Jim, The K2 does not seem to need periodic re-alignment because there is not a lot of drift in the component values over time and the design is on the conservative side, so it is forgiving of minor alignment errors.
BUT - If you want optimum performance, do take whatever steps necessary to get the alignment correct the first time and every time you do it (usually needed when components are changed, mods added, or other work on the hardware inside the box). It does not sound like you achieved optimum alignment when you initially did it, so for that reason alone, I would say you will benefit from repeating it. As for your voltages that are 'out of spec' - if you measured within 10% of the value listed in the manual, that is within spec - outside that range usually means that you need to find the source of the anomoly and correct it. The 100 Hz drift that you mentioned is within the K2 spec for operating from a cold start from 25degrees C. If your shack ambient temperature is lower than that, you may see more drift, but judging from peoples voices can be problematic too, better to measure it with a known standard - how much does it drift if you tune carefully to WWV? I highly recommend that you use Spectrogram to set your filters. It sounds complicated to describe it in words maily because we try to describe what to do in detail and anticipate any questions or stumbling bolcks that may arise for you, but once you run through the procedure, I predict that you will find it very easy. Waiting through the boot process for Windows and double-clicking the icon is a harder step than running the Spectrogram application to align a K2 - but I have done it many, many times. 73, Don W3FPR > -----Original Message----- > > My K2/100 (S/N 4787) is about 10 months old. My > question is at what point, or ever, should all the > initial alignments be repeated? There are several > reasons for asking the question other than electronic > components simply drifting a bit with age. > > 1. Recently I've noticed when it is initially turned > on the received frequency is about 100 hz high judged > by the pitch of people's voices that I know. After > 20-30 minutes they drift to near exact frequency. > > 2. When initially turned on and transmitting right > away I've had reports of distortion like I'm crowding > the mike. > > 3. When doing the initial alignment I had a terrible > time with zero beating due to bad hearing. A frequncy > counter finally helped solve that to some degree. > > 4. I did not use spectrogram as it seemed confusing > and my radio seemed to play well enough without it. > It is still equal to or better than my IC746Pro. > > 5. Several voltages and frequency ranges were > slightly out of tolerance but again overall it seemed > to align okay and initial performance seemed okay. > > 6. I'm now using the receiving antenna port and am > trying to dig out DX and other weak signals. > > I just hate to fix it if it's not broke. But, I'm > wondering if I could squeeze a little more performance > out of it. I hate to have my K2 on the bench for 2-3 > days and not be able to use it. Well, what does > everyone say. Go for it or not? > > Thanks for the help and bandwidth. > > Jim, AB0UK > K2/100 S/N 4787 > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
