IF would need to be tapped BEFORE the crystal filtering. I do 
NOT see an IF output connector, and only one transistor buffer between the 
mixer and the crystal filters.

The KX3 I/Q output is set up to feed into a typical computer sound card 
(stereo, line-in) and a Softrock SDR-type program, which is easier than trying 
to jerry-rig a P3.  You can potentially use a CAT interface with the KX3 to 
query the current frequency, for SDR software display.  I have NOT one this 
directly, so I don't know what SDR software support that.
73, Terry, WB4JFI
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Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft's HexKey

[Michael Babineau]

You can still get the same key, but  with a Bencher logo,  directly from 
Bencher.

Michael VE3WMB 


Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft's HexKey


Is the special edition HexKey still available ?

Regards ,
Greg W6atb

Via iPhone
Cycle Siren, Inc
877 477-4736
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Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft's HexKey

[Michael Babineau]

Yikes !  It is very a nice paddle  (I have the Elecraft model) but I am not 
sure I would pay $325 for it, $220 sounds ok. 
I guess Bencher raised their prices recently .. I am almost afraid to check to 
see what they are selling the Mercury paddle for. 

Michael VE3WMB 


On 2013-07-22, at 1:21 PM, Jim - KE8G wrote:

 That is correct, but the cost is $325, as compared to HRO's price of $220; 
 including free shipping.
 
 73 de Jim - KE8G
 
 
  Michael Babineau mbabin...@magma.ca wrote: 
 You can still get the same key, but  with a Bencher logo,  directly from 
 Bencher.
 
 Michael VE3WMB 
 
 
 Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft's HexKey
 
 
 Is the special edition HexKey still available ?
 
 Regards ,
 Greg W6atb
 
 Via iPhone
 Cycle Siren, Inc
 877 477-4736
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Re: [Elecraft] KXPA100

[Michael Babineau]

I have seen a few comments from people saying that they think that the price 
for the KXPA100 is too high.

If you compare the KXPA100 to Ten Tec's new Model 418 amp (100w - 160m through 
6m) at
$US785, I would say that the factory assembled KXPA100 at $US749.95 is quite 
competitively priced. 

Both look to be very decent amps and should run very clean. 

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 qrp battery drain estimation

[Michael Babineau]

Robert : 

If you are planning to use Lead-Acid technology (SLA or wet-cell )
then, as others have suggested, you should double your calculated capacity, as 
you never want
to drain a Lead-Acid battery by more than 50% ..

so 

10 hr requires 7 Ah
20 hr requires 15 Ah 
etc.

The reality is that you will probably spend somewhat more than 50% of the time 
listening and tuning around
for stations when you are SP so the real split may be more like 30% TX and 70% 
RX, but 50/50 is probably
a good guess. 

One further point .. don't discharge a Lead acid battery below 10.5 v. 
Repeatedly doing this will shorten
its lifespan.  Don's suggestion of setting the low voltage indication on the K2 
to 11v is a good idea.

For picnic-table-portable operations, battery booster packs (intended to 
jump-start cars) work very well
and it is easy to find one with an SLA in the 10Ah to 20Ah range, often on 
sale. You can take the plastic
case apart to install some fusing and even powerpole connectors to customize it 
for your application
(I also removed the jumper cables from mine).  Some of these packs now even 
come with USB ports to allow for impromptu 
powering/charging of i-Devices.  It is often cheaper to buy one of these than 
to purchase just the equivalent capacity SLA
battery .. so you get a nice carrying case with a handle and other goodies for 
free. 

Best of luck ...

Michael VE3WMB 



From: Robert G Strickland rc...@verizon.net
Date: June 14, 2013 6:28:10 PM EDT
To: Elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] K2 qrp battery drain estimation


If I'm operating a K2 at 5w cw, in SP contest mode, I compute the current 
drain under the stated conditions as follows:

conditions:
50% listening, 50% transmitting
CW 50% duty cycle

current:
200ma receive, more or less
1.0a transmit, more or less

current draw per hour:
100ma [30min rcv] + 250ma [30min xmit @ 50% duty cycle] = 350ma per hour

10Hr requires a 3.5Ahr battery
20Hr requires a 7.5Ahr battery
etc...

Is this more or less accurate, or have I missed something? Thanks.

...robert
-- 
Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY
rc...@verizon.net.usa
Syracuse, New York, USA
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Re: [Elecraft] New ham but seasoned CW r/o, between classic K2 and progressive KX3

[Michael Babineau]

Arno :

I am a K2/10 user (and builder) and it is a fantastic CW radio. I have also had 
the opportunity to use a KX3 to make a few QSOs and 
I can report that it is also a fantastic CW radio. In fact the nicest thing 
that I can say about the KX3 is that it sounds like an analog
radio, except that you can narrow the filters down to 50Hz and there is 
absolutely no ringing (typical of SDR).  It doesn't matter
that it has SSB capability or that it is an SDR it is still an excellent CW 
rig.  Unless you really have your heart set on building a 
K2, and your budget allows, I would say go with the KX3. I you don't really 
plan to do any portable operating, then maybe also consider
whether a K3/10 might be a better fit for your needs than the KX3. 

Best of luck in your decision. I am sure that you will be pleased with either a 
K2, KX3 or K3.

Michael VE3WMB (K1, KX1, K2 owner) 
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Re: [Elecraft] [K2] Microphone

[Michael Babineau]

Fabio : 

If you are looking for a hand mic, I highly recommend the Kenwood MC-43.
Lots of people use this microphone with the K2. New ones are usually available
on eBay at reasonable prices.  

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S.  I also recommend installing the Rework Eliminators K2 Internal Mic 
Adaptor (IMA) kit .
It makes it really easy to switch the connections for different microphones.

http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/6918

From: Fabio ik2...@yahoo.it
Date: May 29, 2013 9:23:05 AM EDT
To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] [K2] Microphone
Reply-To: Fabio ik2...@yahoo.it


Hi guys,

I'am a very happy owner of a K2/10 (second hand); any suggestion about an high 
performance microphone ?

Thanks in advance.

Fabio, IK2LTR
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Re: [Elecraft] 4-pound Field Day, anyone?

[Michael Babineau]

Wayne et al  :

The closet thing I have seen battery-wise is a brand of LiFePo4 batteries 
called Anti-Gravity designed as 
replacements for conventional wet-cell motorcycle batteries.  This one is 4.25 
X 1.25 X 3.75 inches @ 6Ah 
and weighs in at  1 pound. 

http://antigravitybatteries.com/ag-401/

Cheers

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. These should be available at a local motorsport shop. 
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[Elecraft] Choosing End Fed Wire lengths for multi-band portable operation

[Michael Babineau]

I have frequently seen postings to this group from people who have just 
acquired or built a new KX1 / K1 / KX3 
and are looking for a portable end fed wire antenna length that can be matched 
on some combination
of bands, using the internal tuner of their Elecraft Rig.  

The simple answer is,  you need to stay away from multiples of a 
half-wavelength on the bands
that you wish to use the antenna on.  

Going through some of my antenna bookmarks in my web browser I found a couple 
of links that 
I will share that should make this a lot easier to figure out a wire length 
that will work 
(i.e. load with a usable SWR) for your particular choice of bands :

http://www.hamuniverse.com/randomwireantennalengths.html

and 

http://udel.edu/~mm/ham/randomWire/

(Note that in the last figure on this second link, it is lengths with white 
space under the corresponding
lettered band combinations that you want to use for an antenna length that will 
work on that combination of bands.)

I hope that this is helpful. 

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. For end fed wires (not halfwaves) I have always had good luck erecting 
them as inverted vees or inverted-Ls 
and using a few ground radials  that are a minimum of 1/8 wavelength long at my 
lowest planned operating frequency.   
(ie. usually 16 ft). There was a study done that shows that unless you are 
deploying more than about 20 radial wires
making them any longer than 1/8 wave on the lowest band doesn't really improve 
antenna efficiency by very much. 

As usual it is a tradeoff between reasonable antenna efficiency and convenience 
(i.e. I think that few portable operators
have the patience to lay down 20+ radials).
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Re: [Elecraft] Operational help for KX1

[Michael Babineau]

Mac :

In addition to Don's comments about ensuring that any external key (paddles or 
straight key) has a stereo plug,
I will add that if you are having some problems with the KXPD1, make sure that 
your finger and thumb are depressing
the KXPD1 paddles near the tips of the leaf springs.  When I haven't used the 
rig in a while I sometimes forget this and I do notice 
a difference in the reliability  of the keying with the KXPD1.  

Oh yeah,  as Don also mentioned the screw holding the KXPD1 needs to be tight 
enough to ensure a good ground connection 
between the KXPD1 paddle and rig. 

Best of luck

Michael VE3WMB (KX1, K1  K2 builder / owner) 
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Re: [Elecraft] [KX3] Portable Antenna question

[Michael Babineau]

Lynn :

If you are looking for an end-fed wire length that is easy to match from 80m 
through 10m 
I would suggest you try something in the 84 to 86 ft range.  This can be small 
gauge wire
(i.e. 22 to 26 AWG) and plastic camping clothesline reels work well to store 
this length. 

The Wire Man sells something called Invisible Toughcoat Slinky ( #534)
that is perfect for this type of antenna.   

http://thewireman.com/antennap.html

You can work this against a few ground radials (I suggest 4+, about 1/8 
wavelength long at your 
lowest operating frequency).  Another option is to use an elevated 16 ft wire 
for the other half
of the antenna (Google W3EDP).

This 84 to 86 ft length is one of the magical lengths that is not close to a 
half wave multiple 
on any of the amateur bands (with perhaps the exception of 10m) so it presents 
a reasonable
impedance to your tuner across the HF spectrum. 

If you don't care about 80 and want to go with something shorter try a 28 ft 
wire. It should 
easily match on 40m through 20m without any issues. 

Best of luck 

Michael VE3WMB 

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[Elecraft] Fwd: Elecraft T1 Tuner

[Michael Babineau]

Whoops .. forgot to copy the list on this reply ... 

Michael VE3WMB 

Begin forwarded message:

 From: Michael Babineau mbabin...@magma.ca
 Date: September 13, 2012 10:12:29 AM EDT
 To: km4ik@gmail.com
 Subject: re: [Elecraft] Elecraft T1 Tuner
 
 Ian :
 
 I have had a T1 for a number of years and I can say that all of the good 
 things said in the eham reviews are 
 actually true.  
 
 This is an exceptional little tuner.  It is at least as capable as any of the 
 LDG autotuners that I have owned 
 (I have 3 of those), extremely miserly when it comes to power and will easily 
 handle 25 watts of power in 
 (I have used it with my Kenwood TS-50).  I guess if I was picking-nits I 
 would have to say that perhaps the 
 case could be a bit more durable (i.e. if you dropped something heavy on it 
 you could crush it) but that 
 being said I don't even think that I have even managed to scratch the case.  
 It is very simple to use and mates
 very well with the Ft-817 using the optional cable. 
 
 As far as portable auto-tuners goes this would be my first choice.
 
 Michael VE3WMB (K1, KX1, K2  T1 owner) 
 
 
 All,
 
 I am to the point of contemplating tuners to go with my FT-817 and 
 (probably) 20m half-wave OCF dipole antenna.  Has anyone used the Elecraft 
 T1 QRP tuner?  Can anyone speak intelligently to the .(de)merits of the 
 device?  It gets really great reviews on eHam, but I tend to be overly 
 cautious of eHam reviews.  I'm interested in the opinions of trusted sources 
 before I plunk down the green for the kit.
 
