John, The power output of the KX1 is dependent on the power supply voltage. A well constructed KX1 will normally deliver 4 watts on 80, 40 and 30 meters, and 3.5 watts on 20 meters with a 13.8 volt power source. Some will do a little better and some a bit worse than that target figure.
The voltage produced by the 6 internal cells is less than 13.8, and the exact voltage depends on the battery type. Lithium batteries normally are the best if the power level is important to you, with alkalines running in second place. NiCad or NiMH batteries will produce lower voltages and therefore lower power. To get to that 13.8 volt level, each of the 6 AA cells would have to produce 2.3 volts. But yes, as a general rule, 2 watts is to be expected when using the internal batteries. There is just not enough room to pack additional batteries inside. A few KX1 owners have modified the KX1 to use rechargable Lithium Ion batteries which produce a higher voltage (and more power as a result). I want to offer a caution - running the the KX1 at greater than 4 watts can cause damage to the components following the PA amplifier - with a good 50 ohm pure resistive load, one can go a bit higher without harm, but as the SWR increases, the voltages in the low pass filter will also increase and could exceed their voltage ratings. In other words, don't try to push the KX1 power too high - the difference between 3.5 watts and 5 watts is almost imperceptible on the receiving end. 73, Don W3FPR On 12/4/2010 4:20 PM, John Overbaugh wrote: > In researching the KX1, I thought I had read that it's possible to get 4 > watts of output. However, the manual shows 2 watts as the max from internal > batteries. Is 4 watts possible? Does it require external batteries? > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
