Re: [Elecraft] Vertical antennas Was: KX3 and KPA1500, compatibility
Ed, There is a FAR better way. Check out the design by VK4YB on his QRZ page. It's a brilliant design, and works great, enabling him to set the distance record on the band (in 2017, I think). The key element of the design are dimensions that carefully place the current maxima in the 120 ft vertical section, and that doesn't need a radial system. It's a VERY efficient antenna! BTW -- my NEC model didn't show pronounced directivity in the direction of the loading wire that the author observed. I took this as the starting point and tweaked the loading section to fit on W6GJB's property, supported by redwoods. My tweaks were to break the 450 ft loading wire into several parallel wires. We measured feedpoint Z, then used SimSmith to design a simple matching network with junkbox parts. It plays extremely well -- Glen's worked VK4YB and a lot of other stuff with it. 73, Jim K9YC On 3/7/2023 10:45 PM, Ed Cole wrote: My new 630m antenna will be a "T" vertical with four top wires formed by 80 & 40m dipoles. Feedline will be 40-foot 300-ohm open wire which will be shorted for use as a vertical and use the same base loading coil. Radial system will be wires lain in the lawn with staples from DXEngineering (so lawn can be mowed). Start out with six radials but can add to that over time to improve the antenna. The vertical will also set up for 160m use by using a different coil tap. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KRC2 Band Decoder question
On 3/7/2023 7:38 PM, AB2E Darrell wrote: Are there any issues using this with a K3? Not that I know of, Darrell, although there are a bunch of options covered in the manual. Should be on the website. W6GJB and I have been using a pair of KRC2s that N6RNO built to switch filter sets in his two-op contesting trailer. I'm usrf the single-coax feed from the AUX connector to the KRC2. Simplifies things a lot. The KRC2 is a rather early product, and shielding is non-existent, thanks to paint everywhere between stuff that should be bonding (like the connectors, and joints between parts of the chassis. A metal chassis provides no shielding if cable shields are not bonded to the chassis at the point of entry, and if shielding is not continuous. I took them apart and used a LOT of sandpaper. :) 73, Jim K9YC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Vertical antennas Was: KX3 and KPA1500, compatibility
Couple comments: Vertical radials: I put up a top-loaded (very) short vertical for 630m (475-KHz). Top "hat" was two parallel 130-foot horizontal wires and vertical was three parallel wires 43-foot long (inverted-L). Used a BIG base loading coil but needed radials that normally would be over 600-foot long (1/4WL). I only had room for 70-foot radials. I was told to get some 3-foot wide chicken wire fencing and lay that out on top of the ground for radials. I put three down and also connected to the shield of my 120-foot run of 1-5/8 inch hardline as fourth radial. That system worked great and I was heard 4,000 miles away in Buffalo, NY (EIRP of 4w) on 500-KHz long duration CW. My new 630m antenna will be a "T" vertical with four top wires formed by 80 & 40m dipoles. Feedline will be 40-foot 300-ohm open wire which will be shorted for use as a vertical and use the same base loading coil. Radial system will be wires lain in the lawn with staples from DXEngineering (so lawn can be mowed). Start out with six radials but can add to that over time to improve the antenna. The vertical will also set up for 160m use by using a different coil tap. I once had a 4BTV which I bolted to the front bumper of my truck and it worked quite well without radials or counterpoise (heard Antarctica from Alaska on 20m SSB from a campground setup). No longer have it (use Hygain TH3mk4 at 50-foot, instead). 73, Ed - KL7UW --- Now, it has one "radial". Actually an Ufer ground, consisting of a concrete slab, 70 feet long by 10 feet wide, with 80 feet of 8AWG copper wire buried in it. The slab is actually a solar collection field for our swimming pool. I left a space in the middle for the antenna. I was going to do radials, but had a sudden thought - I'd be a fool if I didn't bury some wire in that concrete. So I ran to the local hardware store, grabbed a roll of 8AWG off their rack, and strung it around the site, hooking it up to the rebars. Then they came and poured the concrete. - Jerry, KF6VB __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility
