Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Here is a link to the incident in Portland, http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2011/04/pooping_portland_postman_caugh.php On Jun 2, 2011, at 10:48 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: You guys live in the wrong place! My Fed Ex, UPS and Postal Carriers are all very courteous and careful to find me if they need a signature. My rural mailbox is a couple hundred yards from the house, so if there's something that doesn't fit, the US Postal carrier comes to my door. Fed EX and UPS don't stick around if they don't need a signature, but the wrap everything in water proof plastic (this IS rainy Oregon) and leave it where I've asked them to. If they aren't sure, they call me! Maybe it helps to say Thank You when they bring something. In our neighborhood, one must learn to drive one-handed because it's basic politeness to wave to everyone while driving by, even the school bus drivers... Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Phil Hystad Sent: Thursday, June 02, 2011 10:25 PM To: k2...@kanafi.org Cc: Elecraft Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs I don't suppose you guys heard what the US postman left at one house while delivering mail on his route. This took place in Portland Oregon several months ago (I think, maybe more recent then that). He was in the news again because after being on suspension and waiting at home, his employer said that he could keep his job but on another route. On Jun 2, 2011, at 8:13 PM, Phil Kane wrote: On 6/2/2011 6:59 PM, Eugene Balinski wrote: My mailman has even run around to the back of my house to place packages out of the rain. Contrast that with the local UPS driver who will place a package on the front steps, knock softly, and then run to his truck to see if he can get away before someone opens the door. Sometimes he doesn't knock, and sometimes he will leave the package in a secluded place on the side of the steps and not post the required where it is notice. FedEx will usually ring the bell before they do that. If it's the regular USPS letter carrier she usually will knock loudly before leaving a package, but the relief carriers usually don't. That's why I prefer a PO Box for my mail. What ever happened to personal service? -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K3EXREF/K144RFLK Shipping Date?
That's great, Dave, my K3EXREF and K144RFLK work well too. However, my understanding is that the K3 firmware does not currently contain a method to automatically update the XVn transverter offset values as REFCAL adjusts with the external 10 MHz reference. That is what I was told in March and I don't think there has been a software update since then. Maybe someone from Elecraft could confirm? 73 de David G4DMP In a recent message, Dave elecr...@g4fre.com writes True to promise, my k3extref and the k144rflk were shipped tuesday and arrived today It took longer to calibrate and put the resultant calibration values in all my 9 xverters (xv1 thro 9) than it did to install the board. -- + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + | David M Pratt, Kippax, Leeds. | | Website: http://www.g4dmp.co.uk | + - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - + __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Edward R. Cole wrote: In my case, the major reason I don't want to sell internationally is the matter of customs and duties, with the associated paperwork. Here it's mostly ignorance of what is needed, what the procedures are, etc. I might look at it differently with a ham I knew as the buyer. Nothing parochial beyond ignorance. :) 73, Jim K9YC -- =And I think THIS is really the problem folks are having - they imagine all sorts of issues! Customs and duties are paid by the receiving party (not the shipper). All you need do is describe the item. Simple as saying Ham radio parts. Estimate their value (this is what the customs will charge by), your name/address, the destination name/address, your done! Not any harder than filling out a money order. The form is half-page in size and most boxes do not need to be filled in as they do not apply. Let me repeat that: import duties and taxes in the destination country are categorically NOTYOUR PROBLEM ! All you have to do is write down the total value (in US$) and an adequate description. AMATEUR RADIO PARTS is usually close enough. That's all - you're done. NB: Always write out AMATEUR in full. Ham will be subject to extra import restrictions :-) -- 73 from Ian GM3SEK http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Fed-Ex and UPS insured and tracked door to door...not a problem and I have done this for years both at work and play:-) Gary On 3 June 2011 08:35, Johnny Siu vr2...@yahoo.com.hk wrote: Hello Ray, I have the impression that quite a number of the US sellers are worried about shipping overseas (I don't know why). In the past, when I bought from private individuals in US, I had to even give them weblink to USPS about using which way of shipping e.g. International Priority standard rate box etc. Or, I simply ask them to use my Fedex account so that they have no involvement in paying any shipping costs. In some cases, since the sellers were so worried that I simply asked them to ship to my friends in US. And then I asked my friend to re-ship the gears to me. Nowadays, logistics among countries are just so common. As long as the parcels are well packed and properly tracked, I don't see any problems. Similar to you, I am not complaining about anyone here but just curious. TNX 73, Johnny VR2XMC 從︰ Ray Spreadbury ray...@btinternet.com 收件人︰ elecraft@mailman.qth.net 傳送日期︰ 2011年06月3日 (週五) 12:07 AM 主題︰ [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs I am intrigued, I've noticed that when various Elecraft rigs are offered for private sale on this forum they invariably say Continental USA only. Why...? We Europeans also have PayPal, Visa, Bank Transfers etc etc so what's the problem please? I just bought a kit accessories direct from Elecraft 2 weeks ago, it was delivered within 7 days and they didn't have a problem with selling to Europe. Just interested . 73 Ray G3XLG __ 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 __ 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 -- VK4FD - Motorhome Mobile Elecraft Equipment K3 #679, KPA-500 #018 Living the dream!!! __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Seapac
We'll miss having you this year. I'll try and remember to haul my case up and show it off. ~Brett (N7MG) On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 9:47 AM, Rose elecraftcov...@gmail.com wrote: For the first time in a number of years, Rose and I won't be at Seapac. It's our favorite convention and we have many friends there that we enjoy having evening dinners with. Last year's trip cost a bit over $700 and she sold only one K3 cover, but the main reason to stay home this year is simply the cost of fuel. Maybe next year. 73! Ken Rose elecraftcov...@gmail.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 __ 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
[Elecraft] Linux suggestion
To the digger who was asking, I had a brain brown-out and deleted your message, but you might try Puppy Linux on your older PC - crikey dick, it's even Australian! __ 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
[Elecraft] FS: W2 Wattmeter/SWR Bridge + 2 couplers
I have for sale a brand new W2 Wattmeter with a 200 watt and 2Kilowatt coupler. (1.8 - 54MHz). The wattmeter works great. As do both couplers. Purchased new this combo costs $330 and shipping. I will take $260, shipped to you in the States Contact me at n8...@comcast.com Dohn Smythe __ 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
[Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Hello Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere. I built a K2 in 2002 and a Kx1 in 2004. My idea of delight now is a kit of parts and a hot iron. I'd like to have a go at a KX3 if it is a kit, and to suggest that it could be supplied in three forms. !) fully assembled 2) as a kit with the SMDs already assembled, and 3) for those, like me, who are confident with soldering SMDs, with only the components (like BGAs) you can't fix with a soldering iron already in place. I'd love to go for 3) -- any chance? Best wishes all and 73, Harry Weston M1ETU and M0SOP __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and Netbook
Besides netbooks, Charles Scharlau made an excellent SDR/panadapter for Ipad/Ipod. It's an App called iSDR. A small IQ audio to USB adapter dongle would make this a nice add-on for KX3 in the field! 73 Paul PD0PSB -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/Re-KX3-and-Netbook-tp6433492p6435102.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] PDF manuals on iBooks
I agree that GoodReader is generally better than iBooks for reading pdf's on an iPad, but Giuseppe's discovery applies to GoodReader too. Not all images in the P3 manual display on the iPad, and saving a new version of the pdf from Preview makes everything show up, though the difference is invisible on a Mac. It's not every image that causes problems, though, as if they were created in more than one program and assembled from several sources. Which makes sense. So, many of the manuals are probably completely ok, and you will find problems only when your iPad version has a blank area that should have an image or figure in it. Peter W0LLN On Thu, Jun 2, 2011 at 10:12 PM, Jon Moody jmood...@gmail.com wrote: HI Giuseppe, I have found that GoodReader works much better for PDF's than iBooks. I am displaying the K3 Owners manual with all of its pictures as we speak. -- Thanks Jon KG6VDW __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Harry, I would say not a chance of getting your KX3 kit with SMDs in a bag. Just take a look at the support questions that occur with those kits using thru-hole construction, and then imagine the number of support questions that would occur if some of the general ham population tried to assemble an SMD kit. Requests for extra parts because some had been launched into never-never land with tweezers too tightly held would increase the Elecraft mailing expense significantly. I expect the labor required to kit such an assembly would be more than they are paying the board houses for assembled boards. While it might be interesting and fun for a few, it just is not cost effective. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/3/2011 7:15 AM, harry weston wrote: Hello Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere. I built a K2 in 2002 and a Kx1 in 2004. My idea of delight now is a kit of parts and a hot iron. I'd like to have a go at a KX3 if it is a kit, and to suggest that it could be supplied in three forms. !) fully assembled 2) as a kit with the SMDs already assembled, and 3) for those, like me, who are confident with soldering SMDs, with only the components (like BGAs) you can't fix with a soldering iron already in place. I'd love to go for 3) -- any chance? Best wishes all and 73, Harry Weston M1ETU and M0SOP __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
