date:20160929

Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Jim Brown

This discussion makes me wonder if the ARRL Handbook and the ARRL 
Antenna Book have somehow been banned! This is BASIC antennas, guys. 
This is not CB radio, it is ham radio, and we're supposed to be able to 
study this stuff and figure it out!  Building antennas is one the 
easiest parts of ham radio to do yourself, and once you've invested the 
time to learn the fundamentals, it's a lot of fun!


New copies of these books can be bought for less than the cost of the 
overpriced antennas mentioned here that mostly don't work very well, 
while the cost of the wire to build much better antennas can be had for 
a few dollars! Wire as small as #22 works fine for temporary wire 
antennas for QRP operation. Insulators are easy to improvise with piece 
of plastic with holes drilled in them.


While we can make a wire of random length load (take power) and radiate, 
it's far easier if we make it a quarter wave. "One size fits all" 
antennas are like "one size fits all" clothing. They work, sort of, but 
FITS (and LOOKS) a heckuva lot better.


The most expensive part of a vertical for portable or hiking operation 
is whatever you use to hold it up. I paid about $100 for a 10M long 
telescoping fiberglass pole that collapses to 1 M. Tape the wire to it, 
run out a couple of radials, and you've got a great antenna for any band 
between 40M and 10M (just trim the wires to a quarter wave on the band 
you want to work). For less than $10, you could do the same with 2-3 10 
ft lengths of 1/2-in PVC conduit.


The picture of me on my qrz.com page is from our Chicago club's annual 
QRP night in a local park My antenna was #22 wire wound on that 10M 
pole, the pole was wedged between the seat and the top of the picnic 
bench so it was at roughly 45 degrees to vertical, and I had one or two 
radials laying on the ground. In a few hours, I made a half dozen QSOs 
on 30M, including busting a pileup.  A few years ago, W6GJB and I set up 
on a peak near Sacramento with a KX3 running on internal AAs into a 
similar antenna for 15M. We worked three continents in about 10 minutes. 
There were two radials laying on top of low brush. The vertical element 
was held up by a small tripod intended for a small camera.


Nothing personal intended, but my opinion of virtually all of these 
antennas you buy comes under the heading of "a fool and his money."


73, Jim K9YC

On Thu,9/29/2016 12:50 PM, Holger Schurig wrote:

Hi all,

I have an end-fed antenna with some random wire. The UNUN at one end of it
has three sockets to plug the random wire in: 1:4, 1:9 and 1:16.

My KX3 has the built-in ATU.

I now want to find out on which band I best use which one of the sockets.
As a first step, I wrote a simple program kx3lc.py (see
https://gist.github.com/anonymous/5d53f5bdbc50782a9d5e2c8d7062be69) that
can give me an output like this:

holger@laptop:/usr/src/afu/kx3/swr$ ./kx3lc.py
L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side


Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is always the
best?  So when I have (for the three sockets), these values,

L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 246.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 256.0 pF on antenna side   (but lowest SWR 1.2-1)

... that the middle socket is the best?

73
Holger, DH3HS






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Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Ron D'Eau Claire

I have such a tuner that I built years ago because my favorite antennas are
doublets (center fed wires of various lengths) or, when necessary, an end
fed wire. In the latter case I prefer a 1/2 or multiple of 1/2 wave long
wire because the very high impedance at the feed point means very low
"ground" currents and so very low "ground" losses. 

Mine has a center link that is tuned with a variable cap in series and a
split rotor variable cap across the main coil. Taps set the number of active
turns in the link and the main coil. The feeders are tapped onto the main
coil as well. 

With all those taps (accomplished by alligator clips) it looks like
something Igor would have in Dr. Frankenstein's lab, hence my name for it:
Frankentuner. 

It takes a little fiddling to find the tap positions but once noted one can
switch bands quite easily. If feeding a doublet, the taps are set
equidistant from the center. The further toward the end, the higher the
impedance being presented by the feeders. At the other extreme, the main
coil can be opened at the center to put the feeder in series with the main
coil for very low impedances. For an end-fed wire, only one tap is used
where it best matches the impedance of the radiator. The right positions are
found with two criteria: 1) low SWR on the link between the Frankentuner and
the rig and 2) lowest over all "Q" in the tuner (high Q results in
unnecessarily high circulating currents and losses and requires more
frequent adjustment while moving around a band). 

It's a design that was very popular in the days before the demand to hop
across the Ham bands in milliseconds. It does take 15 or 30 seconds to
configure it for a new band and a few more to do a "tune" for adjusting the
caps. It does not fit in a tiny enclosure with nice lighted buttons that
look "modern". All I care about is that it works.

73, Ron AC7AC

 
-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Don
Wilhelm
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 5:41 PM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

Mel,

Your points are well taken when you are feeding an end-fed half wave or a
radiator of a multiple of a half wave.

The ideal parallel tank circuit should be fed with a coupling coil that is
isolated from the larger secondary coil - that reduces or eliminates common
mode currents in the shack.

That solution is practical for open coil configurations where the user can
tap the antenna to any point on the coil of the tuned circuit.  
However, the tapping choices are limited in a compact, portable
implementation for use in portable operation which use toroids for the
inductor.

We used to use those isolated link coupled ATUs constructed of open coil
inductors where it was practical to tap the coil at any point, but today's
world of toroid wound inductors, that is not as easy.

If one has a resonant parallel tuned circuit, it will match very high
impedance, and a series tuned circuit will match very low impedance.  
The link coupling will provide isolation from common mode currents.

Those type of ATU's work very well with a wide range of antennas with
varying feedpoint impedance.

However, the physical implementation of the ability to tap the antenna to
any turn of the high impedance tuned resonant inductor requires a physically
large coil.  While it will work *very* well, it is not consistent with small
ATUs used for portable operation.

If you have a fixed length radiator and work only a single band, you can
devise a link coupled tuner that will do a great job, but if you are
multiband, and do not want to fiddle with coil taps, the auto-transformer is
a good compromise.

Yes, I still have my link coupled ATUs with plug-in coils for each band and
also have a Johnson Matchbox which is also link coupled. They do the job
well, but the convenience of toroid wound ATUs is an advantage in simplicity
and convenience.


73,
Don W3FPR

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Re: [Elecraft] external auto tuner for K3?

2016-09-29 Thread george allen

KAT500 works well.

Sent from my iPad

> On Sep 29, 2016, at 8:57 PM, Jamie WW3S  wrote:
> 
> Any thoughts or suggestions? I have the internal Elecraft tuner, but looking 
> for something I can place on the antenna side of the bandpass filter
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Re: [Elecraft] gennovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 17:52 -0700, Dave Cole wrote:
> On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 21:11 +, P.J.Hicks wrote:
> > 
> > As stated before, I have used a G-keypad on my KX3 for several years
> > and it is convenient and works well. However I have not been able to
> > make it work with the K3 in any of the ways I have tried to set it
> > up.
> 
> Nor have I, and I have tried at least three different ways as well...
> 
> > 
> > Firstly I believe I do not know what the data stream data the K3
> > requires; I thought it was serial ASCI. It is obviously different
> > from what the KX3 requires. 
> 
> That was the part about getting my head around the protocol I
> mentioned in a previous post...  I need to find out exactly how the P3
> fires macros into the K3, then have the Raspberry Pi do the same.
>  After that, it will be a snap to connect the keypad to the Pi.  I
> believe the Pig Knob does it, so it is something that is doable.
> 
> > 
> > But then again I may be wrong. The Genovation, in my understanding,
> > sends ASCI text via the serial port to the KX3 where it is
> > interpreted as commends and executed. 
> > 
> > What am I missing here? 
> > 
> > If the K3 accepts ASCI commands from the Elecraft K3 Utility and the
> > KX3 accepts ASCI commands from the KX3 Utility, why are they not
> > interchangeable? 
> 
> Because they are not implemented the same-- that seems to be the only
> conclusion I can come too in this.  You said it upthread, the two
> don't accept the same command set, yet they both send ASCII...  I
> think you are correct.  I suspect there is another layer of protocol
> involved, which is being transferred via ASCII.  
> 
> What I need to do is to get Wireshark, (a port snooper), going and
> look at the data leaving the P3...  That will answer many questions.
> 
> > 
> > 73 and keep it civil
> 
> Always do...

It just hit me why it fails...  I believe that the keyboards are not
sending out ASCII, but scan codes...  See:
http://www.rapidtables.com/convert/number/hex-to-ascii.htm

The protocol stack on the P3 does not interpret scan codes, which is
what the Keyboards send out...  While I would bet the KX3 protocol stack
does interpret them...

Don't know why this never occurred to me before...  Thanks for asking
the question the way you did!  It triggered something in my head!

-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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[Elecraft] external auto tuner for K3?

