On 4/15/2013 2:50 PM, Jim Miller wrote:
I'm just getting going on 6m with my K3/KPA500/KAT500. I'm getting ready to order a M2 6M5XHP. My feedline consists of 150ft of LDF5-50 to the tower then about 40ft of Buryflex in the tower run and various pigtails. So my feedline losses should be relatively low.
I'm running a very similar setup, but with 350 ft of 7/8-in Heliax to a 3-el SteppIR with the added 6M element. The SteppIR works pretty well on 6M, and the nature of my tower installation makes it impractical to add a better one.
Based on various threads I've decided to go ahead and get the PR6 but want to make sure I understand how to use it.
I've owned an ARR GasFET preamp for nearly 10 years, and added it at the RX antenna patch point, with relays to switch between the preamp and my Beverages, probably in the same manner that the PR6 does. My setup also works fine. Yes, it would be about 1dB better at the top of the tower, but it would cost me PLENTY to put it there, given that 99.5% of my operation is very competitive contesting with full legal power. :)
I'm in a dense redwood forest, so EME is not in my future, at least at home, but I've made lots of 2 and three hop Es QSOs, mostly CW, and some pretty long MS QSOs with FSK441. One of the great things about the KPA500 is that it's happy at full power (about 500W on 6M) on keydown modes.
If you're running the 6M antenna through the KAT, be sure to put it on the ANT1 output, which has the lowest return loss, and make sure there's nothing else in the path that might be adding some return loss.
73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ 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