All you have to do is write down the total value (in US$) and an adequate description. AMATEUR RADIO PARTS is usually close enough. That's all - you're done. That works in western countries. However, anything containing radio is automatically contraband in many countries outside Western Europe and the Americas. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 6/3/2011 3:01 AM, Ian White GM3SEK wrote: Edward R. Cole wrote: In my case, the major reason I don't want to sell internationally is the matter of customs and duties, with the associated paperwork. Here it's mostly ignorance of what is needed, what the procedures are, etc. I might look at it differently with a ham I knew as the buyer. Nothing parochial beyond ignorance. :) 73, Jim K9YC -- =And I think THIS is really the problem folks are having - they imagine all sorts of issues! Customs and duties are paid by the receiving party (not the shipper). All you need do is describe the item. Simple as saying Ham radio parts. Estimate their value (this is what the customs will charge by), your name/address, the destination name/address, your done! Not any harder than filling out a money order. The form is half-page in size and most boxes do not need to be filled in as they do not apply. Let me repeat that: import duties and taxes in the destination country are categorically NOTYOUR PROBLEM ! All you have to do is write down the total value (in US$) and an adequate description. AMATEUR RADIO PARTS is usually close enough. That's all - you're done. NB: Always write out AMATEUR in full. Ham will be subject to extra import restrictions :-) __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 8:31 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV li...@subich.com wrote: ...anything containing radio is automatically contraband in many countries... ...as I discovered while in India. I had my KX1, which had gotten in okay because they didn't check at customs. I didn't transmit, just listened, but I was nervous the whole time that somehow I'd get nabbed and have my radio confiscated. Tony KT0NY __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Also, note that one of the main advantages to SMT is process control. Parts can be placed and soldered VERY accurately. Hand-soldering SMT, even large components like 2012's is much less well controlled than the design might need to function properly. And some of the KX3 components are in the tiny category (generally 0402 and smaller is too fine to work by hand). 73, matt W6NIA On Fri, 03 Jun 2011 09:27:57 -0400, you wrote: Harry, I would say not a chance of getting your KX3 kit with SMDs in a bag. Just take a look at the support questions that occur with those kits using thru-hole construction, and then imagine the number of support questions that would occur if some of the general ham population tried to assemble an SMD kit. Requests for extra parts because some had been launched into never-never land with tweezers too tightly held would increase the Elecraft mailing expense significantly. I expect the labor required to kit such an assembly would be more than they are paying the board houses for assembled boards. While it might be interesting and fun for a few, it just is not cost effective. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/3/2011 7:15 AM, harry weston wrote: Hello Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere. I built a K2 in 2002 and a Kx1 in 2004. My idea of delight now is a kit of parts and a hot iron. I'd like to have a go at a KX3 if it is a kit, and to suggest that it could be supplied in three forms. !) fully assembled 2) as a kit with the SMDs already assembled, and 3) for those, like me, who are confident with soldering SMDs, with only the components (like BGAs) you can't fix with a soldering iron already in place. I'd love to go for 3) -- any chance? Best wishes all and 73, Harry Weston M1ETU and M0SOP __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
[Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
I would agree with Don. Perhaps, even Elecraft offered a SMD-kit at a price 3 times of the assembled version, it might not be good enough to earn a reasonable business profit in view of the possible manpower involved. Perhaps, only through hole components kits can maintain some profits. TNX 73, Johnny VR2XMC 從︰ Don Wilhelm w3...@embarqmail.com 收件人︰ harry weston harrywes...@btinternet.com 副本(CC)︰ elecraft@mailman.qth.net 傳送日期︰ 2011年06月3日 (週五) 9:27 PM 主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit? Harry, I would say not a chance of getting your KX3 kit with SMDs in a bag. Just take a look at the support questions that occur with those kits using thru-hole construction, and then imagine the number of support questions that would occur if some of the general ham population tried to assemble an SMD kit. Requests for extra parts because some had been launched into never-never land with tweezers too tightly held would increase the Elecraft mailing expense significantly. I expect the labor required to kit such an assembly would be more than they are paying the board houses for assembled boards. While it might be interesting and fun for a few, it just is not cost effective. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/3/2011 7:15 AM, harry weston wrote: Hello Sorry if this question has already been answered elsewhere. I built a K2 in 2002 and a Kx1 in 2004. My idea of delight now is a kit of parts and a hot iron. I'd like to have a go at a KX3 if it is a kit, and to suggest that it could be supplied in three forms. !) fully assembled 2) as a kit with the SMDs already assembled, and 3) for those, like me, who are confident with soldering SMDs, with only the components (like BGAs) you can't fix with a soldering iron already in place. I'd love to go for 3) -- any chance? Best wishes all and 73, Harry Weston M1ETU and M0SOP __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Perhaps, even Elecraft offered a SMD-kit at a price 3 times of the assembled version, it might not be good enough to earn a reasonable business profit in view of the possible manpower involved. Perhaps, only through hole components kits can maintain some profits. Another issue is the attrition that occurs when attempting an SMD kit. For this reason, many SMD kits are either not started, or they're abandoned shortly after commencement of construction. I've purchased several SMD kits on the used market where perhaps 5% of the kit is completed, and some have been poorly constructed. In the case of a kit like a KX3 that involves many SMD parts, it would undoubtedly lead to many unfinished kits and some very unhappy customers, most of whom are not good with personal due-diligence. Even though that onus is on the buyer to find what they're up against before the purchase, some people will resent the kit supplier when they're left with a box full of some very expensive parts and few takers who are willing to finish a previously-started kit at a fair price. Paul, W9AC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] PDF manuals on iBooks
All the images in the P3 manual, other than the screen shots, are originally jpg's -(not jpg2000). The jpg is dropped into a vector drawing program to add the arrows, callouts, etc., and that is converted into the final jpg that is inserted into the manual. The screen shots that do not have any callouts are BMPs captured using the P3 utility and dropped straight into the manual. They were not converted to jpgs. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- I agree that GoodReader is generally better than iBooks for reading pdf's on an iPad, but Giuseppe's discovery applies to GoodReader too. Not all images in the P3 manual display on the iPad, and saving a new version of the pdf from Preview makes everything show up, though the difference is invisible on a Mac. It's not every image that causes problems, though, as if they were created in more than one program and assembled from several sources. Which makes sense. So, many of the manuals are probably completely ok, and you will find problems only when your iPad version has a blank area that should have an image or figure in it. Peter W0LLN __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Wayne (or maybe it was Eric) already announced that the KX3 would be available as a no-solder final assembly type of kit, or fully assembled, just like the K3. I already have two Softrock receiver kits that I've just about given up on because of multiple problems trying to install surface mount components. Something as complex as a KX3 would have me in tears before I finished unpacking it!! And by the way, if anyone here has experience with Softrock kits and could complete my kits for a modest fee, I'd be interested in hearing from you. 73, Ken Alexander, VE3HLS --- On Fri, 6/3/11, Paul Christensen w...@arrl.net wrote: From: Paul Christensen w...@arrl.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit? To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Date: Friday, June 3, 2011, 11:44 AM Perhaps, even Elecraft offered a SMD-kit at a price 3 times of the assembled version, it might not be good enough to earn a reasonable business profit in view of the possible manpower involved. Perhaps, only through hole components kits can maintain some profits. Another issue is the attrition that occurs when attempting an SMD kit. For this reason, many SMD kits are either not started, or they're abandoned shortly after commencement of construction. I've purchased several SMD kits on the used market where perhaps 5% of the kit is completed, and some have been poorly constructed. In the case of a kit like a KX3 that involves many SMD parts, it would undoubtedly lead to many unfinished kits and some very unhappy customers, most of whom are not good with personal due-diligence. Even though that onus is on the buyer to find what they're up against before the purchase, some people will resent the kit supplier when they're left with a box full of some very expensive parts and few takers who are willing to finish a previously-started kit at a fair price. Paul, W9AC __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
As a very small designer and seller of kits, I've been forced to move almost all of my new designs and updated older designs to surface mount construction. Through hole parts are either drying up, and, more importantly, high performance parts are not made in through hole packages. So far, I've been able to keep kits in the reasonable to assemble category by: 1. Passive components 1206 size. 2. Integrated circuits pin spacing 0.05/inch (20 pins per inch) or larger spacing. 3. Transistors SOT-89 where possible These are all manageable without too much in terms of special tools. A good headband magnifier, 0.015 diameter solder and a small tip soldering iron is about it. As a price point, I have some commercial products I sell as assembled, and I can have small quantities of PCBs made, with all surface mount parts machine placed and soldered for only a few dollars more than the price of the parts - it's not far from the point where I wonder whether it makes sense to offer anything more than screwdriver kits where the purchaser does mechanical assembly and perhaps installs a few through hole parts, such as connectors. I've received prices in the $5/board range for machine assembly of only 100 boards, each board with about 100 parts, plus a one-time charge for solder paste stencil. I've hand assembled a few of these boards during prototyping and development, and it takes me about 3 hours. Jack K8ZOA On 6/3/2011 11:44 AM, Paul Christensen wrote: Perhaps, even Elecraft offered a SMD-kit at a price 3 times of the assembled version, it might not be good enough to earn a reasonable business profit in view of the possible manpower involved. Perhaps, only through hole components kits can maintain some profits. Another issue is the attrition that occurs when attempting an SMD kit. For this reason, many SMD kits are either not started, or they're abandoned shortly after commencement of construction. I've purchased several SMD kits on the used market where perhaps 5% of the kit is completed, and some have been poorly constructed. In the case of a kit like a KX3 that involves many SMD parts, it would undoubtedly lead to many unfinished kits and some very unhappy customers, most of whom are not good with personal due-diligence. Even though that onus is on the buyer to find what they're up against before the purchase, some people will resent the kit supplier when they're left with a box full of some very expensive parts and few takers who are willing to finish a previously-started kit at a fair price. Paul, W9AC __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
For most shipments, I prefer that the postal worker, UPS or FedEx driver leave the item on the front porch anyway. Tracking the shipment online, it's easy to see where the driver might have left the package if it isn't obvious. Before we both retired, no one was at home during business hours. This meant the inevitable and unenviable trip to the post office the next day, or making arrangements with the local UPS or FedEx office to stop by and pick up the item. Often this involved waiting for the truck to arrive after completing all deliveries during the day. The only time I ever found this to be a problem was several years ago. I had ordered an IBM dot-matrix printer when they sold for about $500. The UPS driver had left it on the front porch and it was raining. When I called to comment (not really complain) I was told that my neighborhood was considered to be safe for drop-offs. Then I was asked if I wanted to file a complaint against the driver. Since he was following established protocol, I declined. Safe neighborhood withstanding, that's an awful lot of temptation to put out there. 73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/2/2011 8:13 PM, Phil Kane wrote: Contrast that with the local UPS driver who will place a package on the front steps, knock softly, and then run to his truck to see if he can get away before someone opens the door. Sometimes he doesn't knock, and sometimes he will leave the package in a secluded place on the side of the steps and not post the required where it is notice. FedEx will usually ring the bell before they do that. If it's the regular USPS letter carrier she usually will knock loudly before leaving a package, but the relief carriers usually don't. That's why I prefer a PO Box for my mail. What ever happened to personal service? -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook]