2016-09-29 Thread Jamie WW3S

Any thoughts or suggestions? I have the internal Elecraft tuner, but looking 
for something I can place on the antenna side of the bandpass filter
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Re: [Elecraft] gennovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 21:11 +, P.J.Hicks wrote:
> As stated before, I have used a G-keypad on my KX3 for several years
> and it is convenient and works well. However I have not been able to
> make it work with the K3 in any of the ways I have tried to set it up.

Nor have I, and I have tried at least three different ways as well...

> Firstly I believe I do not know what the data stream data the K3
> requires; I thought it was serial ASCI. It is obviously different from
> what the KX3 requires. 

That was the part about getting my head around the protocol I mentioned
in a previous post...  I need to find out exactly how the P3 fires
macros into the K3, then have the Raspberry Pi do the same.  After that,
it will be a snap to connect the keypad to the Pi.  I believe the Pig
Knob does it, so it is something that is doable.

> But then again I may be wrong. The Genovation, in my understanding,
> sends ASCI text via the serial port to the KX3 where it is interpreted
> as commends and executed. 

> What am I missing here? 

> If the K3 accepts ASCI commands from the Elecraft K3 Utility and the
> KX3 accepts ASCI commands from the KX3 Utility, why are they not
> interchangeable? 

Because they are not implemented the same-- that seems to be the only
conclusion I can come too in this.  You said it upthread, the two don't
accept the same command set, yet they both send ASCII...  I think you
are correct.  I suspect there is another layer of protocol involved,
which is being transferred via ASCII.  

What I need to do is to get Wireshark, (a port snooper), going and look
at the data leaving the P3...  That will answer many questions.

> 73 and keep it civil

Always do...

-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Mel,

Your points are well taken when you are feeding an end-fed half wave or 
a radiator of a multiple of a half wave.


The ideal parallel tank circuit should be fed with a coupling coil that 
is isolated from the larger secondary coil - that reduces or eliminates 
common mode currents in the shack.


That solution is practical for open coil configurations where the user 
can tap the antenna to any point on the coil of the tuned circuit.  
However, the tapping choices are limited in a compact, portable 
implementation for use in portable operation which use toroids for the 
inductor.


We used to use those isolated link coupled ATUs constructed of open coil 
inductors where it was practical to tap the coil at any point, but 
today's world of toroid wound inductors, that is not as easy.


If one has a resonant parallel tuned circuit, it will match very high 
impedance, and a series tuned circuit will match very low impedance.  
The link coupling will provide isolation from common mode currents.


Those type of ATU's work very well with a wide range of antennas with 
varying feedpoint impedance.


However, the physical implementation of the ability to tap the antenna 
to any turn of the high impedance tuned resonant inductor requires a 
physically large coil.  While it will work *very* well, it is not 
consistent with small ATUs used for portable operation.


If you have a fixed length radiator and work only a single band, you can 
devise a link coupled tuner that will do a great job, but if you are 
multiband, and do not want to fiddle with coil taps, the 
auto-transformer is a good compromise.


Yes, I still have my link coupled ATUs with plug-in coils for each band 
and also have a Johnson Matchbox which is also link coupled. They do the 
job well, but the convenience of toroid wound ATUs is an advantage in 
simplicity and convenience.



73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 8:04 PM, Mel Farrer via Elecraft wrote:

Fred said it right,

Let me go to another side of the question.  No auto-transformer can match all 
of the antenna reflected impedances,  but using a parallel tank circuit to 
ground CAN.  The beauty of this arrangement is that you can tap the coil on the 
input of the coil and tap the output for a VERY wide range of impedance.  R and 
j .  What seems to have been lost in the transition from ancient and now is 
that we did not have ATU's.  All of the PRE now used tuned circuit match boxes. 
 Now you have to think about it for a few minutes.
Let me explain, the tuned parallel tank circuit can do a wide range of matching 
BECAUSE, If you tun the tank to one side of resonance your get a negative 
reactance,  if you tune it to the other side you get positive reactance.   
HUMMM.
If the tank circuit is a true resonant one, the impedance across the coil from 
top to bottom is a range of the impedance available from HIZ to ZERO.  This is 
the beauty of the parallel tuned circuit over a auto transformer.  Oh well at 
least I remember it.
Mel, K6KBE



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Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Mel Farrer via Elecraft

Fred said it right,  

Let me go to another side of the question.  No auto-transformer can match all 
of the antenna reflected impedances,  but using a parallel tank circuit to 
ground CAN.  The beauty of this arrangement is that you can tap the coil on the 
input of the coil and tap the output for a VERY wide range of impedance.  R and 
j .  What seems to have been lost in the transition from ancient and now is 
that we did not have ATU's.  All of the PRE now used tuned circuit match boxes. 
 Now you have to think about it for a few minutes.
Let me explain, the tuned parallel tank circuit can do a wide range of matching 
BECAUSE, If you tun the tank to one side of resonance your get a negative 
reactance,  if you tune it to the other side you get positive reactance.   
HUMMM.
If the tank circuit is a true resonant one, the impedance across the coil from 
top to bottom is a range of the impedance available from HIZ to ZERO.  This is 
the beauty of the parallel tuned circuit over a auto transformer.  Oh well at 
least I remember it.
Mel, K6KBE

  From: Fred Jensen 
 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net 
 Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:57 PM
 Subject: Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

> Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is
 > always the best?

I don't know exactly what you mean by "best," but you said "always" so 
I'd say no.  If the length of your wire is in the vicinity of n * 90 
degrees where n is any odd integer, it will have a low-ish impedance at 
the end and 1:1 would be appropriate [if your UNUN had it].  If the 
length is around 180 degrees [or any integer multiple thereof] it will 
exhibit a fairly high impedance.

How long is the wire?
What band?

If the 1:4, 1:9, and 1:16 that you quote are turns ratios, the impedance 
transformation equals the square of them.  12,800 ohms and a 16:1 turns 
ratio yields 50 ohms.  12 Kohms likely exceeds the impedance at the end 
of a half-wave by quite a bit.

The Elecraft ATU losses are very low unless you're trying to match some 
outrageous impedance at the end of or beyond it's useful range.

73,

Fred K6DGW
Sparks NV USA
Washoe County DM09dn

On 9/29/2016 12:50 PM, Holger Schurig wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> I have an end-fed antenna with some random wire. The UNUN at one end of it
> has three sockets to plug the random wire in: 1:4, 1:9 and 1:16.
>
> My KX3 has the built-in ATU.
>
> I now want to find out on which band I best use which one of the sockets.
> As a first step, I wrote a simple program kx3lc.py (see
> https://gist.github.com/anonymous/5d53f5bdbc50782a9d5e2c8d7062be69) that
> can give me an output like this:
>
> holger@laptop:/usr/src/afu/kx3/swr$ ./kx3lc.py
> L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side
>
>
> Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is always the
> best?  So when I have (for the three sockets), these values,
>
> L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side
> L: 0.0 mH,  C: 246.0 pF on transmitter side
> L: 0.0 mH,  C: 256.0 pF on antenna side  (but lowest SWR 1.2-1)
>
> ... that the middle socket is the best?
>
> 73
> Holger, DH3HS

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Re: [Elecraft] K2 - low power/reception on 80m

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Phil,

Don't be too quick to draw that conclusion.
Note that everything in the Low Pass Filter will appear to be connected 
to ground at DC.  If you want to make a valid DC resistance check, you 
have to lift lead 4 of T4 and re-measure.


Good that you have isolated it to the base K2.
Take a good look at the toroid leads for L16 and L17.  You should not 
see any enamel on the solder side and there should not be a ring around 
the toroid leads - that is an indication that the lead was not properly 
stripped and tinned.  In addition, there should be a bit of tinned lead 
exposed on the component side.


It would be nice to know if the prior owner operated it on 80 meters.

The relays in the base K2 are latching type, so you can set to the band 
of interest and then turn power off to make resistance readings at the 
relay contacts.


73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 6:29 PM, Philippe wrote:

Hi,
thanks Matt & Don for your messages.
The issue is located on the K2, not on the PA
I checked K3 and K8. K3 looks fine but it looks like I have a shortcut between 
the pins 7-8-9.
I will get another relay and change K8.




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Re: [Elecraft] K2 - low power/reception on 80m

2016-09-29 Thread Philippe


Hi,
thanks Matt & Don for your messages.
The issue is located on the K2, not on the PA
I checked K3 and K8. K3 looks fine but it looks like I have a shortcut between 
the pins 7-8-9.
I will get another relay and change K8.

Thanks again
Cheers,
-- 
Phil
F5IYJ / NK2F

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Re: [Elecraft] MH-2 Mic with Kenwood

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Jack and all,

Not all microphones are created equal, and you have to know something 
about the microphone characteristics and the capability of the 
transceiver that you want it to work with.


Quite generally, there are 2 classes of microphones - dynamic and 
electret (condenser) types.
The electret types need a bias voltage applied to the AF pin (through a 
resistor - usually 5K to 10k to 5 volts or 8 volts).
The dynamic types do not need that bias voltage, and will "sound funny" 
if it applied because the bias offsets the position of the coil in the 
dynamic mic.


