RE: [Elecraft] AGC Threshold Ok! (was Re: K2: AGC Threshold Too Low?)
Hello Sarah, Having spent 10 years or so in apartments trying to operate HF I can recommend a couple of things to improve your evaluation of the K2. GET THE ANTENNA OUTSIDE AND IF POSSIBE MAKE IT REASONATE. I had a friend give me the remains of a couple of Hustler mobile antenna setups including two masts and 2 40 and 2 20 meter resonators. I used a mount I got at the time from a CB store to make a rotatable dipole and put it on a camera tripod with duct tape. Not pretty but it fit on the patio for the first test and made a usable receive antenna. Later I made an extension mast from the pole off a pool skimmer and put it in a TV tripod and just stood it on my balcony lashed to the handrail with bungee cords. This put the antenna up and away from the building which was stucco over wire and block. This type of construction acts like a faraday shield and won't let you hear diddly. I had to put it up and down each day I intended to use it so the mgmnt wouldn't have a fit but it worked well enough to keep me from being QRT. Good luck with your K2 project. You have the greatest resource at your fingertips with the company and this reflector so failure is unlikely. I know we will hear you on the air at some point. ;) Michael Baker K7DD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Sarah K Sent: Sunday, December 02, 2007 1:58 AM To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] AGC Threshold Ok! (was Re: K2: AGC Threshold Too Low?) Hi All, Good news... I got my K2's replacement voltage regulator (LM2930T-8) from Elecraft on Friday. Today I took out the old one and put in the new one... the output of the voltage regulator is now 8.04 volts, which is a whole lot better than the 7.53 volts I had gotten before! And after adjusting R1, the AGC threshold is reading 3.80, exactly where it should be! Elecraft also sent me a replacement R116 which was missing (I think!) so I was able to finish building Part II and move on to the alignment and test for Part II. Someone on the list (NM5B) had recommend I pick up a few of the Elecraft mini-modules, so I ordered the noise generator, the 50uV signal generator, and the dummy load. I put those together today too, with no issues, and used them to help work through the alignment and test. On the whole, I was quite happy with the results of the alignment and test; all of the instructions were fairly straightforward, and, even better, my K2 seemed to pass all of them perfectly! Yay! And the noise generator works; I can hear the noise. The signal generator works, too; when I tune around 7040 kHz, I can hear the 40m 50uV oscillator. Now comes my strange and possibly embarrassing question... Um... should I be able to receive anything yet? Keep in mind, this is my first radio... well, second, if you count my Yaesu VX-7R... and I don't entirely know what to expect. I have what is probably a very bad antenna; it's just two pieces of random wire I had laying around, soldered onto a BNC connector, and draped around the room. The total length is probably 20-25 feet, which I *know* isn't the right length for 40 meters... but it was the longest wire I had laying around. When I hook it to the K2 via a 3ft BNC patch cable, I definitely hear an increase in the noise level in the headphones. But I wasn't able to tune into anything that sounded like an actual transmission. No voice, no CW. I tried switching between CW, LSB, and USB. And I fiddled with the filter settings. I did hear a couple different kinds of things: I hear whistling noises that increase or decrease in pitch as I tune around. I hear pops that happen when I tune across some small range of frequencies. These pops seem to be mostly repeatable, as if I'm hitting something in the same spot in the band, but I was never able to tune in to anything. I do also hear several places where the noise is louder, and the S- meter increases by a notch or two... and once or twice I heard something that could possibly have been very, very garbled speech. But I wasn't ever able to tune into those, either, and in fact it could have been my imagination. And, so far... that's about it. Some other things that might be worth pointing out: I have a high- voltage transmission line and a substation about a block away from me... and my antenna is parallel to it. And I connected the VX-7R to the same antenna and it gets similar kinds of noise, and no signals on 40m either. Also, I'm on the 2nd floor of an apartment, and an outside antenna isn't going to be feasible here. I didn't try grounding the K2 to the electrical ground yet... I certainly can't install my own ground rod, either! I was running the K2 from 12 volts worth of D batteries, to minimize power supply noise. And I turned off all the fluorescent lights, which dropped the noise
RE: [Elecraft] CW: Best low cost iambic key?
Yep, Try the Black Widow paddle made by Jerry Haigwood W5JS for $64 as a kit. Fun to finish any way you want it or just leave it alone in its rustic brass finish. Either way it's the best $250 paddle you can buy for $64. I used a simple palm sander with fine sand paper and made a sort of swirl pattern to the brass and just assembled it. It's now my favorite key replacing my old Bencher and Kent paddles on the desk. http://www.w5jh.net/Black_Widow.htm Give it a look see. I think you will like it so much you will want a second one for portable use. OH, I have SN#001. The new ones look nicer! :) Michael Baker K7DD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Rob Lundahl Sent: Monday, October 15, 2007 3:08 PM To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] CW: Best low cost iambic key? Any recommendations for a low cost Iambic cw key? NV7F ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
[Elecraft] Balanced AT, an Idea that works, CHEAP.