 Thanks all, and 73,
 
 -- Ian
 Ian Kahn, KM4IK
 Roswell, GA  EM74ua
 km4ik@gmail.com
 K3 #281, P3 #688
 HRD v5.x/6.0 Test Team

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Re: [Elecraft] KX-1 power output varies

[Michael Babineau]

It is also worth noting that the power output of the KX1 is quite sensitive to 
DC voltage in. If you can give it 12v the power output should be closer to 
3 to 4 watts.  It is much more sensitive to this than my K1.

Michael VE3WMB 

From: Barry N1EU barry.n...@gmail.com
Date: August 24, 2012 8:01:37 AM EDT
To: elecraft Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] KX-1 power output varies


I've been using a KX-1 with KXAT1 ATU and random wire on 20M.  At various
times I notice anywhere from about 1.9 to 3 watts power output.  In all
cases, the ATU has indicated a low SWR after tuning.  I'm wondering why the
power output varies so much.  Is this due to varying losses in the tuner as
the match varies at different locations?

Thanks  73,
Barry N1EU
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 SSB question.

[Michael Babineau]

I agree with Jim, KL7CC.  I recently completed the KSB2 module for my K2 (S/N 
5995) and I also 
use a Kenwood MC-43 hand mic. I  even received unsolicited positive comments on 
my TX 
audio quality in a recent SSB contest that I participated in.  I believe that 
there may have been
some issues with SSB audio in the earlier days of the K2 but those have been 
long resolved. 

I also have a K1 and I can say without hesitation that the K1 is a great little 
radio but the K2 receiver is 
truly amazing in comparison. In spite of the fact that the K2 design is almost 
15 years old, its RX performance
still ranks up there with radios costing nearly 10 times as much. If you can 
build a K1 you can build a K2, it just 
requires some patience.  As KL7CC said the nice thing is that you can build a 
basic K2 and add on options over
time.  

Michael VE3WMB 

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Re: [Elecraft] random wire and the KX3 ATU

[Michael Babineau]

In fact what you can do is just make the first 17 feet of the antenna 
(including counterpoise) out of ladder line or even twin lead so that
it is a zepp fed W3EDP. This is what I use as my low-band antenna at home and 
my backup antenna at the cottage. Through a 4:1 
balun I am able to get a good match on 160m through 10m with the internal tuner 
in my K2 and my LDG auto-tuner. 
It works .. I even made a few 160m QSOs with it running 5W on CW during field 
day.  I find that it is easiest to erect as an inverted-L.

Michael VE3WMB 



From: Don Wilhelm w3...@embarqmail.com
Date: June 27, 2012 8:07:22 PM EDT
To: Gary Marklund gary.kj...@gmail.com
Cc: Scott Graham n0n...@gmail.com, elecraft@mailman.qth.net 
elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] random wire and the KX3 ATU
Reply-To: d...@w3fpr.com


Gary and all,

That length is close to the W3EDP antenna length - as I recall, it is 86 feet 
for the radiator and 17 feet for the counterpoise wire. 80 through 10 meters 
is good, and the KX3 tuner will match it easily.

73,
Don W3FPR
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[Elecraft] KX1 KXPD1 (was Re: CW Key suggestions ?)

[Michael Babineau]

Phil :

Where the KXPD1 is really useful is if you ever decide to operate portabl 
somewhere without a  table (i.e. sitting in a lawn chair etc).
The nice thing about the KX1 / KXPD1 combo is that you can easily use it on a 
clipboard in your lap with the rig / paddles on top. 

 I have a clipboard that is big enough to hold legal-sized paper and it makes a 
great lap-desk for portable operating, sitting
on the ground or in a camp chair . If I put a few sheets of  paper on it then I 
can just jot my notes down beside the rig and copy
 them to a proper log later.  Likewise I have used the same combo while 
operating from my car, with either a mobile antenna 
or a portable antenna adjacent to the car.  You could still use a separate 
paddle with the clipboard but it is very 
convenient to have the all-in-one package as it has a very small footprint. 

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] CW Key suggestions ?

[Michael Babineau]

Ron AC7AC wrote : 

My *only* complaint about the KX1 paddles is the same complaint I have about
every Elecraft rig - there's no keyer mode that lets me make my own dashes.
I would greatly enjoy a keyer mode that spits out dits automatically with
one paddle and then allows me to make dashes with the other paddle manually.
Right now, if I want to go portable with any of the rigs I must either haul
a straight key with me (bugs don't travel well) or live with the keyer. 

Ron : 

It sounds like what you need is a Palm Paddle and the integrated Code Cube 
Keyer.
The Code Cube is a custom version of the Jackson Harbour PK4 keyer and it does 
have
a Bug mode. The combination of the two would give you a very compact eBug 
that
should solve your problem. 

http://www.mtechnologies.com/palm/cc.htm

The code cube manual is here :

http://www.mtechnologies.com/palm/cc-83p_e.pdf

If you check out Menu #4 you'll see that there is a Bug Mode. 
I have one and I have tried Bug mode and it works fine. 

Michael VE3WMB 


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Re: [Elecraft] CW Key suggestions ?

[Michael Babineau]

Bill :

It sounds like the KXPD3 could be used as a cootie key (aka Sideswiper) if 
both left and right paddles are active in HAND mode.
Cool ! 

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. In HAND mode on the KX1/K1  I think that only one side of the paddle is 
active. 

On 2012-06-26, at 10:21 AM, Bill Gerth wrote:

 Ron,
 
 I don't know about the K3, but my KX3 has a HAND mode which allows the 
 KXPD3 paddles to function as a straight key.  Either paddle works as a 
 straight key.  I use it when folks want my SKCC number for a straight key QSO.
 
 73,
 
 W4RK - Bill Gerth
 Jefferson City, MO
 billge...@embarqmail.com
 
 

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Re: [Elecraft] Field Day 2012 with K2-7006

[Michael Babineau]

aj4tf aj...@arrl.net wrote : 
Date: June 24, 2012 4:32:54 PM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day 2012 with K2-7006

If you have W4UA in your field day log on either 15m or 75/80m, then you
heard K2/100 #7006 on the air.  It stayed powered for about 23 hours
straight.  Unfortunately *I* could not stay powered up for 23 hours
straight,  so I had to relinquish command to another operator last night.   

15m was really open to California and Texas from our location (NC), we made
many contacts there.

73,

de AJ4TF


I operated Field Day as Class 1E from my cottage in QC using K2/10 #5995 
running 5W.

It was a pretty casual operation for me, mostly CW, but it was also the first 
contest that I have
participated in since recently building / installing the KAT2 and KSB2.   I 
decided that 
in spite of the fact I was only running 5W, I should also try to make at least 
a few SSB QSOs
to get a feel for how the SSB option was working.  I was very pleased to get an 
unsolicited
comment on how good my SSB audio was (I am using a Kenwood MC-43S hand mic).
I am certain that the station on the other end had no idea I was QRP. 

I was also very pleased with the operation of the KAT2 tuner. I normally use an 
external LDG autotuner.
Having the internal tuner was very slick and made band changing and switching 
between
my two antennas (a 204 ft doublet  an inverted-L W3EDP) very painless. 

The K2 was an absolute joy to use for Field Day, which I guess is not too 
surprising, as it was designed by 
Eric and Wayne to be the Ultimate Field Day rig. 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 




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[Elecraft] [K2] K2 and Heil Pro Micro Headset ?

[Michael Babineau]

Is anyone out there in Elecraft-land using the Heil Pro Micro Headset (with 
either single sided or doubled sided headphone) on their K2 ? 
This is the model similar to the Traveller but with an HC-6 mic element. 

I finally got around to finishing my KSB2 and I am thinking that having a 
single sided headset that would work on my K2 or TS-50
(the K2 is wired for a Kenwood Mic) might be an nice added touch.  I am looking 
for opinions/feedback from anyone using this headset on the K2.

Thanks in advance.

Cheers 

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. In addition to the KSB2  I also installed a Rework Eliminators Internal 
Mic Adaptor kit for the K2 and it is very slick.  It makes it very easy to 
reconfigure the
K2 mic Jack for a different microphone and only requires removal of the left 
side panel on the K2 (i.e. you don't need to pull out your audio filter and  
control board).
The usual disclaimer: No connections to Rework Eliminators except being a 
satisfied customer.  Link  is:   www.unpcbs.com 
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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 LiNiCo 12v 3.6 Ah Battery Pack

[Michael Babineau]

Phil et al :

I have a couple of these Blue Li-ion batteries (a 4300 mAh and the 9800 mAh 
as listed) and 
they work ok, although it is my gut feeling is that the capacity is somewhat 
overstated. 

The supplied charger is dumb (I think it is just a cheap switching supply)  
so it appears that the overcharge protection 
circuitry in the battery is relied on to prevent overcharging. Some folks on 
the NA SOTA list have
claimed that these batteries don't seem to last very long.  I have been using 
mine for about a year with no issues. 
For the cost, I have been pleased with the ones that I have purchased.  

The power plug is compatible with Elecraft rigs and the Li-ion chemistry stands 
up better in the cold than the 
AA NiMh batteries I was using previously to power my K1 and KX1for portable 
outings.

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB

From: Phil  Debbie Salas dpsa...@tx.rr.com
Date: May 9, 2012 11:52:06 AM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 LiNiCo 12v 3.6 Ah Battery Pack


This looks like an interesting battery pack.

www.ebay.com/itm/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemitem=170794794136ssPageName=ADME:B:WNAFP:US:1123

Phil - AD5X 
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Re: [Elecraft] Portable Antennas (Is there and easy button?)

[Michael Babineau]

On the topic of solder-less banana plugs for antenna wires ... I really like 
these plugs from Radio Shack : 

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102839

The picture doesn't do it justice. The plastic insulator part unscrews 
revealing a small screw-on metal sleeve underneath. You push the bare wire end
up through the end of the plug and out through a small hole in the side of the 
plug and then wrap the bit of wire protruding from the hole around the outside 
of the plug.
The little sleeve screws on over the exposed wire to make a secure mechanical 
and electrical connection.  

I have found that sometimes the little screw-on sleeve will loosen over time so 
I sometimes put a dab of clear fingernail polish to keep it in place.  
Also if you find your banana plugs are fitting loosely, then inserting the 
blade of a small penknife a short distance
into one slot and then the other at 90 degrees will tighten them up. The 
penknife blade seems to work best as I have on occasion broken a plug when 
trying to do this
with a small screwdriver (the penknife seems to have about the right taper to 
not damage the plug).  

Along with the previously mentioned Pomona BNC to Banana Jack adaptor, you can 
easily connect wire antennas directly to the Elecraft Rigs 
with internal tuners when operating portable (no feedline required). 

Michael VE3WMB 


This simple antenna has worked very well with my 3-band KX1 (40-30-20).  The 
original idea came from WA3WSJ.  The antenna consists of a 40-ft radiator that 
is tossed up into a tree to form anything from an inverted-L, to a sloper, to 
a vertical.  There are three 16-ft counterpoise wires that are laid out on the 
ground.  The antenna and counterpoise are connected directly to the KX1 using 
a BNC-to-banana-jack adaptor.  I have about 50-ft of fishing line attached to 
the end of the radiator and put a fishing weight on the end of that.  I either 
use a slingshot or my arm to toss the weight over a branch and then haul up 
the antenna into place.  The radiator and counterpoise are both made from 
steel bead wire.  It is a very strong but thin nylon coated stranded steel 
wire that is used by craft people to make jewelry.  A 100-ft spool only cost 
about $7 at a local fabric and craft store.  Of course the nylon coating must 
be removed to make the connections, and since it's steel 
 and can't be soldered a banana plug that clamps onto the wire must be used.  
The radiator, fishing line, and counterpoise all wind back up on the spool that 
the wire originally came on. This antenna is simple, strong, and light weight, 
and has given me good results from the field with contacts all over the country 
and some DX as well.  I'm sure that steel wire has all kinds of technical 
problems with velocity factors and stuff like that, but it works.  Making it 
with some small gauge Teflon coated copper wire should certainly work as well 
or better than the bead wire.
73,
Paul - N8XMS
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Re: [Elecraft] Portable Antennas (Is there an easy button?)