Actually, a bluetooth interface, especially for headset use, is a serious consideration. Most states have enacted a patchwork of anti-cellphone laws that to a greater or lesser degree adversely impact amateur (and other) radio operators. The purpose of this comment is NOT to start a thread on whether or not these various laws have merit. Rather, it is to set the background for a request to support handsfree usage of frankly, any of the phone rigs that Elecraft markets. There is a 3rd party that markets a bolt-on system to use with most any rig, but it is pricey (several hundred dollars) and clumsy (it seems that NO ONE makes a decent bluetooth headset for PTT operators). And that turns out to be the real challenge. If someone could design a decent affordable bluetooth headset with a reasonable PTT mechanism, I believe the radio world would beat a path to your door. Reasonable DOES NOT mean having to push a button on the ear piece. My apologies if this has been hashed to death on here before. I'm about a year behind reading all the older email on this list. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 netbook From: Leigh L. Klotz Jr WA5ZNU le...@wa5znu.org Date: Thu, June 02, 2011 6:12 pm To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Byron N6NUL wrote: Ok, Eric, you asked for it. Ready? Here we go: How about adding Bluetooth stereo audio, microphone, keyboard, and serial profiles to the KX3? The HFPack crowd would like this to, as I opined earlier. Stick radio in back, operate remotely from hand-held device (homebrew or commercial). Leigh/WA5ZNU -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-netbook-tp6428867p6433099.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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 __ 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
[Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Jack wrote: I wonder whether it makes sense to offer anything more than screwdriver kits where the purchaser does mechanical assembly and perhaps installs a few through hole parts, such as connectors. Indeed. SMD components are specifically designed solely for efficient automated machine assembly. Human part-by-part assembly of SMD circuits is a gross misapplication of the design. A complex SMD kit, lovingly assembled by a skilled builder, would almost certainly *still* be technically inferior to the machine-assembled equivalent. From a circuit quality standpoint there is *nothing* good about human assembly of SMD circuits. At the other extreme, a screwdriver-only semi-kit can easily be the quality of a factory-assembled version. Two extremes...I'll take the latter, and always reject the former. Mike / KK5F __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] PDF manuals on iBooks
Ron, The bmp images all show up in iBooks, but the jpegs do not for the most part. For example, the images on the cover page and pages 10, 11, 13, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 45 are missing. Mike ks7d Sent from my iPad On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:45 AM, Ron D'Eau Claire r...@cobi.biz wrote: All the images in the P3 manual, other than the screen shots, are originally jpg's -(not jpg2000). The jpg is dropped into a vector drawing program to add the arrows, callouts, etc., and that is converted into the final jpg that is inserted into the manual. The screen shots that do not have any callouts are BMPs captured using the P3 utility and dropped straight into the manual. They were not converted to jpgs. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- I agree that GoodReader is generally better than iBooks for reading pdf's on an iPad, but Giuseppe's discovery applies to GoodReader too. Not all images in the P3 manual display on the iPad, and saving a new version of the pdf from Preview makes everything show up, though the difference is invisible on a Mac. It's not every image that causes problems, though, as if they were created in more than one program and assembled from several sources. Which makes sense. So, many of the manuals are probably completely ok, and you will find problems only when your iPad version has a blank area that should have an image or figure in it. Peter W0LLN __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
On 6/3/2011 10:45 AM, Mike Morrow wrote: At the other extreme, a screwdriver-only semi-kit can easily be the quality of a factory-assembled version. This is especially true if the boards are individually tested prior to shipment, as they are at Elecraft. 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 TCXO?
Ken K3IU wrote: This is what it ways on the order page under options... *KTCXO3-1TCXO * *(0.5 ppm typ) High Stability Ref. Osc. $99.95 I see that on the K3 page, but not the KX3 page. Did I miss a KX3 order page? Leigh/WAZNU -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-TCXO-tp6433070p6436344.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night I ordered a Softrock. From reading the assembly manual I can see that this is a long-tailed project, but I'm determined to remain optimistic. My intention is to use it as an interface for CW Skimmer, taking IF out the back of my P3. We shall see... If I ever get it to work, I'll report back here. Tony KT0NY __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 TCXO?
Nope... as I said earlier, I mis-read his email and responded before I realized he had said KX3 and not K3. You didn't miss anything.,Leigh. 73, Ken K3IU ~ On 6/3/2011 2:21 PM, Leigh L. Klotz Jr WA5ZNU wrote: Ken K3IU wrote: This is what it ways on the order page under options... *KTCXO3-1TCXO * *(0.5 ppm typ) High Stability Ref. Osc. $99.95 I see that on the K3 page, but not the KX3 page. Did I miss a KX3 order page? Leigh/WAZNU -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-TCXO-tp6433070p6436344.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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 __ 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
[Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet
I constructed a Norcal Doublet using some speaker wire. It seems to tune up fine on 20 meters using the internal KX1 tuner - but on 40 meters I could not get the SWR under 4. Would a 4:1 balun help with this? Any links on how to build a simple balun using an aircore and not a torroid? Thanks a bunch! Burke Jones N0HYD Olathe, KS http://www.n0hyd.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
[Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I'm afraid my eyes and hands are beyond working on surface mount stuff. Years ago I predicted that the Ten Tec Omni VI might be the last rig that was fully user-repairable, meaning that because of its use of through-hole parts it could still be worked on by the common man. Shortly after I made that remark the K2 was introduced. So now perhaps only the K2 and perhaps one other kit currently out there (the DZkit Sienna) are the last of the user-repairable through-hole rigs. Hang on to those two, if you have them. I suppose the only thing working against the K2 and Sienna are the lifetimes of some of the ICs and transistors in them as semiconductor parts are constantly being obsoleted. (Irony: You can still easily find a 6L6 or 12AX7 but MRF 458's are extinct!) At that time I also wondered (after seeing the prices of original unopened Heathkits on eBay) whether it wouldn't be a great retirement investment to stockpile a few unopened and unbuilt Elecraft kits in the attic. Al W6LX __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] PDF manuals on iBooks
Maybe it's a function of the way the manual was downloaded and saved but I downloaded the manual, reviewed it in Preview in OSX and then saved it. All those pages have images using iBooks on my iPad. Rick K6LE On 6/3/2011, at 10:47 , Mike KS7D wrote: Ron, The bmp images all show up in iBooks, but the jpegs do not for the most part. For example, the images on the cover page and pages 10, 11, 13, 22, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 45 are missing. Mike ks7d Sent from my iPad __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night ... Tony, I recently assembled a NUE-PSK modem. It is pretty much all SMD. It wasn't all that bad to build. I'm 55 years old so my eyes aren't what they used to be. I didn't need any 'exotic' tools, just one of those illuminated headgear type magnifiers, an illuminated 20X loupe (got that sweet baby at American Science Surplus) and a temperature controlled soldering iron -- I have some off brand that I got at Fry's. Search youtube for some videos on how to solder SMD's. The trick is the rosin; it is kind of sticky. You glop up the board with that, stick the part on there. Verify with the loupe. Then ... here's the odd thing: put the solder on the iron then touch the iron on the part's pin/leg whatever. Works like a champ. The videos show you how to fix things like bridging solder where you don't need it. I read some QST article (I think) about how to convert a toaster oven to do mass soldering of SMD parts but that seems like overkill, especially if you're only building one board. Good Luck and 73, Ken K9LEA KX1 K1 ... so far This electronic message contains information from ACTIV Financial Systems, Inc. which may be privileged or confidential. The information is intended to be for the use of the individual(s) or entity named above. If you are not the intended recipient be aware that any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of the contents of this information is prohibited. If you have received this electronic message in error, please notify us by telephone or email (to the numbers or address above) immediately. Internet communications are not secure and therefore ACTIV does not accept any legal responsibility for the contents of this message. Although ACTIV operates anti-virus programs, it does not accept responsibility for any damage whatsoever that is caused by viruses that may be passed. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook]
If someone could design a decent affordable bluetooth headset with a reasonable PTT mechanism, I believe the radio world would beat a path to your door. Reasonable DOES NOT mean having to push a button on the ear piece. Unfortunately, as soon as one adds a hand operated PTT switch, the device is no longer hands free under most of the regulations. Better carry a copy of the statutes that exempt amateur radio operators and a copy of one's amateur license. 73, ... Joe, W4TV On 6/3/2011 1:24 PM, Dave New, N8SBE wrote: Actually, a bluetooth interface, especially for headset use, is a serious consideration. Most states have enacted a patchwork of anti-cellphone laws that to a greater or lesser degree adversely impact amateur (and other) radio operators. The purpose of this comment is NOT to start a thread on whether or not these various laws have merit. Rather, it is to set the background for a request to support handsfree usage of frankly, any of the phone rigs that Elecraft markets. There is a 3rd party that markets a bolt-on system to use with most any rig, but it is pricey (several hundred dollars) and clumsy (it seems that NO ONE makes a decent bluetooth headset for PTT operators). And that turns out to be the real challenge. If someone could design a decent affordable bluetooth headset with a reasonable PTT mechanism, I believe the radio world would beat a path to your door. Reasonable DOES NOT mean having to push a button on the ear piece. My apologies if this has been hashed to death on here before. I'm about a year behind reading all the older email on this list. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 netbook From: Leigh L. Klotz Jr WA5ZNUle...@wa5znu.org Date: Thu, June 02, 2011 6:12 pm To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Byron N6NUL wrote: Ok, Eric, you asked for it. Ready? Here we go: How about adding Bluetooth stereo audio, microphone, keyboard, and serial profiles to the KX3? The HFPack crowd would like this to, as I opined earlier. Stick radio in back, operate remotely from hand-held device (homebrew or commercial). Leigh/WA5ZNU -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-netbook-tp6428867p6433099.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth hands free interface (AWUI)
