Hopefully there will be a lot of them in users hands by then (MINE)!! Thanks for the update.
Sent from my iPhone ...nr4c. bill > On Jun 24, 2019, at 1:11 PM, Wayne Burdick <n...@elecraft.com> wrote: > > George (KJ6VU), John (KJ6K) and I operated a basic K4 for several hours as > the 20 meter CW station at the Bay-Net Field Day site east of San Jose. This > was the K4's first outdoor shake-down. The stakes were high, since the K4 has > to pick up where the K3S/P3 leave off, fulfilling a dual role as both a > high-end desktop and field/portable station. > > Observations: > > - the light weight (~10 pounds) made it easy to transport and set up > > - there was virtually no mutual interference between the K4 and a very active > 40 meter SSB station using an antenna about 40' away > > - thanks to the low noise at this location we were able to hear many weak > signals clustered together, and found signal clarity to be excellent > > - the LCD was clearly visible, without color washout, despite a full assault > by bright sunlight bleeding through our translucent white tent cloth (some > other radios at the same location had displays that were almost impossible to > see) > > - the ATU did was able to tune a narrow-banded 20 meter yagi on other bands, > when necessary, including 15, 10, and 6 meters > > - the radio ran from a very small Li-Ion battery (KXBT2, ~2.5 AH) for quite > awhile, proving it works at 11 V, which is important for stations running > from a somewhat depleted car battery or other emergency supply > > - operators were very complimentary of the internal speaker, though I'm > partial to stereo audio and was using a pair of 8", 4 ohm (passive) external > speakers most of the time > > We had a bit of fun late in the afternoon on Saturday when we switched from > the Yagi to an AX1, Elecraft's 4 foot 20 meter whip. This may seem frivolous, > but it's an important test because it shows that the radio's shielding is > working well. It should handle an end-fed wire with a balun right at the > antenna jack. > > Here are some comments we received afterward from KJ6K: > > "It was a real thrill to play with the K4 while making making CW contacts > with it during Field Day. It's an amazing technical and usability design > achievement. The user interface for many modern radios is so complex that an > operator may need to refer to the manual frequently to figure out how to > access a desired function, and never be able to do so quickly. The display on > the K4 is gorgeous, and the use of touch, along with physical controls, > provides a very intuitive and efficient user interface. > > "My own interests in ham radio have always been mostly in the science and > engineering, so my operating is mostly casual, with HF CW my favorite mode. > The architecture of the K4 is really exciting; the performance and endless > possibilities for features and connectivity is really cool." > > Thanks, John! > > Looking forward to full-contact Field Day battle mode with a couple of K4s > next year :) > > Wayne > N6KR > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to n...@widomaker.com ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