[Michael Babineau]

Bernie : 

One of the most simple and effective portable antennas is the 44 Doublet, 
sometimes referred to as the Norcal Doublet  :

http://www.norcalqrp.org/norcaldoublet.htm

This should give you coverage from 40m through 10m with the internal ATUs in 
the Elecraft rigs. 

I don't like to rely on mother nature for antenna supports so I normally use a 
20 foot panfish pole
to support the antenna as an inverted vee. Other options would be the bigger 
DK9SQ mast, the similar
model that MFJ sells or the JackKite models (all close to 30 feet when fully 
extended). 

Get yourself a Pomona 1296 BNC to Male Binding post adaptor and put Radio Shack 
solderless Banana Plugs on the 
ends of the wire feedline, this will allow for quick connect and disconnect of 
the antenna. 

I use fishing snap swivels at the center and ends of the antenna and stake the 
ends of the doublet with some small
aluminum tent pegs attached to some lengths of brightly colored nylon cord so 
the ends of the antenna are 
visible and present less of a hazard to anyone who might happen by. 

The 88 foot version of this antenna will give you coverage down to 80m. 

Its cheap, very portable, easy to deploy and effective. 

Michael VE3WMB (K1, KX1, K2 builder/owner)

P.S. Here is a trick to reduce the strain on the tip of the poles when 
supporting a doublet 
(here is a case where a picture is worth 1000 words ) :

http://www.qsl.net/v/ve3wmb//VE3WMB/Blog/Entries/2010/9/28_Field_Doublet_centre_support.html

Dear Folks: 

I have a K2/10 (#6922) and a K1 (#1024).  I have used the latter in the field, 
and hope to use both portable.  I have a Buddi-Pole setup, but am annoyed at 
how long it takes to set up.  I am wondering if you folks have a suggestion 
for a really easy portable antenna setup.  Anyone? 

As a corollary to that question, I hear people say they just toss a wire up 
in a tree.  Both of my Elecraft rigs have the ATU's installed, and so, could 
I just use a wire?  I am contemplating getting some fine gauge wire (#24?) 
and soldering a 40 foot length to the positive pole of a BNC connector and a 
similar length to the shield.  What do you guys think? 

73 de Bernie, KF0QS 
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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 ATU

[Michael Babineau]

Niel / Robert :

For what it is worth,  86 feet (i.e 26.5 m) is the ideal length of end-fed wire 
for matching via an auto tuner to cover the HF bands.
It is a magic length that isn't  close to a multiple of a half wave on any of 
the HF bands (with perhaps the exception of 10m)
so it presents a reasonable impedance that can be matched by most ATUs across 
the HF spectrum.  As Eric mentioned,
you want to stay away from lengths that are close to a half wave multiple on 
the bands that you want to operate as the wire will
present a very high impedance that is difficult to match with any ATU. 

Not surprisingly, this length is not far off of the length of wire used for the 
W3EDP antenna (84 feet).

Michael VE3WMB

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Re: [Elecraft] [K1] KAT1 with EFHW?

[Michael Babineau]

Curt wrote : 
I am planning a trip to bush in Ontario this spring, contemplating bringing 
my K1 which has a KAT1.  Last year used a different transmitter, a simple EFHW 
tuner, 34' wire on 20M ( and surprisingly on 30M ) with good success.  With 
little experience using the KAT1, from the manual it seems it isn't capable 
of dealing with high impedance of an EFHW.  Has anyone used the KAT1 with this 
type antenna with good results?  Does anyone know the maximum impedance the 
KAT1 can deal with? 

The KAT1 will not handle the high impedance of an EFHW antenna.  If you want to 
use an EFHW with the K1 have a peek at the SOTA Tuner that 
Hendricks QRP sells .. I think that the kit is only something like $35. 

You can however use an endfed wire that is not a 1/2 wavelength.  The 
recommended 24 to 28 ft length worked against a few 16 ft radials will 
work quite well on 40m through 15m. I have also had pretty good luck with an 
end-fed 51 ft wire for 40m/30m/20 although that is a bit too long on 30m
and results in at best about a 2:1 swr on 30m unless you coil up a few feet.  
If you have the space, an 86ft end-fed will will match pretty much anywhere
from 80m through 10m with the KAT1 as it is a magical length that isn't close 
to a 1/2 wave (or multiple) on any of the HF ham bands. 


Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] K1: Band options

[Michael Babineau]

Stephen :

You can either have a KFL-4 OR a KFL-2 in the K1, not both at the same time.

Swapping the boards involves opening the case, and removing the ATU (if present)
before you can get at the band board. This process requires the removal and 
reinstallation
of a few screws so it is probably not the sort of thing that you want to do on 
the fly, in the field. 

Michael VE3WMB 

From: Stephen Prior eastbrantw...@gmail.com
Date: September 19, 2011 11:15:17 AM EDT
To: Elecraft Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] K1: Band options


Although I haven't received it yet, I have just picked up a very well spec'd
K1 on ebay.  It has the both the KFL1-4 (40/30/20/17 and 15m crystal) and
the KFL1-2 which is for 40/20.  I know that the two boards can co-exist to
produce a six band transceiver - or at least that's how I read it, but
clearly in my case there would be no benefit since 40/20 are already there
on the four band board.  I am wondering what would be involved in modifying
the two band board for 80/15 - that seems to be an option at build time.

Any advice gratefully received!

73 Stephen G4SJP
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Re: [Elecraft] K3 - Macbook Pro

[Michael Babineau]

Mike :

I use the SignalLink USB and it works well on my Macbook  (no drivers to 
install) as well as under WIN XP running on
the same machine under Parallels Desktop.  I primarily run FlDigi for soundcard 
modes on Mac OS, WIN XP and Linux. 
The SignalLink USB  uses an internal VOX circuit to key the rig so no USB to 
serial adaptor is needed for keying.

If you need a serial port on your Mac for rig control,  I have had nothing but 
success with the following Startech USB to Serial Adaptor :

http://www.startech.com/Cards-Adapters/Serial-Cards-Adapters/USB-to-RS232-DB9-Serial-Adapter-Cable-Male-to-Male-Serial-Adapter-USB-to-Serial~ICUSB232

Generally any USB adaptor that uses the Prolific chipsets seems to work very 
well on Mac OS or Linux. 

Best of luck 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

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Re: [Elecraft] Looking for miniature 14-V power supply for travel use

[Michael Babineau]

Wayne :

I have also had good luck with the CUPS supply that Randy mentioned from Morse 
Express / Milestone Technologies
with both my K1 / K2 and i have never had any issues with noise. 

BTW It is only supplied with a 2 prong plug. 

Michael VE3WMB 

From: Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com
Date: July 4, 2011 6:09:02 PM EDT
To: Randy Moore wrmoor...@gmail.com
Cc: Elecraft Reflector elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Looking for miniature 14-V power supply for travel use


Thanks, Randy. This is even smaller than the MFJ-4103.

The web site indicates a noise problem without proper grounding. Have you 
found this to be an issue? They mention supplying a 2-pin standard power 
connector, which is *not* what you want if you're trying to get a good common 
ground back to the AC jack. Is that a typo -- i.e., do they actually supply a 
3-pin AC plug?

Thanks,
Wayne
N6KR

On Jul 4, 2011, at 3:00 PM, Randy Moore wrote:

 Wayne, I've had good luck with this:
 
 http://www.mtechnologies.com/cup/

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Re: [Elecraft] Backpacking a K1

[Michael Babineau]

John :

I have both the K1 and KX1 and they are both great radios and very miserly when 
it comes to
power consumption.  I find that most often when I am on outings where I am 
walking or cycling
to my operating location .. I go with the KX1.  I have tried many different 
small rigs
but it really hard to beat the KX1 package with the internal tuner and KXPD1 
paddle;  for size,
weight and features. 

I keep my KX1, earbud headphones,  KXPD1 and pomona (Banana to BNC) adaptor  
all in a small Pelican 1120 
case that is totally bombproof. I never worry about the rig whether it is in 
the bottom of a pack, kayak or a 
bicycle pannier. 

Michael VE3WMB ( K1, KX1, K2 builder / user ) 
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Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft] KX-1 Ideal Antenna

[Michael Babineau]

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 leg is 51 ft 8 in, but I 
doubt the length is critical. One leg goes as high in the air as I can get it 
with available supports. Sloper or inverted L or whatever. Other leg lies on 
the ground. Direction doesn't seem to matter. ATU loads it just fine on all 
three bands and has given me many nice QSOs including some trans-continental 
and transatlantic.

73
Ray K2HYD
KX-1 #608

I have also had pretty good luck with an end-fed 51 foot wire erected as an 
inverted-vee.  I have worked this again 5 radials each 16 feet long
and it will match and work fine on 40m / 30m /20m with my KX1 internal tuner. I 
don't have 80m in my KX1 so I can't comment on that band. 

I also use  a homebrew G5RV JR (51 feet) feed with 14 ft of TV twinlead 
attached to about 30 feet of RG-6 (with ten turns
of the coax wound on a 6 form to create a choke balun).   I also sometimes use 
a clip-lead dipole for 40m/30m/20m or a 44 ft  doublet (aka 
Norcal doublet) and have had great luck with all of these.  

It would be a  challenge to find an antenna that will also match on 80m as the 
KX1 internal tuner is really not well suited for matching on 80m
due to its limited range of switched inductance. 

If a 51 foot end-fed wire doesn't give a good match on 80m then one could add 
some additional inductance via a home-brew coil
inserted in series to help the tuner out.  It also might worth trying  a W3EDP 
or alternately an 86 foot end-fed wire worked against
some ground radials.  This is a good length for multi-band operation as it is 
not  a multiple of a half-wave on any amateur
HF band. 

Michael VE3WMB 



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Re: [Elecraft] Tips for new KX1

[Michael Babineau]

John :

As Don, W3FPR says, be sure to follow the instructions carefully and most 
importantly pay attention to the warnings regarding component height
as it very important.  If you install a component with too much lead length 
(i.e. sticking up too high above the main board) it may impact the installation
of the KXB3080 or the ATU.  I found that a small 6  plastic ruler was very 
helpful during the build to measure component height.

The physical packaging of the KX1 is a marvel .. I am sure that they must have 
used 3D CAD software to figure this all
out as there are a lot of components on multiple boards packed into a pretty 
tight space in three dimensions. 

Just take your time, double check you have the right component and location 
before soldering and you will do fine. 

Best of luck and have fun with the build. 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB (KX1, K1  K2 builder) 

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Re: [Elecraft] [K1] VFO Drift Problem

[Michael Babineau]

Very interesting problem Matt.  The VFO in my K1 is stable once it has warmed 
up for about 5 minutes,
as long as the rig isn't out in the sun.  I have observed some significant 
drifting due to physical warming
while operating portable so I now know to keep it shaded.

Sometimes I wish for a K1.5 with a DDS VFO as my KX1 is rock solid from -25C to 
+30C (and yes I have operated portable in those condtions ;-) ) .

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. Once you have figured this out please let us know what the solution was. 
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 + ATU + Loop antenna in the attic

[Michael Babineau]

Wayne : 

You got some good advice so far. 
I am in agreement that an outside antenna will perform better than one in the 
attic but
you can always start with an attic antenna and add an outdoor antenna later.
An attic antenna makes a great backup antenna as it will not succumb to severe 
weather
(i.e icing, wind etc).