Dave I think you raise some very good points. The need for an Amateur Wireless User Interface (AWUI) is a great one. Note I did not say blue tooth for good reason. Bluetooth is full duplex where clearly a half-duplex solution is needed. Before you say you could use VOX think about the portable environment where you can't control the noise around you. Spectrum pollution brought to by the auto horn, the baby crying, and audible aids for the blind. If you want to see how not to do amateur Bluetooth (ABluetooth) look no further than Yaesu. Both stereo and monaural interfaces are offered for the FTM-350. Since it has two separate receivers a stereo interface makes a lot of sense. However their BH-1A (stereo) interface only works in stereo when listening to the commercial FM broadcast band! For the ham bands you need to use the BH-2A monaural interface. Thank you Elecraft for figuring out a stereo headset can be of great value in the ham bands. Furthermore when the cost of the BU-1 (Bluetooth) option and the headset is combined you have a gold plated option that doesn't even do what you want it to do. Oh, one more thing. Look at the Yaesu headset model numbers. The stereo is a dash 1 and the monaural a dash 2. I hope that was mentioned on that marketing guy's performance review. So how do you go about creating a better wireless interface? Sure it's sexy to leverage chipsets off the high volume applications like cell phone Bluetooth. I always like it when I can use a chip someone else has paid to develop. Maybe we should be looking at Zigbee chipset rather than Bluetooth. The wider bandwidth could be used to provide full remote control of the rig. At a minimum then provide the functions available on many of the DTMF microphones... Up/Down frequency, etc. Make the interface two parts so you can put the PTT interface on a belt clip. You could have a plug-in for a leg mounted key too. Don't make it as good as. Make it better. How cool to say you are using an Ah woo ie (AWUI). de Fred, AE6QL -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dave New, N8SBE Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 10:24 AM Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook] Actually, a bluetooth interface, especially for headset use, is a serious consideration. Most states have enacted a patchwork of anti-cellphone laws that to a greater or lesser degree adversely impact amateur (and other) radio operators. The purpose of this comment is NOT to start a thread on whether or not these various laws have merit. Rather, it is to set the background for a request to support handsfree usage of frankly, any of the phone rigs that Elecraft markets. There is a 3rd party that markets a bolt-on system to use with most any rig, but it is pricey (several hundred dollars) and clumsy (it seems that NO ONE makes a decent bluetooth headset for PTT operators). And that turns out to be the real challenge. If someone could design a decent affordable bluetooth headset with a reasonable PTT mechanism, I believe the radio world would beat a path to your door. Reasonable DOES NOT mean having to push a button on the ear piece. My apologies if this has been hashed to death on here before. I'm about a year behind reading all the older email on this list. 73,-- Dave, N8SBE __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook]
Mount the switch on the steering wheel? (ala car stereo controls) ./Ben Unfortunately, as soon as one adds a hand operated PTT switch, the device is no longer hands free under most of the regulations. Better carry a copy of the statutes that exempt amateur radio operators and a copy of one's amateur license. 73, ... Joe, W4TV __ 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
[Elecraft] KX3 made me buy K3
Well, I saw the fuss made of the kx3 on various networks and signed on for a new one when they become available. THEN, I read on, and it seemed the K3, on investigation, was an even better piece of kit, especially for a base station operation. As an avid follower of SDR (built a few HPSDR modules) the K3 seemed ideal for me, What with the reviews and the customer support reported (and now experienced) to be so good, I put an order in for a K3 the same day. (Always been impulsive!) I just hope I've paid for it by the time the KX3 is released. I am an old licence, but been inactive for 20 years, this is my first new rig in that long. These new diigi modes and amateur radio internet sites have been the main difference I've noticed in that time, that and anything above 14Mhz seems closed. I last operated at sunspot maxima, Australia to Uk on 10 meters no problem, every day.. Cant wait for the kit to arrive, already preparing the neighbours for what I can get away with antenna wise. Thanks Elecraft, good no know boffins and people with abilities can still whip the Japanese corporates. -- *Iain Haywood G4SGX* __ 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
[Elecraft] [K3] PDF MANUALS IMAGES BUG...SOLVED!!!!
Hy to all, i found a solution to what discussed the past days. The problem was that iOs devices like iPad iPhone and so doesn't displays images contained in pdf manuals newer. The problem seems to be known as a compression bug; iOs doesn't support jpeg2000 instead of simple jpeg. Well i don't know if the problem was really this one or what but i made today some google search and found on a forum the solution. On a pc: 1) Open in adobe reader your file (i tried K3 assembly manual) 2) Select file then print and select as printer the adobe pdf virtual printer (or the other you have in the list) 3) In properties select a location where to save the new file will be created and change the name from the original one 4) Virtual print the file 5) Send the new file to the device and voilà.the die is cast! On a Mac (i didn't try it cause i don't have a Mac but it seems equally works) 1) Open the file in Mac's standard Preview application 2) Go to File menu and select Save As command 3) Resave the file as a new PDF with a new name 4) Send the new file to tour device Hope to have been usefull. 73s and my best regards to all - Pippo IZ2NYY -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K3-PDF-MANUALS-IMAGES-BUG-SOLVED-tp6436768p6436768.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
Re: [Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet
That's a bad design for 40m because the input resistance is only about 3 ohms. The designer was concerned about the radiation pattern resembling a dipole on higher frequencies with little regard to matching. Using a 4:1 balun would do the opposite of what you want to accomplish. 5 ohms is difficult for any tuner to match and can cause a lot of power loss in the circuit and with higher power, burn up a torroid coil! That balun would drop the impedance to an insane value. Generally a multiband doublet should be 1/2 wavelength on the lowest band. That's about 65 feet for 40m cw. Also that feedline that the author used no doubt has a rather low impedance which further complicates things. I'de guess it is about 100 ohms. Using 300 tv twin lead would help raise the Z for your tuner to about 15 ohms on 40m even with the 44' flat top. Try that first. If all else fails, tie the feeders together and feed it like a long wire against a counterpoise. Steve N4LQ - Original Message - From: Burke Jones burkejo...@gmail.com To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 2:44 PM Subject: [Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet I constructed a Norcal Doublet using some speaker wire. It seems to tune up fine on 20 meters using the internal KX1 tuner - but on 40 meters I could not get the SWR under 4. Would a 4:1 balun help with this? Any links on how to build a simple balun using an aircore and not a torroid? Thanks a bunch! Burke Jones N0HYD Olathe, KS http://www.n0hyd.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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Joe Subich, W4TV wrote: All you have to do is write down the total value (in US$) and an adequate description. AMATEUR RADIO PARTS is usually close enough. That's all - you're done. That works in western countries. However, anything containing radio is automatically contraband in many countries outside Western Europe and the Americas. Could you name any such countries to which a private US citizen would actually be *likely* to make a shipment? I regularly ship AMATEUR RADIO PARTS - truthfully declared on the Customs form - to a wide range of countries (including India and even distant Alaska :-) without any problems. There are often import taxes to be paid, but that is a different issue. In 12 years and almost 2000 shipments I have never had a single report that the import of AMATEUR RADIO PARTS was not legal. -- 73 from Ian GM3SEK http://www.ifwtech.co.uk/g3sek __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] [K3] PDF MANUALS IMAGES BUG...SOLVED!!!!
I tried on iPad: iBooks, Documents to Go and Goodreader. Cheers - Pippo IZ2NYY -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/K3-PDF-MANUALS-IMAGES-BUG-SOLVED-tp6436768p6436801.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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
[Elecraft] Linux for use with a K3
Didn't get through, maybe the censors didn't like the look of it, so here's another try using a different incantation. Original Message Subject: Linux suggestion Date: Fri, 03 Jun 2011 21:19:24 +1200 From: Paul Saville ephemeral.z...@zl3in.net To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net To the digger who was asking, I had a brain brown-out and deleted your message, but you might try Puppy Linux on your older PC - crikey dick, it's even Australian! __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
The KX3 has hundreds of SMDs. Many of them are so small that I need a magnifying glass just to find them. Soldering them by hand is tedious and fraught with peril (all of us on the team do it, but we don't enjoy it). A full kit would be impossible to support and not profitable. Sorry about that. 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:25 AM, Tony Estep wrote: You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night I ordered a Softrock. From reading the assembly manual I can see that this is a long-tailed project, but I'm determined to remain optimistic. My intention is to use it as an interface for CW Skimmer, taking IF out the back of my P3. We shall see... If I ever get it to work, I'll report back here. Tony KT0NY __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Kit and assembled will work exactly alike, just as with a K3. Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:03 AM, Jim Brown wrote: On 6/3/2011 10:45 AM, Mike Morrow wrote: At the other extreme, a screwdriver-only semi-kit can easily be the quality of a factory-assembled version. This is especially true if the boards are individually tested prior to shipment, as they are at Elecraft. 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet
For a center fed wire 44' long (the dimensions of the Norcal Doublet) EZNEC shows an antenna feedpoint Z of 23-j570 ohms. If fed with 28' of 300 ohm line the feed line losses are approx. 2.4 dB. Somewhat high but may be acceptable. The losses in the proposed stranded computer cable (and speaker wire) are probably higher, but are unknown. Again assuming 28' of 300 ohm line, the Z at the line input would be approx. 11+j155 ohms. It would not be a good idea to run this through a 4:1 balun and come out with ~3+j39. That would make matching more difficult and losses worse instead of better. Generally a multiband dipole should be a minimum of about 3/8 wl on the lowest band of interest. If one uses 300 ohm or 450 line to feed it the losses are usually acceptable. If using a resonant antenna as a multiband wire, on the higher bands the Z at the center of the wire will become quite high and this is not a particularly good idea. Better to make the wire non-resonant on all bands and avoid the high impedances. The problem here is likely the limited matching range of the KXAT1 tuner. Have to get a wider range tuner . . . BTW, when you post an antenna question it is a really good idea to give the dimensions of the wire. Not everyone knows what a Norcal Doublet is. 73 de dave ab9ca/4 I constructed a Norcal Doublet using some speaker wire. It seems to tune up fine on 20 meters using the internal KX1 tuner - but on 40 meters I could not get the SWR under 4. Would a 4:1 balun help with this? Any links on how to build a simple balun using an aircore and not a torroid? Thanks a bunch! Burke Jones N0HYD Olathe, KS http://www.n0hyd.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
[Elecraft] Shipping method for KPA500 in the UK
I am about to order the KPA500, just curious which shipping method others in the UK are using. Any thoughts please? Thanks 73 Roger MW0IDX K3 #191 K2 #2724 KX1 #416 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Sending radios to ZL is fairly safe, because most of the mail workers can't read, and the stagecoach that carries the mail has a guy with a six-shooter to fight off the bandits, so the loss rate is zero. It's a different story with anything containing drugs or porno though, because that is still considered contraband, except in The Netherlands. 73 Paul ZL3IN ;-) On 4/06/2011 1:31 a.m., Joe Subich, W4TV wrote: That works in western countries. However, anything containing radio is automatically contraband in many countries outside Western Europe and the Americas. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook]