From: Jim Brown mailto:j...@audiosystemsgroup.com> > I think one of the the half-wave designed verticals Jim is thinking of is the Cushcraft R8 and/or R9. MFJ now manufactures these antennas, but I have one of the "original" models, and it worked very well for me -considering it was something of a compromise. As Jim noted, years ago Ward Silver, N0AX, and K7LXC, put together a very substantial review of various verticals, and he gave the R8 (the R9 wasn't born yet) very good maks! That info may seem somewhat dated, but still has serious relevance! Besides, it isn't just a review of various antennas, it is an analysis of each antenna's performance! I'd be using my R8 right now except when we moved from Tucson to Portland some of the pieces went missing, and I haven't had a chance to resolved the problem!!! I also echo Jim's comments about Tom, N6BT, are also very appropriate. I've seen Tom give marvelous presentations at at Pacificon, Yuma, and most recently to one of our ham clubs here in Portland via Zoom! Tom has created some of the most interesting and effective antennas around! For that matter, I've also seen Jim, K9YC, do presentations at Pacificon, and they were excellent as well. His website is like another handbook! If Jim says it is good, it's good! Cheers, Dave W7AQK __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] KRC2 Band Decoder question
Hi all, I picked up a KRC2 Band Decoder. Are there any issues using this with a K3? Does the stock DB9 cable to the rig need to be rewired for the K3? I want to hook it up for FD with a bandpass filter set. If anyone is using it with a K3 please email offlist. Thanks and 73, Darrell AB2E __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility
> Regarding the question about KX3-->KXPA100-->KPA1500: Be careful. All > amplifiers generate some distortion that wasn't present at the input. Each > succeeding amplifier amplifies that distortion. There are a couple of interesting articles here that discuss the design, construction and use of filters between transmitter and amplifier designed to prevent the amplification of the “junk” - unwanted harmonics and phase noise from the transmitter: https://kitsandparts.com/W3NQN_filter.php I've seen several QST reviews recently with lab notes to the effect “not recommended for use with an amplifier” because of the uncleanliness of the transmitted signal. This is an issue of increasing concern given some of the dirty signals we’ve all heard on the air. Steve AA8AF __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] Looking for T1 Tuner
Hi, In anticipation of the upcoming (warmer) POTA season, I'm looking for a T1 Tuner that some generous soul might be willing to part with. It looks like it's going to be a long wait to purchase one from Elecraft, so if you have one you'd like to sell, please let me know. You can contact me off-list at: kd8...@gmail.com Thanks and 72/73 de Mark KD8EDC KX3/PX3/KPA100 -- ___ “….the most improper job of any man, even saints (who at any rate were at least unwilling to take it on), is bossing other men. Not one in a million is fit for it, and least of all those who seek the opportunity.”. JRR Tolkien __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Elecraft SP3, speaker for K3 for sale
Speaker has sold pending funds. 73, and thanks, Dave (NK7Z) https://www.nk7z.net ARRL Volunteer Examiner ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources On 3/7/23 10:50, Dave (NK7Z) wrote: Hello, Sold my K3, and got a K4, so I have an Elecraft SP3 for sale, 8 to 9 out of 10 for condition, 100% working. Slight scratching at rear top of case. See photos at: https://www.nk7z.net/sp3-sale/ $225.00 shipped to your CONUS address via USPS. First person that says I'll take it via DIRECT email gets it. PayPal, or cleared check OK. __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility
AF5LQ wrote, "Unable to call anyone, especially on Elecraft 80 m Sunday nets." In mild dissent to several of the replies ... from very savvy folks ... one of the truly enlightening things that J. C. Maxwell worked out back in the 19th century was, "If you can get alternating current to flow in a non-buried, non-submerged conductor, it will radiate." Many years ago, in a far away land, while installing and operating a heavy mobile troposcatter system on a sand dune about 180 m AMSL, we just laid the dipole for our HF SSB intra-unit net [KWM-2A's] out on the sand. It worked fine. We finally found the masts in our pallets of gear and strung the dipole up. There was no appreciable difference in how it worked. Today, we're HOA dwellers [by choice], my antenna at home is a 43 m wire strung on a wooden fence on plastic electric fence insulators. It is about 2 m high with a 90 deg "corner," and is end-fed through what I believe is an 8:1 transformer. It works ... on all HF bands. It is a compromise of course, a Sterba curtain would work better, but I make lots of Q's with it including DX. I suggest a high likelihood that you aren't managing to get enough alternating current to flow in any of the antennas you've tried, and that's where I'd start. Regarding the question about KX3-->KXPA100-->KPA1500: Be careful. All amplifiers generate some distortion that wasn't present at the input. Each succeeding amplifier amplifies that distortion. 73, Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW Sparks NV DM09dn Washoe County j...@kk9a.com wrote on 3/6/2023 4:58 PM: Your questions regarding if you can use a KPA100 and KPA1500 together has been recently asked on this list and the answer was YES. I suspect, as K9YC noted, that the real issue is with your antenna. You did not specify exactly what you have tried. A 1/4 vertical with a decent counterpoise will work very well but I suspect that the vertical you tried was something else. A simple center fed 1/2 WL dipole with the center as high as possible should also get you into the net with your 100 watts amp, no tuner needed. John KK9A Karl AF5LQ wrote: I have a KX3 and a KPA100 amplifier but despite various attempts at verticals, end feds, OCFs, and loops, am unable to call anyone, especially on Elecraft 80 m Sunday nets on 3.784 or 3.786. Reception is adequate with most 5/8 or 5/9 and verify against the call- in list. A lot of people seem to get by with a KPA 500 but reception is not as solid as those running the legal limit. My understanding is that the KX3 is compatible with the KPA 500. What about the KPA1500? Question: Is it possible / practical/ safe to daisy-chain a KX3 to a KPA100 and drive a KPA1500? Thanks and 73, Karl AF5LQ __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to k6dg...@gmail.com -- This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] Elecraft SP3, speaker for K3 for sale
Hello, Sold my K3, and got a K4, so I have an Elecraft SP3 for sale, 8 to 9 out of 10 for condition, 100% working. Slight scratching at rear top of case. See photos at: https://www.nk7z.net/sp3-sale/ $225.00 shipped to your CONUS address via USPS. First person that says I'll take it via DIRECT email gets it. PayPal, or cleared check OK. -- 73, and thanks, Dave (NK7Z) https://www.nk7z.net ARRL Volunteer Examiner ARRL Technical Specialist, RFI ARRL Asst. Director, NW Division, Technical Resources __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] K3 & K3S Options Last Time Buy Update (12/02/2022)
I still haven’t received contact yet about the items I had ordered in April 2020 other than the original purchase confirmation. I had ordered both a new synthesizer upgrade and a general coverage bandpass filter. Could the delay in hearing anything be waiting on both kits to become available or should I have heard about the KSYN3A already? Chris Cox, N0UK chr...@chris.org https://www.credly.com/go/IR77aRbH2rFDdOiymuxu2w > On Feb 28, 2023, at 14:53, Pete Smith N4ZR wrote: > > Well, for what it's worth, I'm one of those waiting 2+years for an update > kit, and a week ago I got an e-mail from Elecraft telling me that it would be > shipping in 5-7 days. I don't know if some are ready but not others. I > reported this on this reflector at the time. > > 73, Pete N4ZR > > On 2/28/2023 3:11 PM, Lee Hiers wrote: >> On Thu, Feb 16, 2023 at 12:48 PM Wayne Burdick wrote: >> >> >>> Eric may want to elaborate. >>> >> Apparently not. >> >> Consider we're 12 weeks into a "6-8 weeks" window on some of these items. >> That's 4 to 6 weeks past due with no notice and almost two weeks after >> Wayne addressed it at all - in response to queries about why nothing has >> been said. >> >> Not to mention the ~2 year wait already endured. I know...Covid, supply >> chain, blah, blah. That does not absolve Elecraft of communicating with >> its customers. >> >> Lee, AA4GA >> __ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home:http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft >> Help:http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm >> Post:mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net >> >> This list hosted by:http://www.qsl.net >> Please help support this email list:http://www.qsl.net/donate.html >> Message delivered topete.n...@gmail.com > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to chr...@chris.org __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] SP3 for sale SOLD