As some have suggested, instead of a loop you could put up a doublet (ie 
dipole). 
The advantage will be that it may be easier to match on a lower bands.  If you 
run
the wire diagonally across the attic and then bend the ends in to form a Z 
shape 
you can probably get more wire up and that will help. 

Best of luck

Michael VE3WMB 

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Re: [Elecraft] New K1 Owner -- Which ATU?

[Michael Babineau]

Joe : 

I have both a 4-band K1 with the internal KAT1 and also an Elecraft T1 external 
tuner (which I use with some
of my other portable rigs). 

I can honestly say that the KAT1 and the T1 have very similar matching 
abilities (I think that Wayne once said that the
T1 was a little more capable).  I have yet to find an antenna that the KAT1 
won't match that the T1 will,  at least on
40m/30m/20m/17m which are the 4 bands in my K1. 

It is hard to beat the convenience of having the tuner in the rig. No extra 
cables or power needed. It really simplifies
things.  I do recommend getting a BNC to banana jack adaptor like the ones made 
by Pomona as this is an easy way of 
connecting lightweight wires and twin-lead to the BNC on the rig. 

If you do decide that you want to go with an external tuner to use with other 
rigs for portable then I also highly 
recommend the T1 .. excellent performance in a small package with its own 
internal 9V battery.  

If your K1 is going to be your primary portable rig then I suggest going with 
the KAT1. 

Cheers,

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB  (a happy K1, KX1 and K2 owner ;-) ) 


From: af6ni astro_cr...@hotmail.com
Date: April 4, 2011 8:08:23 PM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] New K1 Owner -- Which ATU?


I just purchased a used (#2917) K1 at the TRW Ham swap meet last weekend.
It's a 2 bander - 40  20 and works well now that I aligned it.
I am thinking of either the internal K1 auto tuner or perhaps the external
one. I would like to hear the plusses and minuses of the internal board vs.
the external unit. I am leaning toward the external unit presently since I
could use that with other QRP rigs.

Thanks in advance.
Joe
AF6NI
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Re: [Elecraft] K3 carrying case options?

[Michael Babineau]

Chris : 

Softcases will prevent scratches and provide a bit of moisture protection but 
most will provide
very little protection from drops, hard bumps and serious water. 

If you really want to protect your rig I suggest you consider buying a Pelican 
Case. 
The pick-n-pluck foam allows you to custom fit the case to your rig. 

I have my K1 in Pelican 1200 Case and I dropped it onto the driveway last 
summer while 
carrying it and an armload of other stuff to the car.  Absolutely no damage to 
the rig ! 
I opened up the rig and did a visual check for anything loose or broken and all 
was well.
I have since used the rig a number of times and nothing was even put out of 
alignment. 

I have Pelican cases for most of the other rigs that I take up to the cottage 
or out to operate
portable (sometimes by bicycle) and I never worry about getting the radios wet 
or damaged,
whether they are in a bike panier or  in the trunk of the car.

My guess is that you would probably need a Pelican 1500 (16.75   X 11.18 X 
6.12  inside dimensions) to comfortably
hold the K3.  This can be had for not much more than $US100 if you shop around. 
A small price to pay to know that your rig is safe no matter what. 

Michael VE3WMB - KX1 / K1 / K2 owner 

P.S. My suggestion is also don't worry about trying to cram all of the 
accessories in the case with the rig.
Most accessories such as cables etc are pretty hard to damage and cheap to 
replace ... you want to
focus on protecting the big-ticket item which is the rig so don't compromise 
the protection of the rig by
pulling any more foam from the case than you need to. Having an extra inch of 
foam around the 
rig, inside the case, can make the difference between a dead rig and a working 
rig in the event of 
a serious drop or bump. 



From: Christopher Blake cqden...@gmail.com
Date: March 28, 2011 7:48:28 PM EDT
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 carrying case options?


Hello all,
I am a fairly new K3 owner; three months now and I am hooked!
I'd like to take my K3 on several contest expeditions and so I am looking
for a carrying case (prefer a soft case).  Any guidance appreciated.

vy 73,
Chris, NX4N
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Re: [Elecraft] T1 Remote Tuning and Power Supply

[Michael Babineau]

George :

Don't under-estimate the T1. 

I have used it with a 44 foot doublet fed with twisted pair made from #26 AWG 
Teflon coated, silver plated wire and it tunes nicely from 40m through 10m. 
The 88 ft version should tune just fine on 80m with some tweaking.  As with 
pretty much any antenna the impedance will vary somewhat as a function
of height. In my experience if you are going to have tuning issues with an 88ft 
or 44ft doublet, it will most likely be on the lowest band, where it is a bit 
short of 
a half wavelength.  Usually this can be rectified by shortening the parallel 
feedline by a few inches to present a more reasonable impedance to the tuner so 
be sure 
to leave some extra feedline length as you will likely need to do some pruning 
once the antenna is installed. 

Best of luck 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

From: GeorgeP pasek...@umn.edu
Date: March 10, 2011 10:33:47 AM EST
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] T1 Remote Tuning and Power Supply


Hi Bill

Quite a while back you sent me this request (I didn't forget).  I'm done with 
the schematic of the T1 remote tuning interface that I hope to find time to 
build.  If you are still interested, I can shoot you over a copy of it.  The 
Tiny CAD program I use to draw schematics only allows me to export them in 
.emf format, but using Windows Viewer (double click on the .emf file) will 
allow it to be viewed and printed.

Anyhow, I was going to use the T1 to tune a 88' dipole fed with twin lead to 
be used as a multi-band antenna, but upon further research on this antenna I 
don't think the T1 has enough to be able to tune it.  I am still going to 
build the interface because sooner or later I will probably be moving into a 
restricted area and need to use some sort of stealthy antenna.

73's
de George
WD0AKZ
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Re: [Elecraft] [Elecraft K1 Battery Solution]

[Michael Babineau]

Brett : 

One very simple solution is to use a 10 X AA Holder and fill it with 
AA NiMH cells.  You can get decent quality NIMH cells at capacities
around 3 Ah which will go a long way with the K1.  Often you can
buy multipacks of AA NiMH along with a quick charger at a very low
price these days. 

I did a quick google search and this is the first source that I found ...

http://www.batteryprice.com/10xaabatteryholder.aspx

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

P.S. I often use 8 X AA NiMH R/C packs to power my KX1 / K1. 
The K1 will chug along very nicely at 3W with 10V in. 


From: Brett Howard br...@livecomputers.com
Date: January 10, 2011 12:04:57 AM EST
To: elecraft elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] K1 Battery Solution


I'm looking for a good low weight small volume battery solution for using
with the K1.   I'd like to keep it outside the radio. I'll simply plug it
into the back of the radio to power it.  I'll probably put the same plug as
is in the radio onto a charger or just make some APP pigtails...

I'd like to be able to run the radio at full power so being able to get to
13+ volts would be great. I'd like charging to be fairly simple and safe.
I'd like the battery as well as the radio to fit into one of Rose's K2
cases... Another thing is that I would like a solution that will have decent
longevity if it's somewhat expensive. But if its a fairly inexpensive cell
then I'd put up with replacement every so often.   I'd like to be able to at
least get 4 hours at full power using normal contest operating
assumptions. I'll probably only use it casually so that should allow for
more like 7 to 8 total hours hopefully.

What solutions might you all recommend?  If you can provide links on where
the items might be purchased that would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks gentlemen

~Brett (N7MG)

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Re: [Elecraft] K2 Power Line Noise

[Michael Babineau]

Larry :

I installed the KAF2 in my K2 about 1 month ago and have played with it a lot.  
What I have found it does allow me to do in many cases is to turn off the K2 
preamp 
and still being able to copy weaker signals. 

In general the AF1 and AF2 settings on the KAF2, in addition to the active 
audio filtering, 
add back a little bit of extra gain to compensate for the losses induced by the 
IF filter in the narrower positions.  

There is also a low pass audio filter that is always in the audio chain (at 
least in CW mode) to reduce
high frequency hiss  but its' effects are most noticeable on a fairly quiet 
band.

I can't compare with the KDSP2, but I am happy with the performance KAF2 
considering its' price.

It sounds like maybe you need the noise reduction capabilities of the KDSP2.

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

--- On Mon, 1/10/11, Larry Kendall k5...@att.net wrote:

 From: Larry Kendall k5...@att.net
 Subject: [Elecraft] K2  Power Line Noise
 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
 Date: Monday, January 10, 2011, 1:42 PM
 I'd like to get some opinions on the
 K2 audio filter options.
 
 In last year's mobile QSOPs running with the K2, the power
 line and similar noise were show stoppers in some areas. 
 
 I've already ordered the K2 noise blanker and am also
 considering one of the 2 audio filter choices. As this K2
 will be used for mobile contesting, I can't see me fiddling
 with complex menus in real time during a mobile run. So, I'm
 not sure what the best choice is for me.
 
 So far I've used the K2 for CW only and CW is my primary
 need for noise abatement.
 
 Can someone who has had CW experience with the K2 AF
 option(s) and NB for wideband/pulse noise interference
 provide an opinion?
 
 I'm also curious just how much more effective the KDSP2 is
 than the KAF2 for reducing interference.
 
 Thanks,
 Larry
 K5END
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Re: [Elecraft] KX1 K1 Operating in Wet Environment

[Michael Babineau]

eric norris gliderboy1...@yahoo.com wrote : 
  I am wondering what the experiences of the group are in operating from a wet 
 environment--say, in a kayak, or just QRP portable when it is drizzling and 
 you 
 can't be in a shelter or tent? 

Eric .. I have had some success using an extra-large resealable plastic freezer 
bag around my KX1. 
You can snip off a small bit of the plastic at each back corner to route 
feedline, headphone
and power cables. The rig just sits in the bag and you insert your hand in to 
access the controls.
I have done this a few times while operating Pedestrian Mobile when it was 
snowing.  It is certainly
not waterproof but it does help to keep moisture from getting into the rig. 

The big difficulty is manipulating the tuning knob.  I am not a big fan of 
tuning via buttons but this is 
one situation where KD1JV's interface on the ATS -series and the Hendricks 
PFR-3 actually comes in 
handy as these rigs can almost be sealed up in a freezer bag and operated 
through the bag. 

I have a lot of portable rigs (including a K1, a Sierra and an ATS-3A) but I 
always seem to take the KX1 
on portable outings because it is hard to beat the combination of features 
(including the built-in paddle and tuner)
for the size and weight. 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

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Re: [Elecraft] [K2] #7040 is alive!

[Michael Babineau]

John :

Congratulations on K2 S/N 7040 coming to life !  

I finished my K2 (#5995) about a week and a half ago and operated Single 
Operator, Single Band (20m) QRP 
with it in the CQ WW contest this past weekend, from my cottage in VE2. 

I managed to make 235 QSOs, working 61 countries and 20 Zones using 5 watts 
with wire antennas ! 

CQ WW on 20m at QRP power levels was certainly trial by fire for this rig but 
its performance  exceeded my expectations. 
I was amazed at both how sensitive and selective the receiver is. 

For the price and the size/weight nothing can touch the K2.  

Best of luck with your K2 John and I wish you many happy hours of DX !

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 
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[Elecraft] K2 5995 Lives

[Michael Babineau]

I just made the first QSO with my newly completed K2 (serial #5995 - great 
number ! ) on 40m with VE9WJ.

I used the Rework Eliminators UN-PCB kit to build an option-ready K2. 
 Many thanks to Mychael (aka the Toroid-Guy) AA3WF for the excellent job on 
the pre-wound toroids. 