Ben, Someone recently had written an article (in QST?) about re-purposing some of the steering-wheel mounted switches in his vehicle. He was snooping on the vehicle bus for this application. Not for the timid, I would think, and pretty specialized by vehicle manufacturer. Otherwise, mounting a PPT switch somehow on the wheel, assuming the mechanical issues are overcome -- how do you route the wiring, or if it is wireless itself, how do you get power to it, or does it use a small button cell battery? You can see that the devil is in the details. Joe, You probably have a point, but not every state or locality has that particular restriction. In the few cases I've studied, they seem to dwell on hand held devices. If you have a PPT switch clipped to your shirt, you may be OK. But of course, we all know that the arresting officer is not being paid to make judgement calls of that sort. I'd rather not debate the legalities on this list, since that could very quickly explode into something that Eric would have to squash. I just brought it up as a thought starter for the 'wish list', if the Elecraft folks could come up with an imaginative way to implement this at a reasonable cost. I live in SE Michigan, and right now, I can't use my amateur equipment in nearby Ontario when mobile, because they have a no handheld devices, except first responders law in effect. Cramps my style, you see. 8-) 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook] From: ~BG~ archie...@gmail.com Date: Fri, June 03, 2011 4:13 pm To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Mount the switch on the steering wheel? (ala car stereo controls) ./Ben Unfortunately, as soon as one adds a hand operated PTT switch, the device is no longer hands free under most of the regulations. Better carry a copy of the statutes that exempt amateur radio operators and a copy of one's amateur license. 73, ... Joe, W4TV __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth hands free interface (AWUI)
Fred, Thanks for your insights on this subject (AWUI). A new twist in bluetooth is BLE (bluetooth low energy). Likely subject to the same limitations as regular bluetooth, but promises to be accommodated in low-power devices that regular bluetooth power levels would quickly drain. The only example of a product currently using BLE that I know of is a heart rate monitor for folks that are exercising. The signal from the chest band is picked up by a bluetooth-equipped smartphone and piped into a app that tracks your workouts. There are complaints from users, though, that the BLE signal doesn't penetrate their bodies -- if they put their smartphone in their back pouch when bicycling, for instance, their body blocks the signal. Might be OK, though, for headphone/headset applications. TI has a BLE mini development kit CC2540, which is sitting on my office desk. I've not had the time to play with it, yet. Comes with programming cables, etc., so you can experiment with the technology. 73, -- Dave, N8SBE Original Message Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Bluetooth hands free interface (AWUI) From: Fred Townsend ftowns...@sbcglobal.net Date: Fri, June 03, 2011 4:04 pm To: 'Dave New, N8SBE' n8...@arrl.net Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Dave I think you raise some very good points. The need for an Amateur Wireless User Interface (AWUI) is a great one. Note I did not say blue tooth for good reason. Bluetooth is full duplex where clearly a half-duplex solution is needed. Before you say you could use VOX think about the portable environment where you can't control the noise around you. Spectrum pollution brought to by the auto horn, the baby crying, and audible aids for the blind. If you want to see how not to do amateur Bluetooth (ABluetooth) look no further than Yaesu. Both stereo and monaural interfaces are offered for the FTM-350. Since it has two separate receivers a stereo interface makes a lot of sense. However their BH-1A (stereo) interface only works in stereo when listening to the commercial FM broadcast band! For the ham bands you need to use the BH-2A monaural interface. Thank you Elecraft for figuring out a stereo headset can be of great value in the ham bands. Furthermore when the cost of the BU-1 (Bluetooth) option and the headset is combined you have a gold plated option that doesn't even do what you want it to do. Oh, one more thing. Look at the Yaesu headset model numbers. The stereo is a dash 1 and the monaural a dash 2. I hope that was mentioned on that marketing guy's performance review. So how do you go about creating a better wireless interface? Sure it's sexy to leverage chipsets off the high volume applications like cell phone Bluetooth. I always like it when I can use a chip someone else has paid to develop. Maybe we should be looking at Zigbee chipset rather than Bluetooth. The wider bandwidth could be used to provide full remote control of the rig. At a minimum then provide the functions available on many of the DTMF microphones... Up/Down frequency, etc. Make the interface two parts so you can put the PTT interface on a belt clip. You could have a plug-in for a leg mounted key too. Don't make it as good as. Make it better. How cool to say you are using an Ah woo ie (AWUI). de Fred, AE6QL -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dave New, N8SBE Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 10:24 AM Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth handsfree interface [was: KX3 netbook] Actually, a bluetooth interface, especially for headset use, is a serious consideration. Most states have enacted a patchwork of anti-cellphone laws that to a greater or lesser degree adversely impact amateur (and other) radio operators. The purpose of this comment is NOT to start a thread on whether or not these various laws have merit. Rather, it is to set the background for a request to support handsfree usage of frankly, any of the phone rigs that Elecraft markets. There is a 3rd party that markets a bolt-on system to use with most any rig, but it is pricey (several hundred dollars) and clumsy (it seems that NO ONE makes a decent bluetooth headset for PTT operators). And that turns out to be the real challenge. If someone could design a decent affordable bluetooth headset with a reasonable PTT mechanism, I believe the radio world would beat a path to your door. Reasonable DOES NOT mean having to push a button on the ear piece. My apologies if this has been hashed to death on here before. I'm about a year behind reading all the older email on this list. 73,-- Dave, N8SBE __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet
Steve N4LQ said: Using a 4:1 balun would do the opposite of what you want to accomplish. 5 ohms is difficult for any tuner to match and can cause a lot of power loss in the circuit and with higher power, burn up a torroid coil! That balun would drop the impedance to an insane value. Thanks Steve - you've inadvertantly answered my question/problem as well...I think: http://www.ae5x.com/blog/2011/06/03/problem-possible-solution-question/ John AE5X __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Even though I have the tracking information, as a final courtesy to the buyer, I send a follow-up e-mail to ensure not that it arrived, which I know, but that it arrived in the condition that it left my possession. I'm not happy if the buyer isn't. Yes, USPS has improved their tracking system, I was recently able to follow a shipment from the origin to my mailbox. Before I'm not sure if I even knew where it was coming from; only when to expect it in the mailbox. Recently I ordered a Tablet PC from Amazon, and was surprised that they shipped it via USPS. What I can't figure out is the reason that it's scheduled to take until next Wednesday to get here from the Seattle area. When Amazon has shipped books from Seattle previously, they took two business days to arrive, whether via USPS or UPS. 73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/2/2011 8:41 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: Erik, Recently, I had a package shipped to me - USPS and it had delivery confirmation paid for and applied to it. The sender did not bother check the tracking to see whether it was delivered - he instead sent me an email (which I had to take the time and effort to respond to) asking if I had received the parcel. So, if that was his intent, why did he pay the $0.70 for delivery confirmation service. And secondly, since he paid for DC service, why did he bother me with questions when he could have inquired of the service he had paid for? It all remains a mystery to me - why do some buy premium gasoline when their cars are designed to run on regular? - it is one more of those mysteries that make no real sense - take advantage of the services that you are paying for, otherwise, why pay for them? If one does not use them, then the cost is not justified. USPS has improved its tracking in the last year or so - before that, you could tell when it was shipped and when it was delivered, but nothing in between. They have improved, with real tracking information, so those paying for delivery confirmation, the delivery confirmation number (or in the case of international shipments, the customs number) will give you the location of the parcel at any given time. If you send a parcel through USPS with Delivery Confirmation, you can now go to the USPS.com website and sign up for email notices of the progress - if you are the shipper, you can request those notifications be sent to the recipient (and you as well if you have interest) - that is not automatic, but it is easy to do. 73, Don W3FPR __ 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
[Elecraft] Shipping Rates
Hi All, Just a little plug for USPS. Their Priority Flat Rate service is very good and is by far the best rate if, your shipment will qualify. As an example, just this week I shipped a package in their medium sized container(box about 12x10x 6) to a S.E. US address that ended up being quite heavy. Weight in this service is unlimited. In the same time frame, I received a package, by Fed X, in about the same sized container and weighing about 1/3 as much, from DEMI (also S.E. US) and I was charged almost twice as much. My package(USPS Priority Flat Rate) arrived in two days but the one from DEMI(Fed X) took over a week. Also I just placed an order for some optional items for my K3 from Elecraft, and their USPS quote was slightly higher than UPS, but their Sales Person claimed to know nothing about the USPS Priority Flat Rate service and could only quote Priority Parcel Post rates. Not only would the Priority Flat Rate service have been considerably less expensive, but the USPS also provides their shipping containers (boxes) free. Elecraft needs to investigate this potential customer cost savings, and also the USPS really needs our business, in order to stay in business, because as I understand it, they are not Federally subsidized. That's why I have all my mail, subscriptions and bills, etc., come via the USPS versus electronically. Our little rural community P.O. has some of the most helpful and friendly clerks that I've ever run into ! 73, Chuck, W7CS __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Shipping Rates
Actually, I believe the limit is 70 lbs. I think you have to use their Flat Rate boxes [they're free and they have several sizes and shapes with different postage costs], and I think part of the reason for the limit is the strength of the boxes. Their slogan is, If it fits, it ships, which may not be exactly totally true :-) We use them to send care packages to the US troops we adopt and they work great. 73, Fred K6DGW Auburn CA On 6/3/2011 10:10 PM, Chuck Smallhouse wrote: Just a little plug for USPS. Their Priority Flat Rate service is very good and is by far the best rate if, your shipment will qualify. As an example, just this week I shipped a package in their medium sized container(box about 12x10x 6) to a S.E. US address that ended up being quite heavy. Weight in this service is unlimited. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX1 + Tuner + Norcal Doublet