The K3, K3S, KX3 and KX2 have menu settings allowing that bias voltage 
to be turned on or off - the K2 uses a resistor connected to the AF mic 
pin to accomplish the same thing.


So -- a Kenwood microphone can be used on an Elecraft transceiver, but 
not the other way around because the Kenwood does not supply bias to the 
mic.
You could modify the Kenwood to add a resistor on the back of the Mic 
Jack between pin 5 and pin 1 to bias the MH2 (note: no dash in Elecraft 
products), or you can add an external adapter to accomplish the same thing.


73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 3:52 PM, Jack Satterfield wrote:

Trying to use the MH-2 mic with a Kenwood radio. It keys the transmitter but
no audio,

do I need to do anything to the mic for it to work with Kenwood HF radio?




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Re: [Elecraft] Need of an external sound card with the KX2

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Howard,

One downside to using an internal soundcard is that many have a higher 
noise level than external USB soundcards (the SignaLink is *not* among 
the quietest).
The second is that the internal (default) soundcard will be the one that 
produces the sounds used by your OS, and you certainly don't want those 
being transmitted over the air - but you can always turn off system 
sounds.  If your laptop contains a built-in microphone, make certain it 
is turned off as well when using the default soundcard or the room 
sounds and voices picked up by the microphone can be transmitted.


Other than the considerations above, the internal soundcard should work 
fine.


You do not need PTT, use VOX, it works fine - in fact, that is how the 
SignaLink develops its "PTT" output - it detects tones from the 
soundcard and activates PTT - VOX in the KX2/3 will accomplish the same 
thing.


73,
Don W3FPR


On 9/29/2016 5:01 PM, Howard Sherer wrote:

I plan to do some light weight travel with my KX2 running JT65, JT9 etc in
the future. Can I connect the audio in and out ports of the KX2 directly
into my laptop or will I need an external device like a Signal Link. If not
needed how will the software key the KX2?




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[Elecraft] gennovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread P.J.Hicks

I have been trying to follow the adventures of those of you interested in using 
a Genovation Keypad with a K3 or K3s and I believe the waters have become 
muddied a bit. I think the gentleman wants to do what i want to do and that is 
to use a Genovation connected to the radio without having a P3 involved. Maybe 
I'm wrong. 

As stated before, I have used a G-keypad on my KX3 for several years and it is 
convenient and works well. However I have not been able to make it work with 
the K3 in any of the ways I have tried to set it up. Firstly I believe I do not 
know what the data stream data the K3 requires; I thought it was serial ASCI. 
It is obviously different from what the KX3 requires. But then again I may be 
wrong. The Genovation, in my understanding, sends ASCI text via the serial port 
to the KX3 where it is interpreted as commends and executed. What am I missing 
here? If the K3 accepts ASCI commands from the Elecraft K3 Utility and the KX3 
accepts ASCI commands from the KX3 Utility, why are they not interchangeable? 

73 and keep it civil, 
PJH, N7PXY 
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Bill Frantz

Note: Even if you don't know CW, you can program a memory in the 
radio using the K3/K3S/KX3 utility to send the sequence. Just 
press the button to sent the sequence and look at the reverse 
beacon network.


73 Bill AE6JV

On 9/29/16 at 3:47 AM, k...@charter.net (Larry Gauthier (K8UT)) wrote:

BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the 
Buddistick in the CW portion and send the string "test test de 
 ". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send 
the same string on the random wire.


Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter 
your callsign.
http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the 
stations who heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize 
QSB and propagation fading.


---
Bill Frantz| Since the IBM Selectric, keyboards have gotten
408-356-8506   | steadily worse. Now we have touchscreen keyboards.
www.pwpconsult.com | Can we make something even worse?

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[Elecraft] Need of an external sound card with the KX2

2016-09-29 Thread Howard Sherer

I plan to do some light weight travel with my KX2 running JT65, JT9 etc in
the future. Can I connect the audio in and out ports of the KX2 directly
into my laptop or will I need an external device like a Signal Link. If not
needed how will the software key the KX2?

Howard AE3T
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Re: [Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Fred Jensen

> Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is
> always the best?

I don't know exactly what you mean by "best," but you said "always" so 
I'd say no.  If the length of your wire is in the vicinity of n * 90 
degrees where n is any odd integer, it will have a low-ish impedance at 
the end and 1:1 would be appropriate [if your UNUN had it].  If the 
length is around 180 degrees [or any integer multiple thereof] it will 
exhibit a fairly high impedance.

How long is the wire?
What band?

If the 1:4, 1:9, and 1:16 that you quote are turns ratios, the impedance 
transformation equals the square of them.  12,800 ohms and a 16:1 turns 
ratio yields 50 ohms.  12 Kohms likely exceeds the impedance at the end 
of a half-wave by quite a bit.

The Elecraft ATU losses are very low unless you're trying to match some 
outrageous impedance at the end of or beyond it's useful range.

73,

Fred K6DGW
Sparks NV USA
Washoe County DM09dn

On 9/29/2016 12:50 PM, Holger Schurig wrote:

Hi all,

I have an end-fed antenna with some random wire. The UNUN at one end of it
has three sockets to plug the random wire in: 1:4, 1:9 and 1:16.

My KX3 has the built-in ATU.

I now want to find out on which band I best use which one of the sockets.
As a first step, I wrote a simple program kx3lc.py (see
https://gist.github.com/anonymous/5d53f5bdbc50782a9d5e2c8d7062be69) that
can give me an output like this:

holger@laptop:/usr/src/afu/kx3/swr$ ./kx3lc.py
L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side

Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is always the
best?  So when I have (for the three sockets), these values,

L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 246.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 256.0 pF on antenna side   (but lowest SWR 1.2-1)

... that the middle socket is the best?

73
Holger, DH3HS

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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

2016-09-29 Thread EA2BD via Elecraft

Hello,

thanks for all your comments. Okay, that's what I supposed it was going on.
I'll try to find a way to get out of this and make the amp switches earlier.

Take care, 73
Ignacio



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Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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Re: [Elecraft] MH-2 Mic with Kenwood

2016-09-29 Thread jack

BillthanksJackW4GRJ


Sent from my T-Mobile 4G LTE Device
 Original message From: Nr4c  Date: 9/29/16 
 16:21  (GMT-05:00) To: Jack Satterfield  Cc: 
Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: Re: [Elecraft] MH-2 Mic with Kenwood 
Yes. Replace it with a dynamic mic. 

The MH2 is an electret mic and requires bias.   It is possible to build an 
interface that will supply the bias. 

Sent from my iPhone
...nr4c. bill


> On Sep 29, 2016, at 3:52 PM, Jack Satterfield  wrote:
> 
> Trying to use the MH-2 mic with a Kenwood radio. It keys the transmitter but
> no audio,
> 
> do I need to do anything to the mic for it to work with Kenwood HF radio?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jack
> 
> 
> 
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Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 13:06 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:
>  From a thread on _your_ blog N7PXY wrote:
> 
> "I use a K3 but do not use a P3. Is there a way to have the keypad
> send the     macros to the K3 directly?"
> 
> You replied in part:
> 
> "Probably by using the serial port on the K3, but you would have
> to save the     Macros themselves in the Genovation..."
> 
> I commented to this thus:
> 
> "Any progress on this?"
> 
> You replied:
> 
> "Hi Wes,
> 
> I am now actively looking into this..."
> 
> So six months ago I was expressing to you an interest in having macros
> live in the keypad and play into a K3 sans P3.

That's great...  Changes nothing here, in this discussion, but glad you
asked...  The Genovation is still a solution for me, even though it uses
the P3...  

I looked at your QRZ page, and I see you are using an different
Panadaptor, which is why you dislike the Genovation solution, which I
now understand.

Related-- I would bet money there is no way to make the Genovation
actually feed a macro into the K3 directly, save a total rewrite of the
code for the Genovation, which I am not going to do...  

I am however now working on a using a Raspberry Pi to more directly
control the K3.  I suspect a more direct method of controlling the K3,
allowing macros to be shot into it, without the P3 will be forthcoming
as a result of this.  

That is however a winter project.  I will probably use the Genovation as
the input device for the Raspberry Pi, then just fire commands directly
to the K3 from the Pi.  I need to get my head wrapped around the
protocol for talking directly to the K3 first...  That is my delay in
this...

-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

2016-09-29 Thread Bill

Not a cheap solution, but Heil produces a foot switch that sequences the key
line.  Of course this requires some wiring.

Bill
K9YEQ

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Don
Wilhelm
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:08 PM
To: EA2BD ; elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external
Amplifier

Ignacio,

The amplifier is not switching to the transmit state within the time between
when the KX3 pulls PTT low and the time RF appears. I believe that time is
about 8 milliseconds.
Yes, your KX3 is working into an open load when that happens - hence the
high SWR.
That condition is known as "hot switching", and even if it does not
eventually damage the KX3 PA, the relay contacts in your amplifier T/R
changover will become pitted due to the arcing.