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 

P.S. Looking forward to exercising the new K2 in CQ WW CW in a couple of weeks. 

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Re: [Elecraft] Use of PC power supplies with K2

[Michael Babineau]

Ken : 

I am still in the process of building my K2 but I have used the CUP36 13.5V / 
2.4 A Switching supply
sold by Morse Express on both my K1 and KX1 and it works very well with no 
generated noise.
Very convenient when operating from hotel rooms etc. 

http://www.mtechnologies.com/cup/

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 
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Re: [Elecraft] KX1 - 6Watts on 3040

[Michael Babineau]

Jim :

I made the documented power mod to my KX1 as I was getting too little power 
out, but then I 
had a similar experience to yours when running off of a power supply or a fully 
charged SLA battery so 
I built a poor mans voltage regulator that I can put in series with my power 
cable when powering
the rig from an external source. All I did was to put a couple of diodes in 
series, with a third that
I can switch in and out and this provides a bit of a voltage drop.  This way I 
can still get a reasonable
output with the internal batteries without frying the PA when I power the rig 
from 13.8V.

Michael VE3WMB 
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Re: [Elecraft] Antenna for a KX1

[Michael Babineau]

Arnie :

I have found that a 28 ft sorta-vertical wire to be a bit less picky w.r.t. 
positioning than the 24 foot wire.
It will match equally well on 20m and 30m but is somewhat easier to match on 
40m than a 24 footer.
The 24 foot wire will match fine with the KXAT1 on all three bands as long is 
it is quite vertical.

BTW what you want is the POMONA BNC to binding  post / banana adaptor. 
Note that the POMONA adaptor allows two banana plugs to be connected to each 
terminal.
The RED terminal goes to the center conductor on the BNC and the Black the BNC 
shield
on the rig.

I also highly recommend the Radio Shack solderless Banana plugs. The wire is
secured by a screw-on metal shell ... and my recommendation is that once you
install it put a dab of LOCTITE or clear nail polish or it will eventually come
unscrewed and you will lose the shell part in the grass ! It put these on the 
ends of 
all of my portable wire antennas. 

For a ground plane I use a 20 foot length of 5 conductor computer ribbon cable
with all 5 wires connected to a R/S solderless banana plug. About 4 feet from
the plug I put a piece of electrical tape then I go to the opposite end of the
ribbon cable and unzip all of the wires up to the point of the tape. This
provides a clean way routing the ground plane wires away from the rig  
and then the wires splay out on the ground. I find that this
is pretty quick to deploy and works pretty well from most locations that I
operate. If I feel I need more radials I have a second set of 5, identical to 
the first
so I can deploy 10 which is about the limit of my patience in deploying radials.
;-)


I did a lot of experimentation trying to come up with a shortened wire antenna 
that could be supported by a 20 ft
Crappie pole such as the Black Widow or Shakespeare Wonderpole that would work 
on 40m through 20m
with the internal tuner in the KX1 .  What I finally settled on and have been 
using for portable operation with my 
KX1 for some time is a 20 ft linear-loaded wire made from R/S indoor twinlead.

Details as follows : 

Vertical radiator is a 20 foot piece of twinlead with the top shorted (ie both
wires connected together at the top end and soldered). I just tape the twinlead
to the fiberglass pole. 

The two bottom wires on the twin lead each have their own R/S solderless
banana plug installed. 

On 20m and 30m both bottom wires on the twinlead are connected to the center
conductor of BNC on the rig via the RED terminal on the POMONA adaptor,
making the antenna just a fat 20 foot wire.

On 40m only one of the two bottom wires on the twin-lead is connected to the
center conductor of the BNC on the rig  via the RED terminal on the POMONA 
adaptor
(the other wire is left floating) this effectively creates a 40 foot vertical 
wire folded back on itself 
at the 20 foot mark.

On 40m the folded wire creates a linear loading effect due to the capacitive
coupling between the two wires (note that currents are not equal and opposite so
there is no cancellation of signal as you might initially think). This added 
capacitance
allows the wire to be resonated on 40m by the internal tuner in  the K1, KX1 or 
also
by the Elecraft T1. 

In both cases my ground radial system is connected to the BNC shield via the 
BLACK  terminal on the POMONA adapter.

Note that 20 feet is not that far off of the normal 33 feet required for a 1/4 
wave
so the performance is not bad on 40m. 

This is a very simple antenna that works well on 40m through 20m. 
I have made hundreds of QSOs on 40m/30m and 20m operating portable with 
this setup. 

Best of luck with your new KX1.

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. I also discovered that a 14 foot piece of twinlead in the linear-loaded 
configuration
will load fine on 40m when supported on a 13 Ft fiberglass pole and I use this 
with a 29 foot
trailing wire for pedestrian mobile operation with my KX1. 
Note that when the twinlead wires are shorted at the bottom to make a fat 14 
foot wire this 
will load fine on both 30m and 20m. Actually the minimum length of wire that 
will match
on these two bands is about 12 feet. 

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Re: [Elecraft] [KX1] Auto-tuners for KX1

[Michael Babineau]

For what it is worth ... I have found that the KXAT1 to be more than adequate 
for tuning my KX1 portable antennas
on 40m/30m/20m. I don't have 80m in my KX1 so I can't comment on that band.  
Keep in mind that this 
tuner (and the T1) are not designed to tune an end-fed half wave .. but an 
intelligent choice of end-fed
wire length will give you something that will match and perform well enough to 
make lots of QSOs.
I often use the recommended 24 to 28 foot near-vertical wire worked against 
about 5 ground radials,
each  about 16 feet long and have had very good results with this setup.

For me, the convenience of having the KXAT1 internal to the rig offsets any 
possible limitations of the tuning 
range.  If you are looking for a tuner just for the KX1 then I suggest going 
with the KXAT1, if you want an 
autotuner to use with other rigs as well as the KX1 then the T1 is a very good 
choice (I have both). 

I operate portable and pedestrian mobile year round and in spite of having a 
lot of radios to choose from,
my KX1 seems to get the most use  because it works well, it is self-contained 
and the TFR design is 
very usable whether sitting or walking.  I have also grown to appreciate the 
choice of LED vs LCD display in the
rig as I have used it many times at temperatures well below -20 degrees C 
without any issues whatsoever. 

Michael VE3WMB 
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[Elecraft] KX1 : Cold Weather Performance

[Michael Babineau]

I built my KX1 along with the KXAT1 internal tuner and KXB30 30m module back in 
2003. 
I have used it a lot for portable operation, especially during the winter 
months.

I am a member of the QRP Polar Bears Group 
(http://www.n3epa.org/Pages/PolarBear.htm) ,
and we  do a monthly QRP Field Day-like outing during the winter months. 
I never go out of my way to try to keep the rig itself warm, only my external 
8X AA battery pack
and I have never had any issues with the rig in cold weather. 

This past Saturday I operated for about 2.5 hours with the air temperature at 
about 
3 degrees F and the rig, including the internal tuner, worked perfectly. 

It occurred to me that having an LED display rather than an LCD display was a 
really good 
idea, especially for operating in these sorts of conditions and I am sure that 
Wayne must
have had this in mind when he made this choice. Also the DDS VFO is rock solid 
regardless
of temperature.  Another big plus is the top-mounted controls, which IMHO are 
pretty easy to
use even with fairly thick mitts on. 

Overall I think that this rig is unsurpassed for this sort of portable 
operating. 

I use a Pelican 1120 Case to store the rig, my KDPD1 paddle. a Pomona BNC to 
banana jack adaptor,
my earbud headphones and a small laminated cheat sheet and I never have to 
worry about the rig
getting wet or damaged while in transit in my pack.

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB 
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[Elecraft] Internal AAA batteries for KX1

[Michael Babineau]

I just thought that I would mention that 4  X  2 AAA battery holders will fit 
into the space 
on the bottom of the KX1 normally occupied by 2 X 3 AA holders. The fit is a 
little 
tight but it is ok.  The advantage is a bit higher power out than with 6 AAs 
while
running on internal batteries. Since the cost of AAA Lithium cells is crazy 
I am using 1000 mAh AAA NiMH cells and this gives me enough power for 
an afternoon outing without having to carry an external battery pack.

Rather than cannibalize my existing KX1 case bottom I kept it as is so that
I can still opt to go with AA cells. I ordered a spare case bottom and power
connector from Elecraft and picked up the AAA holders locally. 

If anyone is really interested in this drop me a note and I can provide more
details. 

Michael VE3WMB 

P.S. On my last outing I was able to operate for 2+ hours before I noticed any 
drop 
in output power (I was getting 4+ watts  out) and that was while operating 
portable
in 5 degree C weather. 
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Re: [Elecraft] Looking for a good battery/charging system for K1

[Michael Babineau]

John :

Here is a few battery suggestions for your portable K1 station.

If you want 5W you will need a 12V+ pack. If you are willing to settle  
for about 3w out the K1 will hum along
nicely at 9 to 10V. It is quite a miserly rig so you can easily manage  
a day outing with battery capacity
in the range of 2 to 3 Ah.

I use a couple of different packs depending on the circumstances.

My suggestions :

1) a small sealed lead acid (aka GEL-Cell) battery in the range of 2  
to 3 Ah
- Walmart also sells a good little charger for SLAs for about $25
   called the EverStart Battery Companion (1.5Amp trickle charger).
   It is actually a 3-stage smart charger perfect for SLAs that are =  
2Ah.

2) 9v (actually closer to about 10.5V when fully charged) R/C NiMH  
battery packs
The Radio Control  packs you should be able to get at Radio Shack  
along with the proper charger.
Radio Shack usually sells a combo pack with a charger (part 23-432)  
for about $20.
These packs are  in the 1500 to 1700 mAh range.
If you go this route I suggest you buy a 2nd pack so you have a  
backup. Another good idea is
to cut the leads on the pack and solder appropriately rated pico-fuses  
on both leads (these
look like resistors) then put heat-shrink tubing over them and tape  
the leads against the body
of the pack with electrical tape (the pic-fuses are a bit fragile so  
you don't want break them).
(Hint, these packs also fit inside a FT-817 and make a good cheap  
internal battery for that rig.)

3) Go with rechargeable AA cells. You can buy 8 and 10 cell holders  
depending on what voltage you
want (note that NiMHs are nominally about 1.2V when fully charged).  
You can find lots of these at  WalMart, Radio
Shack etc, along with 4 cell quick chargers. I would go with a  
reputable name (ie Duracell etc) rather than the
no-name ones and try to buy cells that  are in the 2000 mAh range.
Note that the K1 will tolerate up to about 15V in so you can use a 10  
cell holder if you are using NiMH
rechargables. In practice I have found that a 10 cell holder with  
NiMHs will give 13+ V when fully charged which
is perfect.


For safety reasons, (both yours and the rig) I strongly recommend that  
you fuse whatever battery solution
you decide on and don't forget that you need to be careful with NiMH  
packs as these batteries
can generate a very very high current for a short period of time if  
shorted out. Needless to say this
can result in burns or even an explosion.

Best of luck

Michael VE3WMB / VA2NB

P.S. Another related idea. I standardized my QRP power connections on  
a 2 pin Molex connector (polarized).
Most of my battery packs have a short pigtail with the female version  
of this Molex and I have a slightly longer
length of wire that is fused and has the male Molex on one end and the  
appropriate coaxial power connector that fits into the K1.
This allows me some flexibility in how I power my K1. For instance I  
have a cigarette lighter plug that has the
female Molex so I can use this adaptor to plug my K1 into the  
cigarette lighter jack in my car if I want to operate
  from the car.  For some of my otherQRP rigs like the ATS3 that have  
a different power connector I just made up a fused power cord
that has the male Molex on it so I can use any of the battery options  
that I already have for the K1.
I found that this modular approach works very well. 
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[Elecraft] Re: My K1 glows in the dark

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :


 (I also put a funky tilt peg on my K1, but that's another
story, with sordid details of cutting a hole through the middle of the
RF board and patching it up later.)


