Re: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
Leigh L Klotz, Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote : The Maldol 20M whip is fine with a radial 10-16ft and a 1ft or so piece of bus wire clipped to the top with an alligator clip, at any angle. I worked Florida from Toronto on vacation twice with that antenna, acting on Wayne N6KR's lead. Likewise, I have worked France with a similar setup from Maine, but ... as someone else mentioned one has to be very careful to avoid damaging the PCB as the BNC is directly mounted to the board. Martin, for portable operations you will have much better luck with a longer wire. The KXAT1 was optimized for the recommended 24 to 28 ft wire and will load this with a decent SWR and pretty good performance on 40M / 30M / 20M with a reasonable ground. This will give you better and more consistent performance than a short loaded whip. For bike mobile I would recommend that you try a Hamstick. They are cheap and on 20M especially, performance is not too bad. I have also had pretty good luck using a 14ft linear loaded wire attached to a 13 ft telescopic fishing pole for Pedestrian mobile operations with a 30ft trailing counterpoise wire. Michael VE3WMB ___ 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: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
I also have found that the Maldol whip is capable of making contacts. What I have done to solve the problem of possibly breaking the BNC from the board is to use a auto window mount I bought at HRO. I attach this either by a vice grip or clamp to the deck or table and run the coax to the KX1. Works great. Got St Croix and England using this setup. Aron NN1F Bedford, NH FP#122 -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Michael Babineau Sent: Tuesday, April 26, 2005 8:52 AM To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas? Leigh L Klotz, Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote : The Maldol 20M whip is fine with a radial 10-16ft and a 1ft or so piece of bus wire clipped to the top with an alligator clip, at any angle. I worked Florida from Toronto on vacation twice with that antenna, acting on Wayne N6KR's lead. Likewise, I have worked France with a similar setup from Maine, but ... as someone else mentioned one has to be very careful to avoid damaging the PCB as the BNC is directly mounted to the board. Martin, for portable operations you will have much better luck with a longer wire. The KXAT1 was optimized for the recommended 24 to 28 ft wire and will load this with a decent SWR and pretty good performance on 40M / 30M / 20M with a reasonable ground. This will give you better and more consistent performance than a short loaded whip. For bike mobile I would recommend that you try a Hamstick. They are cheap and on 20M especially, performance is not too bad. I have also had pretty good luck using a 14ft linear loaded wire attached to a 13 ft telescopic fishing pole for Pedestrian mobile operations with a 30ft trailing counterpoise wire. Michael VE3WMB ___ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
Martin, I understand that a whip attached directly to the BNC jacket of the KXAT1 could give mechanical frictions. The BNC is soldered directly onto the KXAT1 pcb without support of the enclosure and that makes it somewhat fragile. Have fun on the bike and 73 from bikeland nr. 1 : Netherlands ;) Dick/PA2DW Hi. I read the manual for the KXAT1 and the advice for antennas states that short whip antennas should only be used in emergencies. Text of the manual included below. This seems strange because when I read the HFPack yahoo group I can find lots of HAMs who are using the KX1/KXAT1 with various HF whips attached to bicycles with varying degrees of success. Any HF whip connected to a bicycle must be a short whip, probably loaded. Anyone have an opinion or personal experience who can shed some light? I'd like to fit the KX1 to my bike! Martin. Manual text: Backpacking Verticals: The KXAT1 may improve the match to a backpacking-style vertical. If the antenna has a loading coil, you should first adjust it for minimum SWR, since such antennas can be very narrow-banded. Set the ATU menu entry to CAL mode (bypass) for this purpose, then back to TUN mode to further match the antenna using the KXAT1 (if necessary). Whip Antennas: Short whip antennas connected directly to the KX1 may damage the antenna jack or PC board, and so should only be used in an emergency. They are also very poor radiators. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.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 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: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
Martin, The Maldol 20M whip is fine with a radial 10-16ft and a 1ft or so piece of bus wire clipped to the top with an alligator clip, at any angle. I worked Florida from Toronto on vacation twice with that antenna, acting on Wayne N6KR's lead. But on a bike you may want something better as you havbe the opportunity (and mechanical need) to hold something more substantial, such as a Hamstick or a CB whip. Watch the height regulations though! The ground will be different, especially on the low bands. Budd W3FF operates his Buddipole on a bike with great success and he uses an inductor in series with the ground to the bike frame on 60M. I have heard Budd work the south pole on it SSB! 73, Leigh. On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 8:20 am, Martin Gillen wrote: Hi. I read the manual for the KXAT1 and the advice for antennas states that short whip antennas should only be used in emergencies. ___ 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: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
Hi, Paul. You may be right! I didn't think about the physical aspect of it. For bike mobile I would be mouting a whip behind me with coax running forward to the rig in a front basket, I wouldn't even have considered actually attaching a whip directly to such a tiny radio! Martin. --- Paul Bruneau [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: On Apr 25, 2005, at 11:18 AM, Martin Gillen wrote: Hi. I read the manual for the KXAT1 and the advice for antennas states that short whip antennas should only be used in emergencies. Text of the manual included below. the way I read it, the manual is concerned about the mechanical connection being physically damaged by the leverage of a whip being directly connected to it. Is that how you are reading it too? I'd love to do some bicycle operating myself, but I think I would not want to use the radio as the only anchor for such an antenna. Whip Antennas: Short whip antennas connected directly to the KX1 may damage the antenna jack or PC board, and so should only be used in an emergency. They are also very poor radiators. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.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
RE: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
In-reply-to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Hi, Ron. A very informative answer, thanks! I was thinking purely in terms of the electrical characteristics of the antenna when I read the manual, not the physical, because to me it was obvious that a whip should not be directly connected to the KX1. Makes much more sense now! Thanks, Martin. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.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
Re: [Elecraft] KXAT1 with short whip antennas?
Hi, Leigh. Thanks for the informative reply! I hadn't thought about the ground since that is the bike frame! I'll have to lookup Budd's information and see what value of inductor to use there or how to calculate it... I'll also have to lookup Canadian height regulations for a mobile antenna :) Thanks again, Martin. --- Leigh L Klotz, Jr. [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: Martin, The Maldol 20M whip is fine with a radial 10-16ft and a 1ft or so piece of bus wire clipped to the top with an alligator clip, at any angle. I worked Florida from Toronto on vacation twice with that antenna, acting on Wayne N6KR's lead. But on a bike you may want something better as you havbe the opportunity (and mechanical need) to hold something more substantial, such as a Hamstick or a CB whip. Watch the height regulations though! The ground will be different, especially on the low bands. Budd W3FF operates his Buddipole on a bike with great success and he uses an inductor in series with the ground to the bike frame on 60M. I have heard Budd work the south pole on it SSB! 73, Leigh. On Mon, 25 Apr 2005 8:20 am, Martin Gillen wrote: Hi. I read the manual for the KXAT1 and the advice for antennas states that short whip antennas should only be used in emergencies. Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.yahoo.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