6 replies in minutes. Thanks guys. Don At 08:44 AM 3/7/2023, Don Greenbaum wrote: Got the SP4 for my K4D today. So I can put the SP3 in the closet for the rest of my life (next to other elecraft radios and accessories) or put it out for sale since Elecraft no longer makes them. $125 plus shipping. Don N1DG Duxbury, MA 02332 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to d...@aurumtel.com Duxbury, MA 02332 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] RS232 failure
Hello Elecraft Owners. I have earlyer som failure with the RS232 port on my old K3 with KIO3 board. The K3/0- mini runs in TERM mode when the K3 is ''cold'', in room temp it works ok. At U1,, pin 8 the voltage runs from +0.4vdc to - 2.4 vdc in approx 5 minutes. REPLACED THE Q1 WITH MMBT5088LT1G (sot 23) from Mouser. Now the voltage on U1 pin8 -6.88 vdc, and the K3/0-mini play ok so far. The K3 in test is installed '' outside'' for the coming nite, just to see what happen . Hope this can be an idea if you have same trbl with the RS232 port ( Good help from Keith at Elecraft tech) 73' Viggo LA9NEA __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] SP3 for sale
I wish I had waited. I ordered a SP4 to add to my K3S so I could use the split capability and DIVERSITY with mine. It would not work with one speaker. And now you have to wait to get just about anything; but, I did get mine. And it was not cheap. Enjoy "ZUT" de John Paul // AB4PP On Tue, Mar 7, 2023 at 8:45 AM Don Greenbaum wrote: > Got the SP4 for my K4D today. So I can put the SP3 in the closet for the > rest of my life (next to other elecraft radios and accessories) or put it > out for sale since Elecraft no longer makes them. > > $125 plus shipping. > > Don > N1DG > Duxbury, MA 02332 > > __ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to jpkeon...@gmail.com > __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
[Elecraft] SP3 for sale
Got the SP4 for my K4D today. So I can put the SP3 in the closet for the rest of my life (next to other elecraft radios and accessories) or put it out for sale since Elecraft no longer makes them. $125 plus shipping. Don N1DG Duxbury, MA 02332 __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility
On 3/6/2023 2:08 PM, Jim Brown wrote: Most (but not all) verticals need radials to transmit a decent signal. A vertical that needs radials is a lousy TX antenna without them. To expand on this -- the BTV-series, the Butternut and a few others use various forms of traps and resonators that essentially function as a quarter-wave (or odd multiple of quarter-waves) verticals. The DO need radials. Length on the ground is not critical, and more is better. The Hy-Gain AV-series, and another similar design by another designer (all currently mfd by MFJ) are loaded, center-fed half-wave antennas, and do NOT need radials (and work best without them). I could give you family name of the other design (also mfd by MFJ), but my copy of the N0AX/K7LXC review of them is currently out on loan to another ham. My 81-year-old brain can only remember so many details. N6BT (original Force 12 designer, VERY sharp engineer), designed a lot of excellent center-fed loaded designs for that company, which he owned, and brands after he sold Force 12. Tom is a far better designer than businessman, and I love him dearly. :) His self-published "Array Of Light" is a GREAT education, and includes many of his designs. N0AX/K7LXC very disciplined tests of both verticals and tri-banders showed Tom's designs to be leading both packs! Our 7QP/CQP/FD team owns three of his C3SS Yagis. Tom is also very sharing of what he has learned, zero ego, and I've learned a LOT from him. His measurements (using drones) on the effect of terrain (above a dropoff in the direction of DX) on the performance of verticals, first presented at Pacificon about six years ago, was ground-breaking! 73, Jim K9YC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
Re: [Elecraft] Vertical antennas Was: KX3 and KPA1500 compatibility
On 3/6/2023 9:27 PM, Eric Norris wrote: ON4UN's book, Guide to Low-Band DXing, has an excellent chapter on verticals. Yes, another quite useful resource on many topics. Its focus is 40-160M. In addition to antennas and radial systems/counterpoises, it sheds a lot of light on topography, as well as on propagation on these bands. These are things we read to understand how (and why) stuff works (and why some stuff doesn't!) 73, Jim K9YC __ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