Is this like the little Peg-leg on the Wilderness Sierra ?

I like the KTS1 Wide Range tilt stand but find that it is sometimes
a pain to have to assemble it in the great outdoors. I am afraid
one of these days that I am going to drop one of the screws into
the grass and lose it.

A simple but  less flexible option like a little peg-leg to prop up the 
front

of the rig (like on the Sierra) would be a great addition.

Michael VE3WMB

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Re: [Elecraft] Finally made first contact with K1

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Joseph Trombino Jr [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

Uh oh Stephanie.now you are getting hooked on two of the most 
addictive

facets of amateur radioCW and QRP.

snip

Before you know it you will be building more QRP kitsanother fatal
addiction that afflicts a lot of hams.

Joe is right !  Now that you have built and used your K1 it is only a 
matter of
time before you can't resist the urge to buy a K2 and next it will be 
the KX1 ...

soon you'll be lying awake at night pondering what additional options
you can put into your Elecraft rigs and craving the smell of fresh 
roasted

solder flux ;-)  !

Congratulations Stephanie and keep it up. The first few CW QSOs after a 
sabbatical
away from radio can be a bit scary but you'll find that your code speed 
will pick

up quickly.

Cheers,

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. I would also suggest a support group for your inevitable 
addiction. Drop a note to the great guys at VE3QDR

(Durham Region QRP Club), try [EMAIL PROTECTED]

P.P.S BTW Joe, it was great to work you in the November Polar Bear 
Moonlight Madness Event. Your RH40

sounds great !

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[Elecraft] Homebrew Legstrap Mount for Palm Paddle doubles as KX1 Mount

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

I fashioned a hombrew legstrap mount for my Palm Mini Paddle, made from 
a stainless
steel Cross Country Ski wax scraper and a couple of nylon straps 
intended to secure a

Rock Climbers chalk bag.  Details are documented on my website at :

http://www.qsl.net/ve3wmb/palmlegstrap.html

I also discovered that it makes a dandy leg mount for the KX1. Why 
mount the key,
when you can mount the whole rig ? This is great for those portable or 
stationary

mobile operations where you don't have a flat surface to sit the rig on.

 And, for those of us out on the fringe, how about a wearable KX1?
The same mount can be used to secure the KX1 to your forearm
(assuming a thick coat) to allow for almost handsfree KX1 winter 
pedestrian mobile

operation.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. Please be patient, QSL.net is a bit slow. I have tried to make the 
images a reasonable

size so as not too slow things down too much.

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RE: [Elecraft] T1 Antenna Considerations

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Steve Aa8af wrote :


In the article Taming the End-Fed Antenna (The Antenna File, RGSB, 
pg

118) he looked at this issue by plotting various 1/2 wave lengths and
proposed the following end-fed wire lengths:
- 26.5m (86.9 ft) for 160 - 10M use
- 15m (49.2 ft) for 80, 40, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10M use
- 10m (32.8 ft) for 80, 40, 30, 17, 15, 12, 10M use



Anyone serious about using end-fed wires needs to read this article,  
IMHO !

I have this permanently book-marked in my copy of The Antenna File and
I have probably re-read it 20 times.

BTW I thought that I would add that this publication is available in 
the US

from the ARRL.

Personally I really enjoy RSGB antenna publications. Folks in the UK 
and Europe
have had to contend with small gardens for quite some time and have 
come up
with some very interesting and innovative antenna solutions to fit in 
to small spaces.


Michael VE3WMB

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Fwd: re; [Elecraft] New Elecraft product: 80/30 meter module for the KX1 transciever

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Whoops, originally sent from the wrong account so this won't make it
on the Elecraft list the first time.

Michael

Begin forwarded message:


From: Michael Babineau [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: December 30, 2005 2:01:33 PM EST
To: wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: re;[Elecraft] New Elecraft product: 80/30 meter module for 
the 	KX1	transciever


wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :


We're pleased to announce that the KX1 is now a 4-band radio!


This is great news. I can hardly wait !


One question I'm sure to get is
whether the KXAT1 ATU is usable on 80 meters. The answer? Yes, but the
KXAT1 wasn't designed to cover this band, so it will only help with
specific end-fed wire antenna lengths to be determined.


I would suggest that someone investigate how well a 26.5 meter (ie 
approx 87 ft)

long wire matches with the KXAT1.

This is one of the magic lengths suggested as a good compromise for 
matching

on most of the amateur bands, by Alan Chester, G3CCB (SK) in his RADCOM
article titled Taming the End-Fed Wire. This may be your best bet 
for a wire
that will easily match on 80m/40m/30m/ and 20m with a tuner, as it 
avoids multiples

of half wavelengths (high impedance) on these bands.

 I have used this length in the field with my 4 band K1 and KAT1 with 
good results.
Unfortunately I don't think I ever tried it with my KX1 (I'll have to 
check my notes)
as a shorter 28 foot wire matches well on 40m through 20m and seems to 
be fairly efficient.


 I use the #24 AWG Teflon coated wire that N2GO sells and I have found 
that an 87 foot
 length  will spool up nicely on to one of those plastic YO-YO sized 
camping

clothesline reels that Walmart sells, with some room to spare.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. Note that this 26.5 m length is very close to the 84 foot length 
suggested for a W3EDP,
which was arrived at experimentally by starting with 100 feet of wire 
and repeatedly

chopping 4 feet off until the best results were obtained.


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Re: re; [Elecraft] New Elecraft product: 80/30 meter module for the KX1 transciever

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

On 30-Dec-05, at 2:01 PM, Michael Babineau wrote:


wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :


One question I'm sure to get is
whether the KXAT1 ATU is usable on 80 meters. The answer? Yes, but the
KXAT1 wasn't designed to cover this band, so it will only help with
specific end-fed wire antenna lengths to be determined.


I would suggest that someone investigate how well a 26.5 meter (ie 
approx 87 ft)

long wire matches with the KXAT1.

This is one of the magic lengths suggested as a good compromise for 
matching

on most of the amateur bands, by Alan Chester, G3CCB (SK) in his RADCOM
article titled Taming the End-Fed Wire. This may be your best bet 
for a wire
that will easily match on 80m/40m/30m/ and 20m with a tuner, as it 
avoids multiples

of half wavelengths (high impedance) on these bands.


I went back through my notes and it looks like I actually did try an 
end-fed 87 foot wire with

the KXAT1 (sometimes it pays to write things down) .

87 foot inverted L supported by two 20 foot fishing poles and using 
five 16 foot radials on the ground


KXAT1

20m  1:1 SWR
30m  1.2:1  SWR
40m  3.9: 1 SWR *

BTW, using the same wire but in an inverted U configuration with the 
same two fishing poles and radial system

I had the following results with the K1 :

KAT1

17m   1.0:1 SWR
20m   1.0:1 SWR
30M   1.1:1 SWR
40m   1.7:1 SWR


* It looks like lengthening the wire to perhaps 28 meters (about 92 
feet ) would improve the match on 40M, as 26.5m is almost
a no-go length for 40m. This however might negatively impact the match 
on 30m. Eighty meters and 20m should  be ok with
a slightly longer wire. One option would be to use a 26.5m wire but 
have an extra 5 foot clip on section to help

with the match on 40m, some experimentation would be required.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. If you don't care about the match on 30m it looks like a 15m wire 
(about 49 feet) should be a good length
 to try for 80m / 40m and 20m. In theory, this should be a very easy 
length to match on 80m as you would only need
about 10 to 14 micro-Henries of series inductance to achieve a match in 
the 25 to 50 ohm range.


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[Elecraft] CW Keys

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

What could possibly make a key worth 1250 bucks?


Well, a couple of years ago I saw a Vibroplex Upright Bug (aka Wire 
Chief's Key)

go for $10,000 US on eBay.

There not many around today because few were sold between 1917 and 1919
(the production dates) and many folks who did purchase one apparently  
threw

them in the garbage because they were apparently such a horrible key.

Michael VE3WMB

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re: [Elecraft] Clever antenna tuning ideas wanted

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

 Vic K2VCO [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :


I would like to use it on 80m and 30m as well.  My first try was to
simply use the KAT100 to tune it.  It tunes fine on both bands (1:1 at
the rig), but results are fair-to-poor on 30 and poor-to-worthless on 
80.


Can you clarify are the radials elevated above ground or are they on or
below the ground ? It sounds like they are tuned so my guess is 
elevated?




On 30m, the coax losses are reasonable (the SWR on the coax is about 8
to 1, but it's very short).  I suspect the problem is that the radial
ground system is very poor on this band (on the other hand, the long
vertical radiator should provide a slight amount of gain).  So I may 
try

paralleling a set of radials tuned for 30m.  They will also be short,
but resonated with a coil or stub.  Does this sound like a good
analysis/solution?


I suspect that this would help. You could also just try a single 
elevated
tuned radial for 30m  to make it into an L antenna with some 
directionality

in the direction of the radial.



On 80m, it's more complicated.  The ground system is terrible, the
radiation resistance of the vertical very low, and the SWR and losses 
on

the coax very high.  No wonder it's a dummy load!  I guess the way to
deal with it is to add more tuned radials in parallel and a switchable
base network, but I would like to avoid any more control wires that 
have

to go through my lightning suppression panel (I can't pass DC through
the coax, either).  Does anyone have any suggestions?



Well,  one trick to put this sort of antenna on 80 is to make it into 
an inverted
L by running a horizontal (or nearly horizontal) wire off the top of 
the antenna.
Since it doesn't sound like it is practical to switch the wire maybe 
you could

add an 80M trap and enough wire to get it close to resonance on 80m.

I'm thinking something like the Unadilla traps 
(http://www.unadilla.com/traps.htm).
You could always tack the second of the pair of traps to the single 30m 
tuned
radial I suggested above and more wire on the other side of the trap to 
make it
a dual-band radial on 30m / 80. If you don't have space to run in in a 
straight

line bend it as necessary to make it fit your lot.


Michael VE3WMB


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Fwd: [Elecraft] KX1 on AAAs or Lithium Polymer?

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Whoops. Sent from an account not subscribed to the list so the original
post is going to bounce!

Michael

Begin forwarded message:


From: Michael Babineau [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: November 26, 2005 10:26:19 AM EST
To: wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: re:  [Elecraft] KX1 on AAAs or Lithium Polymer?

Wayne :

I attempted to do exactly what you have with AAA cells but I ran into 
difficultly sourcing
AAA holders that would fit on the additional KX1 bottom cover that I 
purchased for
this project.  I may however. have been trying to squeeze 10 cells in, 
I can't quite

remember.

Once thing I have discovered is that AAA Lithium cells seem to be more 
expensive
than the AA ones !  At 5 to 8 hours of operation that doesn't make AAA 
Lithiums

very cost effective.

The problem with NiMH cells is the lower voltage, plus the rather 
rapid self-discharge
rate. I'm not very familiar with LiPo technology so I don't know how 
it fares in this respect.


My vote goes for the LiPo pack. I think in the long run it would prove 
to be a more
cost effective solution. Users could always fall back to the standard 
back cover with AA
cells in the event of longer duration outings.  Being able to charge 
on-the-fly with
a small Solar Panel would be a great idea.  BTW, I have a small 5 W 
Coleman panel
that folds into about the same space as a small hardcover book, it 
would be perfect

for this application.