One solution is to modify your amplifier with a QSK T/R switch or substitute
fast vacuum relays.
Another solution is not to use QSK or VOX - connect a footswitch to the
KX3 PTT *input* (ACC2 jack's TIP connection) and set the ACC2 IO menu to
LO=PTT if the footswitch grounds the connection.
Then use the footswitch to put the KX3 into transmit before you operate the
paddles or speak into the microphone.  In other words, do not turn on VOX.
Another way to put the KX3 into transmit mode without the footswitch is to
use the XMIT button on the KX3.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 12:06 PM, EA2BD via Elecraft wrote:
> Hello,
> I want to check if anyone experiences the same behaviour when 
> connecting the
> KX3 to an external amplifier.
>
> - I receintly added an external amplifier to my KX3.
> - I connected the PTT cable to the ACC2 port and to the amplifier.
> - I set the Menu ACC2 on the KX3 to Active low, as specified.
> - I verified if the cable works and it closes contact all right every 
> time I key down.
>
> The TROUBLE is:
> Everytime I send a dit (CW) or start talking (Voice) the SWR indicator 
> on the KX3 shows full reading (Hi SWR!) just briefly and it quickly 
> relaxes down to normal reading (SWR 1:1) during the rest of transmission.
>
> I believe there should be any kind of delay between the TX on the KX3 
> and the TX on the ampli, that causes the momentarily Hi SWR reading... 
> But this is extrange because the PTT cable is in!
>
> Does anyone have experienced similar phaenomena?
> Any idea to overcome this?
> Do you consider there will be a real overload on the finals due to 
> this small transient time?
>
> I drive with 2 watt out from the KX3 to get around 90W out from my 
> Amplifier.
>
> Wait for your feedback, many thanks!
> 73 de Ignacio EA2BD
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: 
> http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-temporary-high-SWR-on-PTT-wit
> h-external-Amplifier-tp7622916.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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Re: [Elecraft] MH-2 Mic with Kenwood

2016-09-29 Thread Nr4c

Yes. Replace it with a dynamic mic. 

The MH2 is an electret mic and requires bias.   It is possible to build an 
interface that will supply the bias. 

Sent from my iPhone
...nr4c. bill


> On Sep 29, 2016, at 3:52 PM, Jack Satterfield  wrote:
> 
> Trying to use the MH-2 mic with a Kenwood radio. It keys the transmitter but
> no audio,
> 
> do I need to do anything to the mic for it to work with Kenwood HF radio?
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> 
> Jack
> 
> 
> 
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Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Wes Stewart


From a thread on _your_ blog N7PXY wrote:

   "I use a K3 but do not use a P3. Is there a way to have the keypad send the
   macros to the K3 directly?"

You replied in part:

   "Probably by using the serial port on the K3, but you would have to save the
   Macros themselves in the Genovation..."

I commented to this thus:

   "Any progress on this?"

You replied:

   "Hi Wes,

   I am now actively looking into this..."

So six months ago I was expressing to you an interest in having macros live in 
the keypad and play into a K3 sans P3.



On 9/29/2016 12:21 PM, Dave Cole wrote:

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 11:46 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:

Oh, dear me.  Maybe I should have said, "in the radio equipment as
opposed to in the keypad."

Probably would have been a good idea on your part to actually say what
you are trying to communicate.

The Genovation "solution" isn't a solution.  The commands don't live
in the keyboard which was my expressed desire.

Sigh...  Your expressed desire was that they not be in the Radio, you
were unclear...


But of course you knew that.

No, I did not...  I actually thought you were asking for some assistance
here, I see I was wrong.  My error for trying to help...



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[Elecraft] MH-2 Mic with Kenwood

2016-09-29 Thread Jack Satterfield

Trying to use the MH-2 mic with a Kenwood radio. It keys the transmitter but
no audio,

do I need to do anything to the mic for it to work with Kenwood HF radio?

 

Thanks,

Jack

 

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[Elecraft] how to optimize end-fed?

2016-09-29 Thread Holger Schurig

Hi all,

I have an end-fed antenna with some random wire. The UNUN at one end of it
has three sockets to plug the random wire in: 1:4, 1:9 and 1:16.

My KX3 has the built-in ATU.

I now want to find out on which band I best use which one of the sockets.
As a first step, I wrote a simple program kx3lc.py (see
https://gist.github.com/anonymous/5d53f5bdbc50782a9d5e2c8d7062be69) that
can give me an output like this:

holger@laptop:/usr/src/afu/kx3/swr$ ./kx3lc.py
L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side


Am I right to assume that the ATU settings with the lowest L is always the
best?  So when I have (for the three sockets), these values,

L: 0.12 mH,  C: 203.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 246.0 pF on transmitter side
L: 0.0 mH,  C: 256.0 pF on antenna side   (but lowest SWR 1.2-1)

... that the middle socket is the best?

73
Holger, DH3HS




PS: those values are all bogus, I measured when when my end-fed was in a
big curl inside my shack ...
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Re: [Elecraft] K-Pod macros Around?

2016-09-29 Thread Ron D'Eau Claire

See the Owner's Manual (rev C) that I provided the link to:
http://www.elecraft.com/manual/E740285%20KPOD%20Owner's%20Manual%20Rev%20C.p
df

>From Page 7, "Operating the K-Pod": 

"Macros are launched at the K-Pod using tap and hold presses of switches F1
through F8 just as you tap and hold front panel switches on your K3S/K3:

"Holding switches F1 through F8 for 1/2 second or more launches K3S/K3
macros 1 through 8. Tapping switches F1 through F8 (holding for less than
1/2 second) launches K3S/K3 macros 9 through 16."

Of course, you choose which locations where you want to store each macro in
the K3 in the Utility program just as in the past, and locations 1 through
16 are automatically assigned to the K-Pod switches (buttons) as described
above. 

The owner's manual is growing as more information is added. 

73, Ron AC7AC

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Gary
Smith
Sent: Wednesday, September 28, 2016 9:23 PM
To: Jim McDonald
Cc: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K-Pod macros Around?

Beautiful! That's the Rosetta Stone I
needed; From 9 on down to 16 in the
Command Tester in the Utility: 

9 = F1
10 = F2
11 = F3

And so on to

16 - F8

Maybe they will mention that in the next Rev of the owner's manual.

Thank you all, now I'll have to figure out the more complex macros and how I
might want to use them but that will come. And thanks to those who provided
links to help me out as well, I will certainly check them out.

73,

Gary
KA1J

> 
> Gary,
>  
> Here are mine as of now:
>  
> 
>  
> 11 and 12 do what you want.  11 is F3 (tap), and 12 is F4 
> (tap).
>  
> 73, Jim N7US
>  
>  


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Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 11:46 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:
> Oh, dear me.  Maybe I should have said, "in the radio equipment as
> opposed to in the keypad."

Probably would have been a good idea on your part to actually say what
you are trying to communicate.
> 
> The Genovation "solution" isn't a solution.  The commands don't live
> in the keyboard which was my expressed desire.  

Sigh...  Your expressed desire was that they not be in the Radio, you
were unclear...  

> But of course you knew that.

No, I did not...  I actually thought you were asking for some assistance
here, I see I was wrong.  My error for trying to help...

-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Wes Stewart

Oh, dear me.  Maybe I should have said, "in the radio equipment as opposed to in 
the keypad."


The Genovation "solution" isn't a solution.  The commands don't live in the 
keyboard which was my expressed desire.  But of course you knew that.




On 9/29/2016 10:15 AM, Dave Cole wrote:

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 06:50 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:

Where did I say anything about a P3?

You didn't-- in fact, you specifically limited your comments to, "*not
in the radio*", hence why I am pointing out that the Genovation meets
your stated criteria-- "*not in the radio*".  I bring up where the
macros live, the P3, to show you that the Genovation meets your stated
criteria of not having macros live in the radio.

See below for the quote I am responding too.


On Wed, 2016-09-28 at 16:13 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:

And therein is the rub.  All of these schemes, including the K-
Pod, I believe, require recording macros *in the radio* and
recalling them with button pushes, taps/etc.



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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm

Ignacio,

The amplifier is not switching to the transmit state within the time
between when the KX3 pulls PTT low and the time RF appears. I believe
that time is about 8 milliseconds.
Yes, your KX3 is working into an open load when that happens - hence the
high SWR.
That condition is known as "hot switching", and even if it does not
eventually damage the KX3 PA, the relay contacts in your amplifier T/R
changover will become pitted due to the arcing.

One solution is to modify your amplifier with a QSK T/R switch or
substitute fast vacuum relays.
Another solution is not to use QSK or VOX - connect a footswitch to the
KX3 PTT *input* (ACC2 jack's TIP connection) and set the ACC2 IO menu to
LO=PTT if the footswitch grounds the connection.
Then use the footswitch to put the KX3 into transmit before you operate
the paddles or speak into the microphone. In other words, do not turn
on VOX.
Another way to put the KX3 into transmit mode without the footswitch is
to use the XMIT button on the KX3.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 12:06 PM, EA2BD via Elecraft wrote:

Hello,
I want to check if anyone experiences the same behaviour when connecting the
KX3 to an external amplifier.