Buddipole has a Triple Ratio Switched Balun that will match a 50 ohm feed line to 50, 25, or 12 ohm antenna impedance. You could use a Pomona 1296 BNC male to banana plug/binding post adapter with your existing antenna. http://www.buddipole.com/trraswbat.html Regardless of what their on-line store says, they DO have it in stock. Call them. -- Moe - AB8XA Elecraft KX1 #2484, Fists #13020, SKCC #7460, FPQRP #2617, NAQCC #5352, QRP-ARCI #14326 On Jun 3, 2011, at 5:57 PM, John Harper wrote: Steve N4LQ said: Using a 4:1 balun would do the opposite of what you want to accomplish. 5 ohms is difficult for any tuner to match and can cause a lot of power loss in the circuit and with higher power, burn up a torroid coil! That balun would drop the impedance to an insane value. Thanks Steve - you've inadvertantly answered my question/problem as well...I think: http://www.ae5x.com/blog/2011/06/03/problem-possible-solution-question/ John AE5X __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Shipping Rates
Chuck, there is a limit, but it's 70 lbs which is the limit for anything shipped by the USPS. Like you, I'm a big fan. I use the Priority Mail flat rate boxes all the time. If you pay for the postage online you can print the label, get signature confirmation, save a few cents and you can just hand it to your postman, no trip to the Post Office necessary. The package is there in just 2 or 3 days. The one time that it took longer than that, about a week, they refunded the postage to the credit card that I used to pay online. I wish more people would use them. Rob NV5E Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 15:10:35 -0700 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net; elecraft@mailman.qth.net From: w...@theriver.com Subject: [Elecraft] Shipping Rates Hi All, Just a little plug for USPS. Their Priority Flat Rate service is very good and is by far the best rate if, your shipment will qualify. As an example, just this week I shipped a package in their medium sized container(box about 12x10x 6) to a S.E. US address that ended up being quite heavy. Weight in this service is unlimited. In the same time frame, I received a package, by Fed X, in about the same sized container and weighing about 1/3 as much, from DEMI (also S.E. US) and I was charged almost twice as much. My package(USPS Priority Flat Rate) arrived in two days but the one from DEMI(Fed X) took over a week. Also I just placed an order for some optional items for my K3 from Elecraft, and their USPS quote was slightly higher than UPS, but their Sales Person claimed to know nothing about the USPS Priority Flat Rate service and could only quote Priority Parcel Post rates. Not only would the Priority Flat Rate service have been considerably less expensive, but the USPS also provides their shipping containers (boxes) free. Elecraft needs to investigate this potential customer cost savings, and also the USPS really needs our business, in order to stay in business, because as I understand it, they are not Federally subsidized. That's why I have all my mail, subscriptions and bills, etc., come via the USPS versus electronically. Our little rural community P.O. has some of the most helpful and friendly clerks that I've ever run into ! 73, Chuck, W7CS __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
You might be waiting a long time, Al, since having value as an unassembled kit would require that Elecraft no longer produce the kit in question. Yet another thing that I like about the Elecraft design philosophy. Just because they came up with the K3, they didn't stop selling the K2. In fact, consider the following: I started out with the basic 10w K2, and added options as needed over the years. Recently I've been thinking about getting the 60m option, which includes the transverter interface. When the K2 was introduced, we didn't have any spectrum allocated on 60m, and the concept of interfacing seamlessly with a transverter was probably a distant vision at best. But now, 10+ years later, these features have been incorporated into the design of the K2 and can now be added as desired. Try that with the Big Three. You can bet that when 60m became available to hams, it would be on their latest and greatest new radio, with no hope for backward compatibility with prior models. Elecraft and Ten-Tec are OK in my book. With the exception of the FT-817 and FT-847, every radio in the shack here is from a current or past US manufacturer. 72/73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/3/2011 11:56 AM, Al Lorona wrote: At that time I also wondered (after seeing the prices of original unopened Heathkits on eBay) whether it wouldn't be a great retirement investment to stockpile a few unopened and unbuilt Elecraft kits in the attic. Al W6LX __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Shipping Rates
I'm a fan also. The flat rate envelopes to Europe are a steal. Limit 4 pounds but it is fast. You can square up the envelops to take thicker items . For both the US and overseas shipments I always put clear packing tape on all the edges to reinforce them. Also I recommend you put the items in a plastic bag first as I did have one get wet on a corneer once. Could happen with UPS and FedEX also. David K0LUM At 5:37 PM -0500 6/3/11, Rob May wrote: Chuck, there is a limit, but it's 70 lbs which is the limit for anything shipped by the USPS. Like you, I'm a big fan. I use the Priority Mail flat rate boxes all the time. If you pay for the postage online you can print the label, get signature confirmation, save a few cents and you can just hand it to your postman, no trip to the Post Office necessary. The package is there in just 2 or 3 days. The one time that it took longer than that, about a week, they refunded the postage to the credit card that I used to pay online. I wish more people would use them. Rob NV5E __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I think I love my K2 just a little more than my K3 just because I spent the time and effort building it one piece at a time. While the K3 is an exceptional performer, the K2 is still very superior to so many other rigs and is an absolute pleasure to operate. Long live the K2. (Some years ago while chatting with Wayne and Eric, they said that they had purchased a substantial quantity of the critical through-hole components most likely to disappear from the market. So, I suspect that the K2 will be around for quite some time. I'm willing to take bets it will still be here in 10 years) 73, Doug -- K0DXV On 6/3/2011 4:51 PM, Jim Lowman wrote: You might be waiting a long time, Al, since having value as an unassembled kit would require that Elecraft no longer produce the kit in question. Yet another thing that I like about the Elecraft design philosophy. Just because they came up with the K3, they didn't stop selling the K2. In fact, consider the following: I started out with the basic 10w K2, and added options as needed over the years. Recently I've been thinking about getting the 60m option, which includes the transverter interface. When the K2 was introduced, we didn't have any spectrum allocated on 60m, and the concept of interfacing seamlessly with a transverter was probably a distant vision at best. But now, 10+ years later, these features have been incorporated into the design of the K2 and can now be added as desired. Try that with the Big Three. You can bet that when 60m became available to hams, it would be on their latest and greatest new radio, with no hope for backward compatibility with prior models. Elecraft and Ten-Tec are OK in my book. With the exception of the FT-817 and FT-847, every radio in the shack here is from a current or past US manufacturer. 72/73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/3/2011 11:56 AM, Al Lorona wrote: At that time I also wondered (after seeing the prices of original unopened Heathkits on eBay) whether it wouldn't be a great retirement investment to stockpile a few unopened and unbuilt Elecraft kits in the attic. Al W6LX __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
The USAF logistics folks call that a Lifetime Buy. Hapens a lot since many airplanes have lifetimes of 30 years or more [50+ for B-52's]. My guess is the K2 will remain attractive to many people for a long time, maybe 30 years? Fred K6DGW On 6/3/2011 11:10 PM, Doug Person wrote: (Some years ago while chatting with Wayne and Eric, they said that they had purchased a substantial quantity of the critical through-hole components most likely to disappear from the market. __ 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
[Elecraft] OT Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
All: In seeing some discussion on the exchange of funds when selling Electraft equipment, I wanted to share a possible solution with everyone: Dwolla. When I first heard about this (and signed up), I thought about how I might use this in the future when buying or selling used equipment. Essentially, it's an on-line bank account where users can give money to one another easily with each having the confidence of knowing that the monies are real (no bounced checks) and will transfer very quickly. One can then place funds into this account from a bank account or withdraw funds to a bank account. See www.dwolla.com for more info. If anyone has questions not answered by the website, please feel free to reply off list. (By way of transparency, my employer holds a minority position in Dwolla, though I myself have no direct relationship, beyond being a user.) Brian KD0HII __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] OT Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Well, I recently sold 2 Elecraft rigs outside the U.S. It gave me a chance to make a new friend and to do a little business in French, an opportunity I rarely get in St. Louis MO. I sent them via USPS and they arrived within the promised time frame. Filling out the customs forms is simple and takes 3 minutes; the post office lady had no trouble answering my questions. I've heard from friends who have had bad experiences, but there are good ones as well. Tony KT0NY __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private sales of used Elecraft Rigs
You may be aware that the US Postal Service is in dire straits. This week's Business Week has a thorough article on it. http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/11_23/b4231060885070.htm Jim N7US __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Private sales of used Elecraft Rigs
Remember Amazon ships from all over the country using the nearest stock. de, Fred AE6QL -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Jim Lowman Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 3:06 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Private sales of used Elecraft Rigs Even though I have the tracking information, as a final courtesy to the buyer, I send a follow-up e-mail to ensure not that it arrived, which I know, but that it arrived in the condition that it left my possession. I'm not happy if the buyer isn't. Yes, USPS has improved their tracking system, I was recently able to follow a shipment from the origin to my mailbox. Before I'm not sure if I even knew where it was coming from; only when to expect it in the mailbox. Recently I ordered a Tablet PC from Amazon, and was surprised that they shipped it via USPS. What I can't figure out is the reason that it's scheduled to take until next Wednesday to get here from the Seattle area. When Amazon has shipped books from Seattle previously, they took two business days to arrive, whether via USPS or UPS. 73 de Jim - AD6CW On 6/2/2011 8:41 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote: Erik, Recently, I had a package shipped to me - USPS and it had delivery confirmation paid for and applied to it. The sender did not bother check the tracking to see whether it was delivered - he instead sent me an email (which I had to take the time and effort to respond to) asking if I had received the parcel. So, if that was his intent, why did he pay the $0.70 for delivery confirmation service. And secondly, since he paid for DC service, why did he bother me with questions when he could have inquired of the service he had paid for? It all remains a mystery to me - why do some buy premium gasoline when their cars are designed to run on regular? - it is one more of those mysteries that make no real sense - take advantage of the services that you are paying for, otherwise, why pay for them? If one does not use them, then the cost is not justified. USPS has improved its tracking in the last year or so - before that, you could tell when it was shipped and when it was delivered, but nothing in between. They have improved, with real tracking information, so those paying for delivery confirmation, the delivery confirmation number (or in the case of international shipments, the customs number) will give you the location of the parcel at any given time. If you send a parcel through USPS with Delivery Confirmation, you can now go to the USPS.com website and sign up for email notices of the progress - if you are the shipper, you can request those notifications be sent to the recipient (and you as well if you have interest) - that is not automatic, but it is easy to do. 73, Don W3FPR __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