I think that Paul W0RW has being using  his own homebrewed LiPo pack 
quite

successfully for a while with his KX1.

I for one would certainly welcome an alternate internal power source 
for the KX1 that
would allow higher power out for a shorter time period than the 
standard 6 X AAs.
Most of my portable and /PM outings are less than a day in duration. 
This would be
great, especially for KX1 /PM operation as it would mean one less wire 
(no external

battery pack) to get tangled.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. How does LiPO technology do in cold weather ? I am assuming it 
holds up fine like
non-rechargable Lithium cells, otherwise Paul W0RW wouldn't be using 
it in CO

during the winter ;-) .


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re: [Elecraft] K2 with MacOS Classic

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Bekir :

One additional option may be to put Yellow Dog Linux on your Powerbook
3400. Having Linux on the machine may open up some additional options
to you. If you have enough disk space you can set it up for dual-boot
(Mac OS / YDL ).

See ...

http://www.terrasoftsolutions.com/support/hardware/others.shtml

It looks like older versions of the OS up to V3.0 support the hardware 
and it is likely

the newest version still does as well.

I have YDL V3 running on a old Performa 6360 and it runs pretty well.

It is likely that you can find a cheap copy of YDL V2 or V3 on Ebay
for about $10US.

Best of luck,

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. Both TLF and xlog (linux logging programs) support the use of
hamlib which would allow interfacing to the K2.

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re:[Elecraft] Buddi stick and KX1

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Curron :

I am a long time Buddistick and K1 / KX1 user.

The stock antenna works very well given its physical size.
The quality of components, like everything from W3FF
Antennas is excellent and will certainly last a lifetime.

It may not be clear, but the Buddistick is fundamentally
just half of a Buddipole. If you purchase the Buddistick
and later decide that you want to upgrade to a full
Buddipole you can contact Budd and he will provide a
reasonable upgrade path. With the full Buddipole package
you have more flexibility.

I have lots of extra Buddipole arms and I like to
experiment so I often add extra arms below the
coil to improve efficiency on 40m.

What works very well is to use a longer whip
(I have a 9 foot Mil-Surplus shock-corded whip) with extra
arms to build a 12 ft plus antenna which the KX1 internal
tuner can match on 20m and 30m without any loading
coil in the antenna. I hook radials up to the KX1 and
then just run a short (2 to 3 foot ) wire to the base of the
Buddistick to feed it as an end fed 14+ foot vertical,
often attached to a picnic table with the optional
clamp accessory.
Adding the coil and tapping for maximum noise allows
this antenna to easily load on 40m. I have also used it
without the coil and clipped a 14 foot piece of wire to the
top and tossed the end into a small tree to make a 28 foot
long, more or less self supporting inverted L which will
match easily on 40M / 30m /20.

What I like about this antenna and my HB variants is that it
packs up quite small (will easily fit into bicycle paniers
or your suitcase) and you don't need to rely on finding
an operating location with trees in the right spot. It is very
modular and can be used in its stock configuration or you
can get creative.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. The standard disclaimer doesn't quite apply. I do a little bit
of work for W3FF antennas so I am a bit biased, but it is truly
a labor of love.

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re: [Elecraft] KX-1 Antenna Recommendations

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Tom wrote :

I have a question for the collective out there.  What is your favorite 
antenna to take to the field or backyard.  I won't be hiking deep into 
the woods, but would like to hear what you have found to be a good 
balance between ease of use and effectiveness as an antenna.


Tom :

I have had very good luck most of the time operating with vertical 
end-fed wires in the range of 24 to 28 feet long
using a ground radial system of 5 radials, each 16 feet long made from 
computer ribbon cable splayed out.

This will generally give a good match on 40m / 30m and 20m with the KX1.

I found the if you can keep the wire mostly vertical that 24 feet will 
match fine with the KX1 internal tuner
but if you need to slope it somewhat or run part of it horizontally 
then something closer to 28 feet will

tend to give a better and more consistent match.

I often use a 20 foot fishing pole as a support (I hate to rely on 
mother nature putting a tree exactly where
I need one !) and I have fashioned my own linear loaded 20 foot 
vertical out of lightweight twin-lead from
Radio shack. It is simply a 20 foot length of twinlead with the wires 
shorted at the top and banana plugs
on both of the wires at the bottom. For 30m and 20m I simply plug both 
into the RED terminal on my
Pomona BNC to banana jack adaptor to make a FAT 20 foot radiator for 
these bands (the radial system
is connected to the black terminal). For 40m I just disconnect one of 
the two wires. giving me a 20 foot
wire that is linear loaded for its full length. This will match quite 
easily on 40m. In fact I have also used a
14 foot version of this vertical quite successfully for 40m Pedestrian 
mobile operations with the KX1.


What I have found is that in extremely rocky locations that performance 
of the above antennas suffer,
so under those circumstances I tend to revert back to a 44 foot double 
made out of #24 AWG teflon
coated wire, with an integral loosely twisted pair feedline (ie two 
wires each 50+ feet long, tied at the 22 ft
mark using an electricians knot, then the remainder twisted approx 4 
twists per foot to make the
feedline). If you fiddle with the feedline length you should be able to 
get this to match

on 40m / 30m / 20m.

I hope that this gives you some ideas.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. I have also found that the internal tuner in the K1 will match 
pretty much any antenna

that works with the KX1.

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RE: [Elecraft] KX-1 Antenna Recommendations

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

Don wrote :


My antenna for portable operation is a 44 ft. doublet antenna fed with
twisted pair teflon insulated #24 wire (the antenna flattop is the same
material).


Great antenna Don (see my earlier posting ;-) ) .

I just thought that I would add that I found that the teflon coated 
stuff doesn't
like to stay twisted so I resorted to putting small pieces of heat 
shrink tubing

every 6 or so inches on the feedline portion.



With 35 feet of the twisted pair feedline it tunes readily on all 
bands 40

thru 10 -


I am using about 28 feet of feedline and I have had some problems 
matching
it with some tuners on 40M so I will try adding about 7 feet of 
feedline and

see how that works  thanks.

Michael VE3WMB

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[Elecraft] Canuck Polar Bears on the air Sunday

[Michael Babineau VE3WMB]

I just thought that I would add the I will also be on the air
on Sunday November 13 as Polar Bear # 19, operating
as VE3WMB / VE2. Martin VA3SIE will be joining me
operating as VA3SIE / VE2, Polar Bear #20.

Our location will be the Eardley Escarpment in Gatineau Park,
about 10 miles north of Ottawa, ON.  It looks like the weather is
going to be typical for November, raining and near freezing
so we will be roughing it from the comfort of a XC-Ski Hut
heated by a wood fire.

Our plan is to operate at or near the usual QRP CW frequencies on
40m / 30m / 20m.

We plan to leave Ottawa around 2:00 pm EST. We have about a half
hour drive and perhaps a 40 minute hike, so by the time we get setup
and on the air it will probably be going on 4 o'clock (ie about 21:00 
utc).


We hope to work some of you on Sunday.

Michael VE3WMB (PB #19)

P.S. This will be an all-Elecraft outing as I will be using my K1
and Martin will be using his KX1.

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Re: [Elecraft] Outbacker vs. buddipole etc.

[Michael Babineau]

On 2-Jul-05, at 10:47 AM, Paul Gates wrote:


Why is it not suited on a deck?
Paul



Because it relies on capacitive coupling to ground to form the
other half of your antenna.  It could be used on a deck simply
as a mount but then you would have to attach some sort of
tuned counterpoise to it.

When mounted on the ground no radials are necessary.

Michael VE3WMB

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re: [Elecraft] longwire the auto tuner

[Michael Babineau]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 Now i have to find a longwire length of less than 100 ft that will
 tune up well on
 those bands (20, 40, 75, 80) for going portable.

Orrin :

Try about 87 feet (26.5 meters) of wire. This is a good length to cover 
most
of the HF bands  as it is not near a multiple of a 1/2 wave on any of 
the bands
(except 10m) so it will present a reasonable impedance that the tuner 
can match.


Michael VE3WMB 


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[Elecraft] K1 Field Day de VE3WMB

[Michael Babineau]

wayne burdick [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 All your Elecraft gear was designed with
 Field Day in mind, and we'd love to hear you on the air.

This year I decided to use my K1 rather than the KX1, which is my normal
portable operating companion. My effort was a very  casual 1B, Battery
with Solar Charging provided by a Coleman 5W flex PV panel and an SES
Micro M+ Portable charge controller. I operated under the shade of a
100 year old Red Oak tree in the Central Experimental Farm here in 
Ottawa.


I got started a few minutes late on Saturday and managed only 6 contacts
before the thunderclouds rolled in and the sky opened up.  At that 
point I
had to retreat to my car with all the stuff that doesn't like to get 
wet.

After about 30 minutes of heavy rain it finally let up. I decided to
pack up the antenna and remaining gear (stuff that didn't mind getting 
wet) as
the Wx Radio claimed a Severe Thunderstorm Watch for the remainder of 
the
day. I figured that it was in my best interest to head home as I didn't 
want to be

a lightning rod !

On Saturday I used an 87 foot (26.5m) end fed wire (inverted-L) 
supported by two
20 foot fishing poles with 10 X  16 foot long radial wires made from 
computer
ribbon cable. The 87 foot wire is a good match for the KAT1 as it is 
not near
a multiple of 1/2 wavelength on any of the amateur bands and thus it 
presents

a reasonable impedance for the tuner to match. It makes a great 40m
NVIS antenna in this configuration and has a squashed cloverleaf 
pattern with
reasonable gain at low angles on 20m so it is not too bad for Field day 
use.

My operating location has excellent soil conductivity so I seem to do ok
with a minimal number of ground radials.

I did get out again on Sunday morning for about an hour and a half.
Sunday I was lazy and wanted to spend my time operating not setting up
so I used  a 20 foot linear loaded vertical wire suspended from a single
20 foot fishing pole with 5 X 16 foot long radials connected directly 
to the K1

(ie no feedline). No rain this time !

I ended up with a total of just over 30 QSOs in about 2+ hrs of 
operating time.


Michael VE3WMB

P.S.  I used my Palm III running Golog to log for the second year in
a row and it worked great.

P.P.S My  K1 worked perfectly. As most of my portable operating
is with the KX1 I had almost forgotten how nice it is to use the K1.
The filtering is excellent and really allowed me to separate the
stations, even weaker ones adjacent to strong stations.


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re:[Elecraft] Using the KX1 on Solar Power

[Michael Babineau]

Michael  Donna Heit [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 Has anyone used the KX1 in the field with solar power ? If so, was 
any info

 sent on this list?
 I am building a KX1 and was interested in using solar , or solar back 
up

 power for extended field use.
 Thank you very much.

I do this all the time with my KX1.

I use a 2ah Gel cell, a Micro M+ Portable charge controller from 
Sunlight Energy
Systems and a 5W flexible Coleman PV panel that folds up to about the 
size of
a hardcover book. This adds very little bulk or weight to my portable 
setup.


You could easily get by with a lower wattage panel as the average 
current draw of the
rig is probably just a bit over 100 milliamps, depending on how you 
choose to do the
math (ie what figure you use for %TX time). The current draw figures 
for the Rig are about

40ma for RX and 650 ma for TX.

As long as you are putting about 100 ma, or a little more, back into 
the battery via the PV panel you
should  break even. With a smaller panel you probably don't even need 
to bother with a

charge controller.

One advantage of doing this is that the rig sees a fairly constant 13+ 
V DC  in and will run

at full power, at least while the sun is shining.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. The Volkswagen panels should be idea for this application and they 
are cheap
(often free from VW dealers, if you ask nicely, or inexpensive from 
Ebay).