- I receintly added an external amplifier to my KX3.
- I connected the PTT cable to the ACC2 port and to the amplifier.
- I set the Menu ACC2 on the KX3 to Active low, as specified.
- I verified if the cable works and it closes contact all right every time I
key down.

The TROUBLE is:
Everytime I send a dit (CW) or start talking (Voice) the SWR indicator on
the KX3 shows full reading (Hi SWR!) just briefly and it quickly relaxes
down to normal reading (SWR 1:1) during the rest of transmission.

I believe there should be any kind of delay between the TX on the KX3 and
the TX on the ampli, that causes the momentarily Hi SWR reading... But this
is extrange because the PTT cable is in!

Does anyone have experienced similar phaenomena?
Any idea to overcome this?
Do you consider there will be a real overload on the finals due to this
small transient time?

I drive with 2 watt out from the KX3 to get around 90W out from my
Amplifier.

Wait for your feedback, many thanks!
73 de Ignacio EA2BD

--
View this message in context:
http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-temporary-high-SWR-on-PTT-with-external-Amplifier-tp7622916.html
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Matt Zilmer


Hi Michael,

Couple of points -

- Just about any random wire will work on some bands.  "Work" just means 
you can tune it with the ATU, but it may or may not be very efficient.  
Otoh, putting *any* signal on the air is better than none.  Tuning will 
be easiest the closer to odd multiples of a quarter wave the radiator is 
(and it might be fairly efficient too, if it's close to vertical).  Your 
36' configuration seems like it should work very well on 40m and 15m.


- Avoid half-wave configurations of the radiator length.  For example, 
66 feet on 40m won't tune easily or maybe at all using the ATU.  A half 
wave is very high impedance and not desirable to use in most cases.  
Some hams use this configuration, but it really needs an impedance 
transformer at the feedpoint to be "SWR-friendly" for the transmitter.


Your antenna sounds like it's certainly versatile enough to set up as 
you need it.  The big "lump" inductance at your spool is a lower 
impedance than the wire (to free space), and should have no negative effect.


The other view of all the mad science is, "If it works to your liking, 
keep using it."


There are a lot of hams that use Off-Center Fed dipoles (OCFs, they're 
called) with great success on multiple bands.  You might look into that 
type of wire antenna and experiment with it a bit. You'll need a choke 
balun to keep radiation off the feedline [except at resonance].


For a base station wire antenna, the doublet works well.  My favorite FD 
antenna is 70' and 70' balanced, fed with ladder line 61 feet long, and 
terminated in a 1:1: balun.  The other end of the balun is fed with coax 
(the lowest loss you can find - say LMR400), and as short as physically 
possible.  I used this configuration for many years with MARS 
out-of-ham-band operation and never really found a frequency I couldn't 
use between 3 and 24 MHz.


73,

matt W6NIA


On 09/29/2016 09:49 AM, Michael Wong wrote:

Thanks Matt:

This is pretty close to what I have, but I’ve done a 36’ radiator and 13’ 
counterpoise. So maybe it’s in the details. I have my antenna wire (100’) wound 
on a kite string winder. I spool out what I calculate I need and the other end 
is connected to my BNC/banana adapter. So I have 60+’ of wire still wound on 
the reel. Is the inductance effect of the remaining wire wound on the reel have 
any effect on the antenna?



Michael
K2MAW



On Sep 29, 2016, at 9:39 AM, Matt Zilmer  wrote:

Hi Michael,

If your KX3 has the ATU, you can use the following random wire for 20 through 
10m, and it will work under all conditions I've come across.  I've used it on 
40m as well, but there are more dependencies on height of the radiator (to be 
effective).

28 foot radiator (I use #20 stranded).  If you have a tree or even a tall bush 
nearby, weight one end of the wire and toss it into the tree as high as you can.

13 to 17 foot counterpoise, or "trailer" wire.  This can be laid on the ground, 
usually opposite of the direction your radiator is sloped.

Use a Banana to BNC adapter at the KX3, and attach the radiator to the red 
post.  The black post is attached to the counterpoise wire.  Use your ATU to 
adjust feedpoint SWR.

As a testimonial to this antenna configuration, I've used it on multiple field 
days at 5W to score a ton of QRP contacts.  One year, I was outscoring our main 
station running a K3 at 100W while I had the KX3 using this antenna (at least 
some of that is technique and luck).

When you're done at the site, pull your radiator wire back down and wind it up 
with the counterpoise wire.  Then - you're on to your next site.

73,

matt W6NIA


On 09/29/2016 09:22 AM, Michael Wong wrote:

Thanks everyone! Larry's was great, quickly actionable advice. I’ll do this the 
next time I go out. I don’t have a shack, and am still hunting around for a 
spot where I can try some of the other great suggestions (that I can fit in my 
backpack and if I actually find a spot where I can string up a wire.

I do use a wire counterpoise for both my wire and Buddistick and try to keep it 
off the ground except for the end.

Yes, I have an older copy of the antenna book and I’m in the transmission lines 
chapter. I guess I should just skip ahead to the long wire chapter.

Given all the advice, I’m going to continue to try to find a good wire antenna 
deployment given the random locations I tend to drop in at.

Thanks all!

Michael
K2MAW



On Sep 29, 2016, at 8:34 AM, Bill  wrote:

That's great advice, Larry!

Bill
K9YEQ

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry
Gauthier (K8UT)

The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences
between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will
out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to
receiving station...

BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick
in the CW

Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Thu, 2016-09-29 at 06:50 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:
> Where did I say anything about a P3?

You didn't-- in fact, you specifically limited your comments to, "*not
in the radio*", hence why I am pointing out that the Genovation meets
your stated criteria-- "*not in the radio*".  I bring up where the
macros live, the P3, to show you that the Genovation meets your stated
criteria of not having macros live in the radio.  

See below for the quote I am responding too.

> > On Wed, 2016-09-28 at 16:13 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:
> > > 
> > > And therein is the rub.  All of these schemes, including the K-
> > > Pod, I believe, require recording macros *in the radio* and
> > > recalling them with button pushes, taps/etc.

-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Michael Wong

Thanks Matt:

This is pretty close to what I have, but I’ve done a 36’ radiator and 13’ 
counterpoise. So maybe it’s in the details. I have my antenna wire (100’) wound 
on a kite string winder. I spool out what I calculate I need and the other end 
is connected to my BNC/banana adapter. So I have 60+’ of wire still wound on 
the reel. Is the inductance effect of the remaining wire wound on the reel have 
any effect on the antenna?



Michael 
K2MAW


> On Sep 29, 2016, at 9:39 AM, Matt Zilmer  wrote:
> 
> Hi Michael,
> 
> If your KX3 has the ATU, you can use the following random wire for 20 through 
> 10m, and it will work under all conditions I've come across.  I've used it on 
> 40m as well, but there are more dependencies on height of the radiator (to be 
> effective).
> 
> 28 foot radiator (I use #20 stranded).  If you have a tree or even a tall 
> bush nearby, weight one end of the wire and toss it into the tree as high as 
> you can.
> 
> 13 to 17 foot counterpoise, or "trailer" wire.  This can be laid on the 
> ground, usually opposite of the direction your radiator is sloped.
> 
> Use a Banana to BNC adapter at the KX3, and attach the radiator to the red 
> post.  The black post is attached to the counterpoise wire.  Use your ATU to 
> adjust feedpoint SWR.
> 
> As a testimonial to this antenna configuration, I've used it on multiple 
> field days at 5W to score a ton of QRP contacts.  One year, I was outscoring 
> our main station running a K3 at 100W while I had the KX3 using this antenna 
> (at least some of that is technique and luck).
> 
> When you're done at the site, pull your radiator wire back down and wind it 
> up with the counterpoise wire.  Then - you're on to your next site.
> 
> 73,
> 
> matt W6NIA
> 
> 
> On 09/29/2016 09:22 AM, Michael Wong wrote:
>> Thanks everyone! Larry's was great, quickly actionable advice. I’ll do this 
>> the next time I go out. I don’t have a shack, and am still hunting around 
>> for a spot where I can try some of the other great suggestions (that I can 
>> fit in my backpack and if I actually find a spot where I can string up a 
>> wire.
>> 
>> I do use a wire counterpoise for both my wire and Buddistick and try to keep 
>> it off the ground except for the end.
>> 
>> Yes, I have an older copy of the antenna book and I’m in the transmission 
>> lines chapter. I guess I should just skip ahead to the long wire chapter.
>> 
>> Given all the advice, I’m going to continue to try to find a good wire 
>> antenna deployment given the random locations I tend to drop in at.
>> 
>> Thanks all!
>> 
>> Michael
>> K2MAW
>> 
>> 
>>> On Sep 29, 2016, at 8:34 AM, Bill  wrote:
>>> 
>>> That's great advice, Larry!
>>> 
>>> Bill
>>> K9YEQ
>>> 
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry
>>> Gauthier (K8UT)
>>> 
>>> The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences
>>> between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will
>>> out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to
>>> receiving station...
>>> 
>>> BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick
>>> in the CW portion and send the string "test test de  >> callsign>". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send the same string on the random wire.
>>> 
>>> Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter
>>> 
>>> your callsign.
>>> http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
>>> Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the stations who
>>> heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize QSB and propagation fading.
>>> 
>>> What do you get? The results ("which is better?") may be different as you
>>> move from one location to another. If you can carry both antennas use the
>>> one that's working.
>>> 
>>> -larry (K8UT)
>>> -Original Message-
>>> From: Michael A. Wong
>>> 
>>> Hey folks,
>>> 
>>> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I
>>> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my
>>> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the
>>> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made
>>> all my contacts with the Buddistick.
>>> 
>>> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend
>>> a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the
>>> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the
>>> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO
>>> over a wire?
>>> 
>>> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the
>>> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet
>>> between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202
>>> 
>>> and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the
>>> Buddistick

Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Matt Zilmer


Hi Michael,

If your KX3 has the ATU, you can use the following random wire for 20 
through 10m, and it will work under all conditions I've come across.  
I've used it on 40m as well, but there are more dependencies on height 
of the radiator (to be effective).


28 foot radiator (I use #20 stranded).  If you have a tree or even a 
tall bush nearby, weight one end of the wire and toss it into the tree 
as high as you can.


13 to 17 foot counterpoise, or "trailer" wire.  This can be laid on the 
ground, usually opposite of the direction your radiator is sloped.


Use a Banana to BNC adapter at the KX3, and attach the radiator to the 
red post.  The black post is attached to the counterpoise wire.  Use 
your ATU to adjust feedpoint SWR.


As a testimonial to this antenna configuration, I've used it on multiple 
field days at 5W to score a ton of QRP contacts.  One year, I was 
outscoring our main station running a K3 at 100W while I had the KX3 
using this antenna (at least some of that is technique and luck).


When you're done at the site, pull your radiator wire back down and wind 
it up with the counterpoise wire.  Then - you're on to your next site.


73,

matt W6NIA


On 09/29/2016 09:22 AM, Michael Wong wrote:

Thanks everyone! Larry's was great, quickly actionable advice. I’ll do this the 
next time I go out. I don’t have a shack, and am still hunting around for a 
spot where I can try some of the other great suggestions (that I can fit in my 
backpack and if I actually find a spot where I can string up a wire.

I do use a wire counterpoise for both my wire and Buddistick and try to keep it 
off the ground except for the end.

Yes, I have an older copy of the antenna book and I’m in the transmission lines 
chapter. I guess I should just skip ahead to the long wire chapter.

Given all the advice, I’m going to continue to try to find a good wire antenna 
deployment given the random locations I tend to drop in at.

Thanks all!

Michael
K2MAW



On Sep 29, 2016, at 8:34 AM, Bill  wrote:

That's great advice, Larry!

Bill
K9YEQ

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry
Gauthier (K8UT)

The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences
between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will
out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to
receiving station...

BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick
in the CW portion and send the string "test test de  ". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send the same string on the random wire.

Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter

your callsign.
http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the stations who
heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize QSB and propagation fading.

What do you get? The results ("which is better?") may be different as you
move from one location to another. If you can carry both antennas use the
one that's working.

-larry (K8UT)
-Original Message-
From: Michael A. Wong

Hey folks,

KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I
would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my
Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the
wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made
all my contacts with the Buddistick.

Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend
a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the
wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the
Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO
over a wire?

I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the
triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet
between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202

and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the
Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes

Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire
antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts.

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Re: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

2016-09-29 Thread Mel Farrer via Elecraft

Yes, the switching time in the amplifier is too slow,  hence you need to 
consider sequencing the amp keying so that it keys first then the KX3.  Sounds 
like the amp has a relay vs solid state switching.  

Mel, K6KBE

  From: EA2BD via Elecraft 
 To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net 
 Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 9:06 AM
 Subject: [Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

Hello,
I want to check if anyone experiences the same behaviour when connecting the
KX3 to an external amplifier.

- I receintly added an external amplifier to my KX3.
- I connected the PTT cable to the ACC2 port and to the amplifier.
- I set the Menu ACC2 on the KX3 to Active low, as specified.
- I verified if the cable works and it closes contact all right every time I
key down.

The TROUBLE is:
Everytime I send a dit (CW) or start talking (Voice) the SWR indicator on
the KX3 shows full reading (Hi SWR!) just briefly and it quickly relaxes
down to normal reading (SWR 1:1) during the rest of transmission.

I believe there should be any kind of delay between the TX on the KX3 and
the TX on the ampli, that causes the momentarily Hi SWR reading... But this
is extrange because the PTT cable is in!

  Does anyone have experienced similar phaenomena?
  Any idea to overcome this?
  Do you consider there will be a real overload on the finals due to this
small transient time?

I drive with 2 watt out from the KX3 to get around 90W out from my
Amplifier.

Wait for your feedback, many thanks!
73 de Ignacio EA2BD

--
View this message in context: 
http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-temporary-high-SWR-on-PTT-with-external-Amplifier-tp7622916.html
Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Michael Wong

Thanks everyone! Larry's was great, quickly actionable advice. I’ll do this the 
next time I go out. I don’t have a shack, and am still hunting around for a 
spot where I can try some of the other great suggestions (that I can fit in my 
backpack and if I actually find a spot where I can string up a wire. 

I do use a wire counterpoise for both my wire and Buddistick and try to keep it 
off the ground except for the end.

Yes, I have an older copy of the antenna book and I’m in the transmission lines 
chapter. I guess I should just skip ahead to the long wire chapter. 

Given all the advice, I’m going to continue to try to find a good wire antenna 
deployment given the random locations I tend to drop in at. 

Thanks all!

Michael
K2MAW


> On Sep 29, 2016, at 8:34 AM, Bill  wrote:
> 
> That's great advice, Larry!
> 
> Bill
> K9YEQ
> 
> -Original Message-
> From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry
> Gauthier (K8UT)
> 
> The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences
> between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will
> out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to
> receiving station...
> 
> BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick
> in the CW portion and send the string "test test de   callsign>". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send the same string on the random wire.
> 
> Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter
> 
> your callsign.
> http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
> Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the stations who 
> heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize QSB and propagation fading.
> 
> What do you get? The results ("which is better?") may be different as you 
> move from one location to another. If you can carry both antennas use the 
> one that's working.
> 
> -larry (K8UT)
> -Original Message- 
> From: Michael A. Wong
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made 
> all my contacts with the Buddistick.
> 
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend 
> a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO 
> over a wire?
> 
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet 
> between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202
> 
> and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the 
> Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes
> 
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts.
> 
> __
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[Elecraft] KX3 temporary high SWR on PTT with external Amplifier

2016-09-29 Thread EA2BD via Elecraft

Hello,
I want to check if anyone experiences the same behaviour when connecting the
KX3 to an external amplifier.

I believe there should be any kind of delay between the TX on the KX3 and
the TX on the ampli, that causes the momentarily Hi SWR reading... But this
is extrange because the PTT cable is in!

Does anyone have experienced similar phaenomena?
Any idea to overcome this?
Do you consider there will be a real overload on the finals due to this
small transient time?

I drive with 2 watt out from the KX3 to get around 90W out from my
Amplifier.

Wait for your feedback, many thanks!
73 de Ignacio EA2BD

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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Bill

That's great advice, Larry!

Bill
K9YEQ

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Larry
Gauthier (K8UT)

The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences
between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will
out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to
receiving station...

BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick
in the CW portion and send the string "test test de  ". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send the same string on the random wire.

Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter

your callsign.
http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the stations who 
heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize QSB and propagation fading.

What do you get? The results ("which is better?") may be different as you 
move from one location to another. If you can carry both antennas use the 
one that's working.

-larry (K8UT)
-Original Message- 
From: Michael A. Wong

Hey folks,

KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made 
all my contacts with the Buddistick.

Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend 
a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO 
over a wire?

I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet 
between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202

and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the 
Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes

Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts.

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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread ANCLETUS ERNEST

I will tell you I have always tested random wire and ready made and home made 
vertical PVC and wire vertical antenna.
I have always gotten better results from my vertical antennas.  You can go to 
YouTube or on my QRZ page go to the bottom of the page and click on the video.  
I have been doing QRP portable for about 15 years.  I have used Alinco DX70 
X108G, FX-9A,now my new toy KX2 all on QRP 10watts
>From my DL750 Digicel

On Sep 29, 2016 9:18 AM, GRANT YOUNGMAN  wrote:
I take some degree of umbrage with all of the comments that classify a 
shortened loaded vertical as a dummy load and a random wire (with or without a 
9:1 balun, etc) as always better.