Good! I love building radios and I have just started my marriage to the K2. Last year I built the full blown K1 and I loved it so much, the K2 was the logical next step. Now I have a grand idea of how I want to build and setup my K2 and then people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close. I really hope not! I think the K2 Kit and add-ons fills a big void out there. There is still in my honest opinion a big need for these style of kits. All I know is I am now going to step up and purchase everything I want and need more sooner than later. Long live the K2! :-) 73 DeW2EEC Eric __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I think this is a basic misunderstanding of the rhetoric. The last of the through-hole kits does not imply that the K2 will (or will not) be abandoned. It simply implies that NEW TO THE MASS MARKET kits will probably not be of the through-hole variety. Google on kits or something similar and you will find very many small outfits that sell kits of the through-hole type or kits with limited numbers of SMD components. For the larger markets, there are just too many cost-saving aspects to the use of SM devices for it to be practical to ignore them. John Ragle -- W1ZI = On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: ...people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close... __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] OT Private Sales of used Elecraft Rigs
I pretty much had the same experience. Some places you have to worry about the post office on the receiving end. I once sent a TS-850 to Belarus. It was triple boxed. A total of five inches of peanuts. They still managed to damage it substantially. So I'm a little picky about where I send things. But, for the most part, its pretty easy. Doug -- K0DXV On 6/3/2011 5:43 PM, Tony Estep wrote: Well, I recently sold 2 Elecraft rigs outside the U.S. It gave me a chance to make a new friend and to do a little business in French, an opportunity I rarely get in St. Louis MO. I sent them via USPS and they arrived within the promised time frame. Filling out the customs forms is simple and takes 3 minutes; the post office lady had no trouble answering my questions. I've heard from friends who have had bad experiences, but there are good ones as well. Tony KT0NY __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
The K2 is alive and well. All of the parts we used 10 years ago are still in production or we have substitutes for them. For example, one IC we use on a K2 option module recently became unobtainium, so we switched to new part and changed the board layout. It's a surface-mount part, and we'll just install it ahead of time, as we do for a couple of parts on the KX1, T1, etc. You still get to solder the other several hundred parts :) 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 5:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: Good! I love building radios and I have just started my marriage to the K2. Last year I built the full blown K1 and I loved it so much, the K2 was the logical next step. Now I have a grand idea of how I want to build and setup my K2 and then people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close. I really hope not! I think the K2 Kit and add-ons fills a big void out there. There is still in my honest opinion a big need for these style of kits. All I know is I am now going to step up and purchase everything I want and need more sooner than later. Long live the K2! :-) __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I think you're absolutely correct. Still, it wasn't long ago that someone was expressing concern that the K2 was obsolete and could be dropped from the line. I don't particularly like working with SMDs. Bu, facing the inevitable, I just ordered a stereo microscope designed for working with them wee little parts. That, a hot air rework station and a vacuum picker and I think I'm set. I built one small SMD kit. And like I said - I don't really enjoy it. The parts are pain to work with. Doug -- K0DXV On 6/3/2011 7:04 PM, John Ragle wrote: I think this is a basic misunderstanding of the rhetoric. The last of the through-hole kits does not imply that the K2 will (or will not) be abandoned. It simply implies that NEW TO THE MASS MARKET kits will probably not be of the through-hole variety. Google on kits or something similar and you will find very many small outfits that sell kits of the through-hole type or kits with limited numbers of SMD components. For the larger markets, there are just too many cost-saving aspects to the use of SM devices for it to be practical to ignore them. John Ragle -- W1ZI = On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: ...people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close... __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
Do you guys do all the SMD soldering by hand? I'd be guessing that the current volumes shipped you guys would've been able to invest in a placement machine. Small ones have been becoming reasonable affordable these days (e.g. small outfits like Adafruit have been using one some their higher volume Arduino kits and accessories). ./Ben On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com wrote: The KX3 has hundreds of SMDs. Many of them are so small that I need a magnifying glass just to find them. Soldering them by hand is tedious and fraught with peril (all of us on the team do it, but we don't enjoy it). A full kit would be impossible to support and not profitable. Sorry about that. 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:25 AM, Tony Estep wrote: You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night I ordered a Softrock. From reading the assembly manual I can see that this is a long-tailed project, but I'm determined to remain optimistic. My intention is to use it as an interface for CW Skimmer, taking IF out the back of my P3. We shall see... If I ever get it to work, I'll report back here. Tony KT0NY __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
All of our SMD soldering is fully automated. Wayne On Jun 3, 2011, at 6:31 PM, ~BG~ wrote: Do you guys do all the SMD soldering by hand? I'd be guessing that the current volumes shipped you guys would've been able to invest in a placement machine. Small ones have been becoming reasonable affordable these days (e.g. small outfits like Adafruit have been using one some their higher volume Arduino kits and accessories). ./Ben On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com wrote: The KX3 has hundreds of SMDs. Many of them are so small that I need a magnifying glass just to find them. Soldering them by hand is tedious and fraught with peril (all of us on the team do it, but we don't enjoy it). A full kit would be impossible to support and not profitable. Sorry about that. 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:25 AM, Tony Estep wrote: You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night I ordered a Softrock. From reading the assembly manual I can see that this is a long-tailed project, but I'm determined to remain optimistic. My intention is to use it as an interface for CW Skimmer, taking IF out the back of my P3. We shall see... If I ever get it to work, I'll report back here. Tony KT0NY __ 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 __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Is the KX3 going to be sold as a kit?
I should add that all of our leaded-part soldering is automated, too, except when customers do the assembly. Wayne On Jun 3, 2011, at 6:34 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote: All of our SMD soldering is fully automated. Wayne On Jun 3, 2011, at 6:31 PM, ~BG~ wrote: Do you guys do all the SMD soldering by hand? I'd be guessing that the current volumes shipped you guys would've been able to invest in a placement machine. Small ones have been becoming reasonable affordable these days (e.g. small outfits like Adafruit have been using one some their higher volume Arduino kits and accessories). ./Ben On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 2:03 PM, Wayne Burdick n...@elecraft.com wrote: The KX3 has hundreds of SMDs. Many of them are so small that I need a magnifying glass just to find them. Soldering them by hand is tedious and fraught with peril (all of us on the team do it, but we don't enjoy it). A full kit would be impossible to support and not profitable. Sorry about that. 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 11:25 AM, Tony Estep wrote: You guys are killing me with this gloomy talk about SMDs. Just last night I ordered a Softrock. From reading the assembly manual I can see that this is a long-tailed project, but I'm determined to remain optimistic. My intention is to use it as an interface for CW Skimmer, taking IF out the back of my P3. We shall see... If I ever get it to work, I'll report back here. Tony KT0NY __ 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 __ 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 __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
Eric, I believe I was one of the first responders to the initial question. I did say that the K2 was a mature product, but by no means does that make it obsolete or near the end of its life. Elecraft will continue to offer the K2 as a kit, and will continue to provide support for it - for who knows how long? -- until the labor effort to kit it exceeds the profitability is my best guess for that answer. Most of the parts in the K2 will either be continued to be available, or suitable substitutes will be available. For instance, the IF amplifier, the MC1350 used to be available in a DIP package, but now is difficult to find in that format, but is available in SMD format. Elecraft's solution was to put the SMD part on a carrier board that could be mounted in the original DIP holes. If the same fate occurs with other ICs such as the SA612 Gilbert Cell mixer/product detector, I am certain that the same carrier board (but with an SA612, etc. rather than the MC1350) can be used. A similar argument could be made for most any other active component in the K2. Through-hole resistors and capacitors are likely to be available for many years to come, if for no other reason than to satisfy the DIY builders. Even if those parts do dry up, it is not very difficult to devise a scheme to use SMD parts in their place. So, IMHO, parts availability will determine the life of the K2 (and K1 and KX1) - those designs do not use exotic parts, so availability of parts in one form or another should continue for a long time. OK, I do not have a crystal ball to tell me the ins and outs of parts availability, but what I can say is that the parts used in the K2 are common enough that replacements should be available for a long time, even if those replacements are in SMD format. Any K2 will work for years if it is not abused. My now (almost) 12 year old Field Test K2 is still up and running, and I expect it to do so for another 10, 20, or 30 years. If something fails, it can be fixed by one means or another, and I expect its performance will not degrade during that period. However, my hopes for additional mods or upgrades to the K2 are nil - at least those coming from Elecraft (that is what a mature product usually means). Any enhancements to my K2 will be mods of my own doing, and those will be done on a one-off basis (for my own use). I may offer those mods to the general K2 public, but they will not be Elecraft sanctioned. 73, Don W3FPR On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: Good! I love building radios and I have just started my marriage to the K2. Last year I built the full blown K1 and I loved it so much, the K2 was the logical next step. Now I have a grand idea of how I want to build and setup my K2 and then people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close. I really hope not! I think the K2 Kit and add-ons fills a big void out there. There is still in my honest opinion a big need for these style of kits. All I know is I am now going to step up and purchase everything I want and need more sooner than later. Long live the K2! :-) 73 DeW2EEC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I, for one, would love an all SMD kit. 0201 chip passives and BGA would be too hard core, but 0402+ and gullwings... bring on the cut-tape and tubes baby. Soldercream anyone? John On 6/3/11 9:12 PM, Doug Person wrote: I don't particularly like working with SMDs. Bu, facing the inevitable, I just ordered a stereo microscope designed for working with them wee little parts. That, a hot air rework station and a vacuum picker and I think I'm set. I built one small SMD kit. And like I said - I don't really enjoy it. The parts are pain to work with. Doug -- K0DXV On 6/3/2011 7:04 PM, John Ragle wrote: I think this is a basic misunderstanding of the rhetoric. The last of the through-hole kits does not imply that the K2 will (or will not) be __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Clock Sync and JT65A