BTW there is a QRP Solar Power Yahoo! Group if you are looking for more 
detailed answers.

([EMAIL PROTECTED]).

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re: [Elecraft] K-1 vs KX-1

[Michael Babineau]

David :

I would say that the K1 receiver has a performance advantage
over the KX1.

If you are trying to decide which of the two to buy (tough decision,
that's why I own both) I would suggest that you think
about how you plan to use the rig.

If you are looking for something that will primarily be operated 
portable, in the

field from park benches, at the beach maybe in the car etc, then
the KX1 is hard to beat. My whole station including a 2ahr external
gel cell and folding 5w solar panel fits into a small satchel-type bag.
I often operate mine Pedestrian mobile, carrying the rig in one hand.

If you plan to use the rig mostly at home, but will occasionally take it
out to the park for an outing, or if you plan to operate 50:50 then
perhaps the K1 is a better choice, because of the form factor, internal
speaker etc.

As someone else has mentioned, with either rig be sure to buy the ATU.
Both the KAT1 and KXAT1 perform extremely well and are very convenient
when operating both from home and in the field. Not having to drag along
extra cables and an external tuner makes setup a lot simpler and your 
antenna

can just be a couple of pieces of wire thrown up into a tree.

In either case you can't go wrong. Both rigs work extremely well and I 
am sure

that you will be pleased with either rig.

Michael VE3WMB 


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re:[Elecraft] Power supply for K1

[Michael Babineau]

I assume that you are looking for an AC power supply.

Morse Express sells a very compact and quiet supply
that would be perfect for this application :

http://www.morsex.com/cup/index.htm

I don't have one of these personally, but I have bought
a lot of stuff from Marshall and he is a great guy to
deal with.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. Standard disclaimer, I have no financial interest in Morse Express.
I'm just a satisfied customer.

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re:[Elecraft] Anyone tried fibermasts.

[Michael Babineau]

Tom :

I am using a Dk9SQ mast in a semi-permanent installation at home.
It is supporting a inverted-L W3EDP (end-fed 84ft wire) so there is
a 50+ foot horizontal component of the wire coming away from
the mast similar to what you are planning for the Battle Creek
special. It has only been up about a month so I can't comment
on how long you can expect the mast to last, exposed to the elements.
I do suggest that if you plan to buy one and leave it up for a
while that you should tape all of the joints with electrical tape after 
you

extend it to prevent collapse.

I have also looked at the MFJ version and it is a cheap imitation
in my opinion.

The DK9SQ masts are very well made and should provide many
years of service.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. I have had my DK9SQ mast for about 5 years and up until
now I have used it mostly for portable operations while on vacation.

P.P.S. I use a PVC tee with a hole drilled down through the middle
to attach antenna wires near the top of the mast. With the hole through
the Tee it will slide down over the mast a few feet. I have also used 
Tees

in this manner as the center insulator of a dipole.

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Nye Viking Master key was Re: [Elecraft] J-37

[Michael Babineau]

Mike / KK5F wrote :

 My favorite straight key isn't any of the many military keys I have.  
It is the commercial Nye Viking Model 330-001 Master Key, which comes 
with a nicely weighted base, and with enclosed keying contacts in the 
base that keep all voltages off the exposed key parts.  Unfortunately, 
I believe it is discontinued and unavailable except as old stock, and 
then is pretty pricey when one is located.


Morse Express (www.morsex.com) still sells them  .

http://www.morsex.com/nye/nye330.jpg

I used to have one of these as well but it was seldom used so I ended 
up giving it

away to a young ham at Lobstercon last summer.

Michael VE3WMB

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[Elecraft] Fwd: re :Protecting the KX1 from short - fuse on the

[Michael Babineau]

Whoops  I meant to post this to the Elecraft list not QRP-L ...

Begin forwarded message:


From: Michael Babineau [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Date: May 9, 2005 1:45:26 PM EDT
To: Martin Gillen [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Cc: qrp-l [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: re :Protecting the KX1 from short - fuse on the

Martin VA3SIE wrote :
 I was wondering therefore if anyone has found an
 inline fuse small enough to install on the positive battery
 lead from the internal battery holders to the PCB?

Martin :

Try Pico fuses. They look like 1/4 watt resistors.
BTW since you are also in Ottawa, I will mention that
you can buy them at Active electronics on Merivale Rd.

I used them to fuse both leads of my hombrew NiMH
pack for the FT-817, made from a 9.6V R/S RC pack.

The only issue will be protecting them from mechanical stress.
On my FT-817 I just covered them with shrink wrap tubing and taped
the lead at that point where I inserted the fuse to the side of the 
pack
so it doesn't get bent.  You may be able to secure it to the side of 
the

AA battery holder somehow.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. I use a small Pelican case to store my KX1 when not in use and
I never worry about it rattling around in the trunk of my car or in my
bike paniers. I'll bring mine along to the next OV-QRP meeting on
Thursday to show you my setup.


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Re: [Elecraft] More fun with short linear loaded wires and

[Michael Babineau]

Dale wrote :
 Maybe you could try something like back-to-back telescoping antennas
 tied to the top of the wire, such that they balance out and remain
 somewhat horizontal.

Dale thanks for the comments. I have been thinking about trying to 
combine

both linear and capacitive end loading, although it gets to be a bit of
a mechanical challenge when using a lightweight fishing pole as a 
support.


I will try this in one of my next round of experiments.


Michael VE3WMB 


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[Elecraft] More fun with short linear loaded wires and the KXAT1

[Michael Babineau]

I have been doing some more experimentation with shortened linear loaded
wires in an attempt to find more practical lengths of end-fed wires for 
portable

and pedestrian mobile operations with my KX1.

Yesterday I used a 11 ft wire supported on a 10ft  fiberglass fishing 
pole and managed
to work KO0K in OH on 40M while trailing a 30 foot wire and running 
about 2.5W on
my KX1. As before, the linear loaded wire is made from 4 conductor 
computer ribbon
cable with the inner two conductors not connected (ie just used as 
spacers). I short
the outer two conductors at the top and install banana plugs on the two 
outer conductors
at the bottom end of the wire.  With no addedl loading other than the 
wire and the
KXAT1 I was able to get about a 2:1 match on 40M. This is not great but 
still within the
range of what the KX1 is ok with according to Wayne, N6KR. I am able to 
get better than

a 1.5:1 match on 30M and 20M with this setup as well.

Also, those of you familiar with the KXAT1 probably know that this 
tuner was optimized
for a 24 to 28 foot end-fed wire. I have been up until now using a 24 
footer with great
success, but when I hang it from the ubiquitous 20 ft SD-20 type 
fishing pole, the resulting
sloping configuration doesn't seem to lend itself to a great match on 
40M, so I have
been using a somewhat heavier and bulkier and more expensive 24 foot 
pole.
I tried using a 20 foot wire but that doesn't seem to make the tuner 
happy either.
So, yesterday, I tried a 20 foot linear loaded wire, with construction 
as above and
suspended it vertically from a 20 foot pole and  I  am happy to report 
that this loads
very nicely on all three bands covered by the KX1 using the internal 
KXAT1.


Since I am somewhat skeptical about the how well the insulation on the 
ribbon cable
actually functions at RF, I think that my next step will be to build 
what amounts to
a length of home-brew mini open wire line, using small gauge teflon 
coated wire
and some pieces of stiff plastic drinking straw as spacers. I'll 
probably try about
1/2  spacing and see how that works out and how much more, or less 
wind load

and weight that adds as compared to the ribbon cable antenna.

Too much fun ... too little time ...

Michael VE3WMB

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Re: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?

[Michael Babineau]

Leigh L Klotz, Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 The Maldol 20M whip is fine with a radial 10-16ft and a 1ft or so 
piece
 of bus wire clipped to the top with an alligator clip, at any angle.  
I
 worked Florida from Toronto on vacation twice with that antenna, 
acting

 on Wayne N6KR's lead.

Likewise, I have worked France with a similar setup from Maine, but ...
as someone else mentioned one has to be very careful to avoid damaging
the PCB as the BNC is directly mounted to the board.

Martin, for portable operations you will have much better luck with a 
longer wire.
The KXAT1 was optimized for the recommended 24 to 28 ft wire and will 
load
this with a decent SWR and pretty good performance on 40M / 30M / 20M 
with a
reasonable ground. This will give you better and more consistent 
performance than

a short loaded whip.

For bike mobile I would recommend that you try a  Hamstick. They are 
cheap

and on 20M especially, performance is not too bad.

I have also had pretty good luck using a 14ft linear loaded wire 
attached to a 13 ft telescopic
fishing pole for Pedestrian mobile operations with a 30ft trailing 
counterpoise wire.


Michael VE3WMB 


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[Elecraft] K1 / KX1 Zero beat

[Michael Babineau]

[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 This brings up an interesting question: how do most folks zero beat 
the KX1
 and the K1 without the reference beat available on the K2? Is there a 
better

 way  than just sort of guessing (my technique so far)?

Well on the K1 I usually engage the narrow filter and tune for peak 
audio signal. That

seems to work pretty well for me.

On the KX1, I crank the variable filter down to about  500 hz BW and 
tune for peak audio signal.
Note that if you crank the variable filter all the way down the center 
frequency of the
filter will most likely shift down below 600 Hz  (it does on mine) so 
you don't want to

set the filter to its narrowest setting when doing this.

You can always check at how good of a job you are doing by piping the 
audio output
from the rig into Spectogram or even something like Digipan on your PC 
as this will

give you a fairly accurate reading of the audio frequency.

Michael VE3WMB

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[Elecraft] re: eflwa

[Michael Babineau]

Robert Conley [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote :

 Since I suffered
 an attack of
 senility when I ordered my K1-2 (I ordered it with 80m and 40m) and a
 KAT1. I wish to
 utilize a random length wire for it Should it be double the KXAT1's
 recommendations
 (48-56') with a ground system  of 1/8 wavelength on the lowest band 
(32'

 on 80m)
 double that of 40/30/20m.

Rob, as someone else suggested the trick is to provide an impedance in 
the
range that the tuner can match and the best bet is to find a wire 
length that is not
near a multiple of a half wavelength on any of the bands that you wish 
to

operate, as half wave multiples will result in a very high impedance.

The good news is that someone has already done this. A UK ham named 
Alan Chester
G3CCB (sk) wrote an article titled Taming the End-fed Wire that has 
appeared in

a number of RSGB publications and is in a book being sold by ARRL called
The Antenna File.

In this article Alan has mapped out wire lengths versus bands and 
provides a chart
which quickly allows one to figure out what bands are a no go with 
different wire
lengths. Alan recommends three wire lengths. 10 meters, 15 meters and 
26.5 meters.

Any of these lengths should theoretically be ok for 80M and 40M.

Please note that the 10m wire length doesn't work on 20M and 10M, the
15m wire length is a no go  on 17m, 15M and 30M and the 26.5 meter wire
probably won't match on 10M.

I would suggest trying the 15m wire, which works out to about 49 feet.

I have had good luck with my KX1 and the suggested 28 ft vertical wire
using 5 X 16ft ground radials made from a piece of computer ribbon 
cable.
on 40M, 30M and 20M. I leave the first 2 or 3 feet intact and split out 
the
individual conductors on the remaining length. This is pretty easy to 
deploy.

I would suggest that you stick with the 1/8 wave on the lowest operating
frequency and deploy as many radials as you find practical (up to about
2 dozen, as it is a case of diminishing returns for this length of 
radial beyond

that number).

Your mileage may vary as it is all dependent on the matching abilities 
of the

KAT1.

Michael VE3WMB

P.S. Let us know how you make out.

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