I regularly use both.  If I’m at the beach, I guess I could have two friends 
hold a 35’ wire 5’ off the ground or put one end on a short pole and get 
excellent radiation straight up — or, I could quickly put up a Buddistick on a 
tripod or shock cord mast and start making some contacts.  Keep the radial 
wire(s) 3’ or more off the ground/sand.  Bungie the mast to a chair, or use a 
clamp on a table or whatever is handy, etc.

Sometimes a wire is better, sometimes even a shortened vertical is better — 
there are a lot of factors.  To claim that one is ALWAYS better than the other, 
has not, in my experience, been the case given the wide variety of landscape, 
propagation conditions, locations of stations at the other end, radiation 
patterns, etc.

If you’re operating from an area with lots of trees, and you have a way to get 
a wire UP, then by all means put it UP and give it a try.  (But carrying even 
light weight wire, by the time you add throwing line and weights, and 
potentially extra coax is going to negate some of the weight difference between 
the stick antenna and a wire).  If not, either a commercial or home-brew 
vertical will be easier to put up and will make contacts.

With Buddipole products specifically you’re better off with the long whips and 
a couple of 22” arms on 20 — it takes maybe a couple of turns on the loading 
coil to get to resonance with a one or two elevated radials — but that’s more 
to carry around.  The Buddipole stuff I own lets me put up a full size 20M 
vertical if I feel like it, although I don’t usually do that because it has to 
be guyed to be stable, and that’s just more work and more stuff to carry for 
only a small gain.

(This is not an ad for Buddipole.  It’s simply one option and was part of the 
question).

YMMV

Grant NQ5T
K3 #2091, KX3 #8342

> On Sep 29, 2016, at 1:01 AM, Michael A. Wong  wrote:
>
> Hey folks,
>
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made all 
> my contacts with the Buddistick.
>
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend a 
> random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO over 
> a wire?
>
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet between 
> two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 and rig 
> up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the Buddistick up 
> and running in about 3 minutes
>
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts.
>

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Re: [Elecraft] K2 - low power/reception on 80m

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Phillippe,

There are several things that could be wrong.
First determine if it is a problem with the base K2 or the KPA100. To 
accomplish that, you will have to physically remove the KPA100, unplug 
the 4 cables and power the base K2 from the 2.1mm coaxial power jack on 
the lower rear panel.


It could be the 80 meter Low pass Filter - either in the base K2 or the 
KPA100 - badly tinned toroid leads are a common cause.  It is also 
possible that the LPF relay or the BPF relay for 80 meters is not 
working properly - look at K3 and K8 in the base K2 and K11 and K12 in 
the KPA100.  If the relay case has been damaged, replace it.


73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/29/2016 3:31 AM, Philippe wrote:

Hi,

I bought an used K2/100 with an issue on 80m:

- RF is low (less than 1 watt) even when PWR set to 100W

- reception sensibility is low as well, I need to switch the PRE to hear
something on the band.

- all other bands are doing fine (good sensibility, 100W+)




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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Phil Hystad

I have used both a Buddipole and wire antennas out in the field during various 
birding trips — while my wife is stalking feathered friends with her camera, I 
set up a nice field operation with my KX3 and antennas.

Often I have my pickup and I used to have great performance with an inverted-V 
20-meter dipole using the center pole an extensible fiberglass pole (up 24 feet 
but raised by 5 feet so top elevation 29 feet).  Although the wire conductors 
are sized for the low end of 20 since I operate CW only, I extend each of the 
two Dipole legs further out using dacron line before anchoring to the ground 
with tent pegs (or something else if convenient).  The result is an inverted-V 
with a large angle separation to the legs.

Oh — one other thing.  The fiberglass pole is mounted in the truck stake hole 
on the rear part of the bed and I can get buy with no guy lines if I am careful 
in setup.

I have not compared the Buddipole to the inverted-V dipole antenna directly 
because I bought my Buddipole after I broke my fiberglass pole and decided on 
using a Buddipole instead as it was more flexible in some ways and I would not 
have the dependence on my pickup truck.  However, in general, I would say that 
the Inverted-V always beat out performance of the Buddipole but also the 
Buddipole does work.

Note — all my field work is KX3 QRP (10 watts) or a few times only a few watts 
using my KX1.

Both antennas though took me about the same time to set up — maybe about 20 
minutes as I am not usually racing for some record set up time.

73, phil, K7PEH

> On Sep 29, 2016, at 1:01 AM, Michael A. Wong  wrote:
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made all 
> my contacts with the Buddistick.
> 
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend a 
> random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO over 
> a wire?
> 
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet between 
> two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 and rig 
> up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the Buddistick up 
> and running in about 3 minutes
> 
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts. 
> 

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[Elecraft] K3 remote question

2016-09-29 Thread Mike Murray

I have my remote setup tested and working OK with the RemoteRigs.  The one
thing I'd like to add is visibility of the P3.  I have a webcam set up and
operational to view the screen using TeamViewer.  However, the K3 freq info
doesn't get to the P3 since there is now no connection between the two.  I
thought I might be able to use COM1 on the RemoteRig to direct CAT info to
the P3, but can't get that to work using either Mode 6 or Mode 7 on the
RemoteRig.

Has anyone tried this successfully or am I completely barking up the wrong
tree?

Mike - W0AG
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread GRANT YOUNGMAN

I take some degree of umbrage with all of the comments that classify a 
shortened loaded vertical as a dummy load and a random wire (with or without a 
9:1 balun, etc) as always better.  

I regularly use both.  If I’m at the beach, I guess I could have two friends 
hold a 35’ wire 5’ off the ground or put one end on a short pole and get 
excellent radiation straight up — or, I could quickly put up a Buddistick on a 
tripod or shock cord mast and start making some contacts.  Keep the radial 
wire(s) 3’ or more off the ground/sand.  Bungie the mast to a chair, or use a 
clamp on a table or whatever is handy, etc.

Sometimes a wire is better, sometimes even a shortened vertical is better — 
there are a lot of factors.  To claim that one is ALWAYS better than the other, 
has not, in my experience, been the case given the wide variety of landscape, 
propagation conditions, locations of stations at the other end, radiation 
patterns, etc.

If you’re operating from an area with lots of trees, and you have a way to get 
a wire UP, then by all means put it UP and give it a try.  (But carrying even 
light weight wire, by the time you add throwing line and weights, and 
potentially extra coax is going to negate some of the weight difference between 
the stick antenna and a wire).  If not, either a commercial or home-brew 
vertical will be easier to put up and will make contacts.  

With Buddipole products specifically you’re better off with the long whips and 
a couple of 22” arms on 20 — it takes maybe a couple of turns on the loading 
coil to get to resonance with a one or two elevated radials — but that’s more 
to carry around.  The Buddipole stuff I own lets me put up a full size 20M 
vertical if I feel like it, although I don’t usually do that because it has to 
be guyed to be stable, and that’s just more work and more stuff to carry for 
only a small gain. 

(This is not an ad for Buddipole.  It’s simply one option and was part of the 
question).

YMMV

Grant NQ5T
K3 #2091, KX3 #8342

> On Sep 29, 2016, at 1:01 AM, Michael A. Wong  wrote:
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made all 
> my contacts with the Buddistick.
> 
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend a 
> random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO over 
> a wire?
> 
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet between 
> two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 and rig 
> up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the Buddistick up 
> and running in about 3 minutes
> 
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts. 
> 

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Re: [Elecraft] genovation keypad

2016-09-29 Thread Wes Stewart


Where did I say anything about a P3?

On 9/28/2016 9:20 PM, Dave Cole wrote:

On Wed, 2016-09-28 at 16:13 -0700, Wes Stewart wrote:

And therein is the rub.  All of these schemes, including the K-Pod, I
believe, require recording macros *in the radio* and recalling them
with button pushes, taps/etc.

The Genovation keypad does not trigger anything in the K3, it triggers a
macro from the P3, which you preload.


I would like (and would purchase) a keypad that takes a simple push of
a button to execute a command (recorded in the keypad) to perform a
function.

Using the Genovation, you get essentially this.  You stack as many
macros as you want, load them into the P3, then trigger that macro
cluster from the Genovation with a single keytap.  The P3 then fires the
macro cluster to the K3.


I detest tap and/or hold and want the function performed regardless of
how long I hold the button.  For example: button 1 sends the command
string to go split and TX up 1 to the radio just like I would using
the K3 Utility.  Button 2, clears that command, and so on and so
forth.

This is exactly how the Genovation works...  There are no press and hold
functions possible with the Genovation.  It uses the macro sets Elecraft
provides, some of which perform the same function a press and hold, only
you trigger it with a single keypress on the Genovation.

If there is a macro for it, then you can trigger it with a single press
of the Genovation, be it instant, or a 10 minutes press, the result is
the same...  An example is the "Split + 5" macro, it does the following
with a single instantaneous keytap:

1.  Puts the radio in split.
2.  Shifts the P3 display to show the DX on the left edge.
3.  Positions the transmit VFO 5 up from the DX.
4.  Sets the P3 span to 6 KHz wide.
5.  Sets the appropriate mode for the P3.