I use data a at 50 hz all the time KD8NNU Sent from my Palm Pre on the Now Network from Sprint On Jun 2, 2011 2:06 PM, Rich - K1HTV lt;k1...@comcast.netgt; wrote: Jim, If you want to try JT65A on the Magic Band, the agreed upon calling frequency is 50.276 MHz. Almost all 6M JT65 signals that I've seen have been using JT65A. Congrats on taking the first step working this mode. I have found that on the super weak signals (less -20dB), stronger signals in a 2.5KHz pass band can push already weak signals farther into the noise to the point that they can not be copied. That's where the 3M's Hi-Cut and Lo-Cut controls come in handy. If you view a very weak trace on the JT65HF waterfall in the presence of loud (0 to -5 dB) signals, then tighten the filters you will see the weaker trace improve (get thicker). I only wish that the K3 filter (Hi, Low and BW) adjustment increment could be reduced from the present 100Hz to 50Hz or even 25Hz. This would allow the attenuation of QRM from very loud signals that are very near in frequency to very weak ones without affecting the weak signal's data. I hope that this suggestion could be considered in a future K3 firmware update. Have fun with JT65 as you watch the paint dry :-). 73, Rich - K1HTV = = = -Original Message- From: Jim Brown [mailto:j...@audiosystemsgroup.com] Sent: Wednesday, June 01, 2011 13:20 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Clock Sync and JT65A On 6/1/2011 8:43 AM, Mike Markowski wrote: gt; Don't forget NTP (Network Time Protocol), the widely used standard gt; described in an RFC. It has been ported to Windows and is free. For many years, I've used a clock setting program distributed by NIST called nisttime. It can use NTP. Google to find it. Free download from nist.gov It can be set to do a re-sync as often as you like. I don't know how good it is at compensating for network delays, but it thinks its setting the clock to an accuracy of tens of msec. To get that level of accuracy you need to use it 2-3 times in succession. All this talk about WSPR and JT65 motivated me to download, install, and study the doc for both Joe Taylor's software and W6CQZ's HF version. Made my first contacts last night on 10139 kHz with VK and ZL running about 25W to the K3 and an 80M dipole. A JT65 contact is sorta like watching paint dry, but I couldn't even hear the ZL that I worked, and there was a lot of other activity within the passband that the software worked around. I'm convinced that the W6CQZ version is the way to go for HF work. Next step is to figure out how to use JT65A during 6M openings. Is there a calling frequency where everyone sets up shop on 6M in North America? Which modulation scheme(s) are most used for E-skip? 73, Jim Brown 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 __ 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
[Elecraft] Hands Free PTT for Wireless Bluetooth
I'm old enough that when I learned to drive, there were no automatic transmissions, and left foot clutch operation was the rule, as well as on the floor headlight dimmer switches. I would think that a floor mounted foot switch, preferably one with alternate action capability, could put the now unused left foot to work (although I left foot brake), to implement a PTT but with a hands free requirement some states have. BTW, you can still buy the through the floor board mounted head light dimmer switches(alternate action), as replacement parts for older model vehicles, in auto store parts departments. I recently installed one in my Side by Side UTV as a head lamp dimmer switch. Chuck, W7CS __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I always thought a machine built K2 might have worked out at least as well as a user constructed one. Build quality would be very consistent and unit cost / selling price might actually be less than that of a kit. The big problem, especially for a company just starting out, would be obtaining (and risking) the amount of money needed to pay for a batch of machine-made boards. The batch size would need to be big enough to warrant the setup cost on the machines(s). The batch would also sit as inventory, also tying up capital. Kits could be made up in runs of any size. So a through hole / kit approach was actually less of a financial risk. Personally I would not have missed the kit building experience, but everyone has their own preference. I certainly am *very* happy with the K2 that resulted from the effort, even 11 or so years later. 73, Lenny W2BVH __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
Lo, many years ago (1950's) I said that I didn't particularly like working with transistors either. They were so tiny and fragile. Vacuum tubes were so friendly and they made a beautiful glow in the dark. Besides, many technologists pontificated that transistors would never be able to work at radio frequencies, much less develop useful power there. But the technologists were wrong and the times, they were a-changing. Or as another wag observed, If you are not near the girl you love, you'll love the girl you're near. I've become accustomed to her face... (the face of an SMD). I'm in my seventh decade on this planet and I work with SMDs regularly. Strong magnifiers. Good light. Tools I have chosen over the years to hold and manipulate them (nothing fancy - things like toothpicks and pencils with rubber erasers and a bit of panty hose material to put over my vacuum cleaner suction hose to find lost bits that hit the floor). Good support for my arms and hands. All that because I'm not a child any longer? No. A 20-something uses them too. At least the smart ones do, Hi! And I still love the glow of a vacuum tube in the dark. A 76 triode, for example. The heart of my very first homebuilt regenerative receiver. 73, Ron AC7AC -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Doug Person Sent: Friday, June 03, 2011 6:13 PM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits I think you're absolutely correct. Still, it wasn't long ago that someone was expressing concern that the K2 was obsolete and could be dropped from the line. I don't particularly like working with SMDs. Bu, facing the inevitable, I just ordered a stereo microscope designed for working with them wee little parts. That, a hot air rework station and a vacuum picker and I think I'm set. I built one small SMD kit. And like I said - I don't really enjoy it. The parts are pain to work with. Doug -- K0DXV On 6/3/2011 7:04 PM, John Ragle wrote: I think this is a basic misunderstanding of the rhetoric. The last of the through-hole kits does not imply that the K2 will (or will not) be abandoned. It simply implies that NEW TO THE MASS MARKET kits will probably not be of the through-hole variety. Google on kits or something similar and you will find very many small outfits that sell kits of the through-hole type or kits with limited numbers of SMD components. For the larger markets, there are just too many cost-saving aspects to the use of SM devices for it to be practical to ignore them. John Ragle -- W1ZI = On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: ...people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be close... __ 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 __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth hands free interface (AWUI)
Some smart guy could figure out a PTT mechanism keyed by dropping your head a bit ... sort of like a nod. Mercury switch? WB2ABD __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Bluetooth hands free interface (AWUI)
How about wiggling your ears? Problem with a head nod is that if you fall asleep (or nod off) you might key up. Maybe you could shake your head quickly -- but in a rapid conversation someone's bound to think you're having seizure and call 911. Or if you actually have seizure, you might key up :-) Grant/NQ5T Sent from my iPhone On Jun 3, 2011, at 10:40 PM, PTA_ABD wb2...@roadrunner.com wrote: Some smart guy could figure out a PTT mechanism keyed by dropping your head a bit ... sort of like a nod. Mercury switch? __ 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
[Elecraft] K3EXREWF 10MHz Source
For those who are looking for a high stability 10MHz reference for your K3EXREF K3 modification, I'll recommend, for me has been, a reliable and cost effective source. I have a previously purchased a double oven 10 MHz OCXO source, with an advertised 10 to the -12th short term stability from this vender, with very satisfactory results and very rapid delivery. I have recently ordered more. The price is only $44.95 each and that includes free shipping. He also has several different types of Rubidium standards and also GPS DOs . These mostly are used and have come out of salvaged equipment. Google flyingbest and when it comes up, click on 'Electronics' and 'EBAY'. You can then scroll down his large list of available products. For the price, and for my needs, the C-MAC double ovenized OCXO is my choice. I have other Ruby stds and GPSDOs. Chuck, W7CS __ 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
[Elecraft] KX3 having a PTO?
I don't know if it was here, or Yahoo, that I saw a post where the author referred to the KX3 as having a PTO. I hate to ask if this is true? Please, let be no. (What a thought.) Dick, n0ce rpfj...@embarqmail.com I'd rather be learning. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 having a PTO?
No. The VFO A knob is connected to a high-quality optical shaft encoder whose position is read by the KX3's microcontroller. The frequency of operation (down to the nearest Hz) is then sent to the synthesizer. 73, Wayne N6KR On Jun 3, 2011, at 9:13 PM, Richard Fjeld wrote: I don't know if it was here, or Yahoo, that I saw a post where the author referred to the KX3 as having a PTO. I hate to ask if this is true? Please, let be no. (What a thought.) Dick, n0ce rpfj...@embarqmail.com I'd rather be learning. __ 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 __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
I suspect that the spark guys had similar thoughts about the new triode vacuum tubes in the 1920's. Fragile glass tubes that they probably didn't fully understand, yet. I took an electronics class in 1967 and tubes were still the main focus. We did play around with transistors, and managed to melt several leads. We didn't need any Optivisors in those days. 73, Rick Dettinger K7MW On Jun 3, 2011, at 8:39 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote: Lo, many years ago (1950's) I said that I didn't particularly like working with transistors either. They were so tiny and fragile. Vacuum tubes were so friendly and they made a beautiful glow in the dark. Besides, many technologists pontificated that transistors would never be able to work at radio frequencies, much less develop useful power there. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Linux suggestion
Paul Saville wrote: To the digger who was asking, I had a brain brown-out and deleted your message, but you might try Puppy Linux on your older PC You can get information on a load of different Linux distributions at http://distrowatch.org/. FOr the last few years I've been using Ubuntu as it does a decent job of detecting hardware and automatically installing/configuring the required device drivers. What you could do is to boot your machine using a LiveCD which will let you run Linux without having to install it. Its a quick way to find out whether all of your hardware is supported and will let you test your logging and Elecraft control software. You may need to install (ie. add to the running LiveCD) dosemu and/or Wine to run any dos or Windows (respectively) programs to do your tests. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] The last of the through-hole kits
We are already starting the next stage with SIPs and SOCs. Imagine owning your own chip fab so you can take open source IP and craft functional blocks in silicon. Then stack and bond these units into a full blown IC. Mix and match to craft all sorts of neat gadgets. How is your mastery of VHDL? We will look back on SMT as a fond memory :) 73, Kevin. KD5ONS On Fri, 03 Jun 2011 22:00:47 -0700, Rick Dettinger k7m...@gmail.com wrote: I suspect that the spark guys had similar thoughts about the new triode vacuum tubes in the 1920's. Fragile glass tubes that they probably didn't fully understand, yet. I took an electronics class in 1967 and tubes were still the main focus. We did play around with transistors, and managed to melt several leads. We didn't need any Optivisors in those days. 73, Rick Dettinger K7MW __ 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