Hi Gang, After reading about the German auto tuner item I thought I might mention what I have used that works well and doesn't break the bank. AT-11Pro tuner with the matching 4 to one balun attached directly to the back of the tuner with a double male connector and powered by self contained battery pack of AA cells will match just about anything you attach to it and do the job from 160 to 6 meters. There are a few combinations that it doesn't work well with but if the antenna is say a typical 80 meter doublet fed with ladder line it will match it on all harmonically related bands, NO problem. Good for a hundred watts and can be operated with QRP levels in the AUTO tune position its a hands off method that sets you back about $230 out the door (not including the battery mod or weather proof box). On Field Day this same system was directly attached to the dipole at the feed point and suspended inside a plastic freezer box and hauled up a tree and worked fine. Michael Baker K7DD [EMAIL PROTECTED] ___ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
RE: [QRP-L] WA3WSJ: Bead-Wire Antenna
Hi Ed, I find your SWR readings a bit contradictory to my antenna modeling in EZNEC. Modeling 4 radials 17.28' each and a radiator of the same length with the radials 7' off the ground and the ends and the feed point and feed end of the radials at 10 feet I get a SWR of about 1.6 to 1. If I change the radiator to a 40' length and feed it the exact same way and heights I get a feed impedance of 325 ohms and a reactance of -1147 Ohms for 14.06 MHz. which isn't what I would call acceptable. For 7.04 MHz I get it near perfect with SWR of 1.19 to 1, at 59.5 Ohms and -1.169 Ohms reactance. Very Nice. 30 meters comes out at 10.12 MHz with 283 Ohms and +828.7 Ohms reactance. SWR of 54.2 to 1. Not very nice. So, unless you are running a tuner and that was the best your tuner would adapt the antenna to your rig, then I can see where you got your numbers. Either way, the antenna on any band except 40 meters is not going to radiate very well UNLESS you install the tuner AT THE FEED POINT of the antenna so the COAX is not contributing to the losses in the system. Even then I would recommend looking at the radiation pattern and angle of attack for that antenna and see it is what you wanted. A 20 meter ground plane antenna as I first described has a very nice single lobe pattern with an angle of attack of 20 degrees and a very acceptable SWR. On 40 meters with the 40' radiator it runs 22 Degrees angle of attack so again, a nice antenna with a very nice SWR. Make the entire antenna as a 40 meter ground plane (double the 20 meter wire lengths with same height above ground) and you get 1.12 SWR will NIL for reactance and the same attack angle of 22 degrees. Very close to your 40 foot radiator model. So, how did you get your SWR readings? Tuner or No Tuner? And located where? Best 73 72 Michael Baker K7DD [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Edward R. Breneiser Sent: Friday, October 06, 2006 7:55 AM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net; [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [QRP-L] WA3WSJ: Bead-Wire Antenna Hello all, I received lots of emails concerning my Bead-Wire Antenna. I've decided to post on the reflectors rather than send out to each Individual op. Here's what I did to make my antenna. I went out to my local craft store called The Rag Shop and bought a 40' spool of flexible bead wire. This stuff is very strong, has a clear tough plastic coating over it, but won't take solder. My wire has seven strands to it. It comes on a plastic spool that's about 2.75 in diameter and 5/8 thick. It even has a clear plastic cover that snaps over half the spool to keep the wire etc on the spool. The wire measures .012 in diameter so it's very small and light. In fact my 40' of wire and 40' fishing line with spool weighs-in at less than 1oz! I tie one end of the bead wire to 40' of 30lb test fishing line. On the on the fishing line I tie a loop. I tie about an 1 loop on the end of the fishing line so I can attach a 1oz lead sinker. The sinker is one that is egg shaped and has a wire loop at the top. In the field I simlpy slip the fishing line loop through the wire loop and double back over the sinker. This makes for a solid tie that can be taken off easily anytime. This sinker makes it easy to throw up the bead wire into a tree too. At present I use three ground radials each 16' in length made from #26 black stealh wire. I plan to make my ground radials out of the bead-wire too to save on space and weight. I tried this setup yesterday in my back yard with my KX1. On 30m I had 4.0W out with a 1.0:1 swr. On 20m I have 3.8w out with a swr of 1.2:1 and on 40m I have 2.8w out with a swr of 1.1:1. My entire trail radio package weighs-in at 1.6lb. Here's what I use on the AT: Radio: KX1 with 30m option Battery: Powerizer 11.1V 1800mah 3-cell Lithium Polymer ~4.5oz Antenna: Bead-Wire Ant. Attached with 2-post to bnc adapter Paddle: AT Paddle Mini (plugs directly into KX1, 3.5mm stero plug) The entire package stores in a small camera case! p.s. You can buy silver coated bead wire to solder to, but it's expensive! 72, Ed,WA3WSJ __ QRP-L mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qrp-l Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.407 / Virus Database: 268.13.0/465 - Release Date: 10/6/2006 __ QRP-L mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/qrp-l Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