The result you as a user will see for your single keytap is that the DX
is moved to the left side of the P3, showing the high 5 KHz on the right
of the P3 screen, allowing you to control where you transmit using the
VFO B knob.  All with a single tap of a single key.

All I do as the user, is press the SPLIT +5 button on the Genovation,
and all of the above happens.  I just find a hole in the pile up and
send my call using a second button...  Once the DX returns my call, I
press a third button and the report is sent.  DX worked...  I log it,
and move on...

For me, it matters not where the commands are stored, what matters is
what happens when I touch a key.

See:
http://nk7z.net/adding-an-external-keypad-to-the-k3/

Start at the section labeled, "How the P3/SVGA works", to get a more
detailed overview of what is happening when you tap a key on the
Genovation.



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Re: [Elecraft] K-Pod macros Around?

2016-09-29 Thread Don Wilhelm


Gary and all,

The K-Pod buttons activate macros 1 thru 16.
For instance, a hold of the F1 button activates Macro 1 and a tap 
activates Macro 9.


So you create a Macro for those macro numbers.  It is a subtle point, 
but you do not assign the K-Pod buttons to any random macro, that is 
pre-assigned.  Place the desired macro into the proper numbered slot in 
the K3.


73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/28/2016 11:41 PM, Gary Smith wrote:

But how do I ascribe a button on the K-Pod
top a specific desired macro?

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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread w4grj

When explaining low swr vs antenna efficiency I use the example of a dummy
load
perfect swr but not a very good antenna.

Jack
W4GRJ

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bill
Frantz
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:54 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

As the real resistance grows larger compared with the radiation resistance,
then more of the power is converted to heat in the real resistance rather
than radiated as RF.

73 Bill AE6JV

On 9/28/16 at 10:27 PM, j...@audiosystemsgroup.com (Jim Brown) wrote:

>{Radiation resistance is a theoretical resistance that allows us to 
>compute the radiated power. A higher number is better.]
---
Bill Frantz| If the site is supported by  | Periwinkle
(408)356-8506  | ads, you are the product.| 16345 
Englewood Ave
www.pwpconsult.com |  | Los Gatos, 
CA 95032

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Re: [Elecraft] K-Pod macros Around?

2016-09-29 Thread Dave Cole

On Wed, 2016-09-28 at 20:53 -0700, Nick Garner wrote:
> Hi Gary,
> A few weeks ago I made this website to help with the creation of
> macros.
> 
> http://pignology.net/emm/
> 
> 73,
> Nick
> N3WG

That is a pretty cool page Nick...  :)
-- 
73's, and thanks,
Dave (NK7Z)
For software/hardware reviews see:
http://www.nk7z.net

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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Don Lewis (KI4D)

Michael - unless you are interested in experimenting regarding this project,
I have found the most effective, portable, flexible and lightweight wire
antenna system for 20 meters is the PAR-20 EndFedz antenna system from LNR
Precision.  You can configure it as a vertical, horizontal or slanted
antenna.  With a portable telescoping pole on a tripod (or thrown up in a
tree) it can be set up in about the same amount of time as the Buddistick,
and has been more effective in my experience.   Good luck.

Don Lewis, KI4D 

-Original Message-
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of
Michael A. Wong
Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:01 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

Hey folks,

KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I
would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my
Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the
wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made
all my contacts with the Buddistick.

Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend
a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the
wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the
Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO
over a wire?

I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the
triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet
between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202
and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the
Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes

Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire
antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts. 

Sent from my iPad
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Mike Morrow

Michael A. Wong (who declines to provide his call sign) writes;

> KX3 and Buddistick owner here.

Great on the former...my sympathies on the latter. :-)

> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas,

Remove the words "maybe" and "random wire".

If you wish to experience the stark contrast between a proper wire antenna and 
your expensive ground resistance heater, you need only to construct a simple 
resonant wire dipole for 20 meters.  (It's just a center insulator with 16.5 
feet of wire coming off each side...fed with RG-58 or RG-8X coax going to the 
KX3.)  The dipole provides its own counterpoise.  (You did not describe the 
counterpoise that you used with your random wire.)

The performance difference on transmit and receive (if the band is not dead) 
compared to what you've been using should amaze you.  The ATU will love it as 
well, inserting far less (or even no) lossy reactances for a match.  (Many 
Elecrafters pretend those tiny little ATU inductors and capacitors are 
loss-free, but of course they certainly are not...TANSTAAFL!)

Of course, the above details are only for 20m.  On request I can send 
description of a simple and extremely inexpensive 40m to 10m (seven-band) wire 
dipole that I've used for almost 40 years for portable (camp-site) operation.

Mike / KK5F
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Larry Gauthier (K8UT)

The most likely answer is "it depends." Despite the theoretical differences 
between the antennas, there are situational differences where one will 
out-perform the other: quality of ground, height, propagation, direction to 
receiving station...


BUT, you can measure those differences yourself. Tune-up on the Buddistick 
in the CW portion and send the string "test test de  callsign>". Move your VFO 5 KHz and send the same string on the random wire.


Then open your browser to the Reverse Beacon Network's search page and enter 
your callsign.

http://www.reversebeacon.net/srch.php
Compare your received signal strength on each antenna by the stations who 
heard you. Run the test a few times to minimize QSB and propagation fading.


What do you get? The results ("which is better?") may be different as you 
move from one location to another. If you can carry both antennas use the 
one that's working.


-larry (K8UT)
-Original Message- 
From: Michael A. Wong

Sent: Thursday, September 29, 2016 1:01 AM
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

Hey folks,

KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made 
all my contacts with the Buddistick.


Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend 
a random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO 
over a wire?


I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet 
between two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 
and rig up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the 
Buddistick up and running in about 3 minutes


Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts.


Sent from my iPad
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Re: [Elecraft] "Random wire" vs Buddystick - myth, bias or luck?

2016-09-29 Thread Vic Rosenthal

Michael,

If received signals are stronger on the wire, almost certainly transmitted ones 
are too.

If you really want to know which is better, arrange some way to switch between 
them quickly so you can do an a-b comparison. With the K3's tuner, this is 
easy, but I believe the KX3 tuner only has one output, so you have to use an 
external switch. Keep in mind that the antennas will have different radiation 
patterns, of course.

Vic 4X6GP 

> On 29 Sep 2016, at 08:01, Michael A. Wong  wrote:
> 
> Hey folks,
> 
> KX3 and Buddistick owner here. I've been getting a lot of feedback that I 
> would get better performance (more contacts) with a random wire vs my 
> Buddistick. So, while I've noticed that reception is much better with the 
> wire, with the Buddistick, I get 1.1:1 according to the KX3 and have made all 
> my contacts with the Buddistick.
> 
> Now, recognizing the DIY nature of our hobby might lead people to recommend a 
> random wire over a commercial antenna, if I actually manage to deploy the 
> wire "optimally", should I really see performance equal or outpace the 
> Buddistick? Or am I simply finding bad luck the times I try to get a QSO over 
> a wire?
> 
> I've tried deploying from a 30' pole sloping down, the hypotenuse of the 
> triangle pointing to my desired direction. I tried deploying 40+ feet between 
> two trees about 12' off the ground. Now I'm going to get a Zebco 202 and rig 
> up my slingshot to deploy vertical. But honestly, I can get the Buddistick up 
> and running in about 3 minutes
> 
> Mainly, I'm on 20m and maybe I haven't read the right book on random wire 
> antennas, but I would appreciate the group's thoughts. 
> 
> 
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Re: [Elecraft] K2 - low power/reception on 80m

2016-09-29 Thread Matt Maguire

Sticky relay?

73, Matt VK2RQ




On Thu, Sep 29, 2016 at 5:32 PM +1000, "Philippe"  wrote:










Hi, 

I bought an used K2/100 with an issue on 80m: 

- RF is low (less than 1 watt) even when PWR set to 100W  

- reception sensibility is low as well, I need to switch the PRE to hear
something on the band. 

- all other bands are doing fine (good sensibility, 100W+) 

I first though about the band filter but I didn't success to get any RF
increase when re-tuning L3/L4. 

Do you have an idea where I can start? 

Thanks

-- 
Phil
F5IYJ / NK2F
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[Elecraft] K2 - low power/reception on 80m

2016-09-29 Thread Philippe

Hi, 

I bought an used K2/100 with an issue on 80m: 

- RF is low (less than 1 watt) even when PWR set to 100W  

- reception sensibility is low as well, I need to switch the PRE to hear
something on the band. 

- all other bands are doing fine (good sensibility, 100W+) 

I first though about the band filter but I didn't success to get any RF
increase when re-tuning L3/L4. 

Do you have an idea where I can start? 

Thanks

-- 
Phil
F5IYJ / NK2F
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