We bought a short lo-band E-field whip with pre-amp from Clifton Labs a few
months ago, and two circular antennas a few weeks ago.
All are well-built and the whip has performed well; it feeds the VE7AB RBN
node.
The circular antennas are still being tested.
Eric VA7DZ
__
Eric
I'm a CW op, I'm baffled by the comments critical of the K3 NR, APF and
notch filter.
The NR generally removes ALL random noise, meaning that the rcvr is
silent in the absence of signals. Admittedly, It does get a little
upset in the presence of
many strong signals, so I usually turn it of
On another angle, I have a 2-element vertical array [Christman feed,
BIP-BOP]
for 40m sitting on topof a [large] flat metal roof.
It works FB, perhaps in part because the steel roof provides a
nearly-perfect ground plane ??
Eric VA7DZ
--
"We have the best model of learning that
17th-century te
Rich KY6R said
If I stack the KPA-500 on the bottom, KAT-500 next up and K3 and put the P3
next to that stack, then it will look like one radio - hi hi.
Hey, that's what I will do.
73,
Rich
KY6R
Also, wrap the stack in black plastic wrap.
But first put in a lead ingot, so it will be as heav
ON a more positive note, Thomas DL2BO at Optibeam
bent over backwards to satisfy this customer,
who loves his Optibeam 16-3
for its mechanical, electrical and aesthetic virtue.
[No, I'm not a shareholder. Our financial relationship consists of me
paying him for
the antenna. Period.]
Eric VA7DZ
I have the CM500, paid $40 US for it.
Very comfy, sounds good, fair price,
my sole complaint is that the
cans slide on the headpiece too easily, I have to re-adjust them every
time Iput it on,
the cure will be the Handyman's Secret Weapon - Duct tape!
Eric VA7DZ
--
"We have the best model of
John Fritz said:
"
I really think it would be a good
idea that once the rig is "locked" that a 3 or 4 digit code would be needed
to un-lock. That way, if a K3 owner wants my rig unlocked, I would know
about it, and be aware to re-lock it if the guest op doesn't do it."
Amen! Computers have pa
I have a Windows XP box connected to my K3 using a USB port on the box
and a Prolific
USB-to-Serial adapter. It all works FB, N1MM Logger and SKimmer talk to
the K3
via LP Bridge and the USB/serial link perfectly, including N1MM keying
the rig.
THEN I hooked up my nice new P3 today.
It talks
Chris said:
"Buy expensive and cry only once" is a Chinese saying.
John Ruskin [British poet] said:
"There is nothing that someone cannot make badly
and sell a little cheaper,
and those who consider only price are this man's Lawful Prey."
73
Eric VA7DZ
QRP - When you Care Enough, to Send the V
"CW is just another digital mode"
Yes, and Rembrandt is just another painter,
Dizzy was just another trumpet player
a Porsche is just another car
a K3 is just another radio
. . . . .
Eric VA7DZ
"All Men are not Created Equal ... Some of US Know CW"
--
This message has been scanned f
Interestingly, I have never compared Elecraft prices (K2, K3 and KX3)
with competitive radios.
Perhaps that is because I didn't see any genuine competitors to
the K2 - a kit! plus a great little cw rig,
the K3 - also a kit, plus
great specs, nice size, great support, and leading DXers and co
Subreceiver!
Adding LP-PAN or a similar SDR plus Skimmer will give you a useful
picture of the [small, but often big-enough]
band segment, plus callsign and 599 decoding.
RObert said:
I have never used either a panadapter or a sub-receiver, so I'm a newbie
in this area. I use CW almost exclus
Graham said:
How about making it possible to switch the APF on and
off through a programmable function button
Dick said:
It should be possible using a command macro.
AP0; turns CW APF off,
AP1; turns CW APF off,
SWH29; toggles DualPB which is APF if you have the K3 menu parameter
CONFIG:DUAL P
Does anyone else remember or have a Wireless Set Nr. 19?
Built during WW2 for the Canadian Army Armoured Corps and our Soviet
Allies [it had Russian and English markings],
it was a transceiver, weighed a lot, and I cut my teeth on one. Covered
ALL ham bands [between 2 and 8 Mc/s].
Most repairs c
Rich said:
intelligibility is concentrated around 1-2K Hz. Yes?
I think so. If my failing memory serves, early Bell Labs work found that
300 - 3000 Hz was the minimum- width audio band which preserved
intelligibility
and allowed the speaker to be recognized.
That became the basis of the A/D
On 6/7/2012 6:00 PM, John_N1JM wrote:
> What's a paddle?
It's a tool, used to correct, or discipline, phone operators,
that they may come to understand the superiority of CW.
Eric
VA7DZ
--
"And when the farmer has got his house,
he may not be the richer but the poorer for it,
and it be the hou
Because CONFIG: SPKRS got set to 1! D'oh!
I've changed it back to 2 and saved my configuration, like I should
have done long ago...
Eric
VA7DZ
__
Original Message
Subject:K3 SUB Rx audio to LEFT spkr??
Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2012 21:40:01 +0000
Fr
If you want an accurate signal report, the place to go is RBN
http://www.reversebeacon.net/main.php
Just Send CQ and wait for the spots to roll in.
Everything else is preamble [contest 599 - for everyone] or overly polite, or a
wild guess,
or all of the above.
Eric
VA7DZ
Why be upset with a
I wonder why my SUB Rx audio is routed to the LEFT spkr, together with
MAIN audio??
ON headphones, all is normal - MAIN to LEFT, SUB to RIGHT.
[I have SUB AF set to BALANCE]
Eric
VA7DZ
K3
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Does anyone have a circuit which will convert K3 band data to the
analog voltage levels expected by the
ICOM IC-2KL amplifier? I keep forgetting to do band changes on the amp
during contests
73
Eric, VA7DZ
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Is there a way to prevent access to the Config Menus by a guest operator?
[Handy for Field Day, visiting relatives etc]
Eric
VA7DZ
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___
Me too!
I monitor the DX with the MAIN Rcvr, the pileup with the SUB Rcvr, find
the right spot to call, very slick, and forget to push the SPLIT button.
I get chastised by the DX Fuzz, and THEN I push the SPLIT button. Never
fails!
Eric
VA7DZ
On 15/03/11 9:00 AM, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.
The four stages of fishing:
1 - I caught a fish!
2 - I caught a LOT of fish!
3 - I caught a Trophy fish!
4 - Did I bait my hook? (the Zen state has been achieved)
Now how do these relate analogically to amateur radio?
Kevin. KD5ONS
__
I'll bite --
1. I made a QSO!
2. I go
Dick said:
I like to think of DXing as the ham counterpart of fishing, and QRP as
the counterpart of fly fishing.
Dick, WO1I K3 911
Yes indeed, and a contest is a kind of high-speed competitive fishing
with catch-and-release.
And, each competitor can decide at any moment to be either a fishe
AD4C2009 wrote:
> >
> .When every single one on the bands drop
> > their power to 100W or less,I drop mine,that is not going to happen never
> > anymore,its too late,so design and build another amp for 1KW and I am sure
> > you will sell way more than the actual 500W unit.
> >
The differ
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Precisely!!!
I'm trying to diagnose a K2 fault at the moment. I'm largely acting as a robot
directed
by Don Wilhelm, thank goodness for Don& Gary.
I would be
even more at sea, out to lunch, if I were trying to cope with a fault in the
far more complex K3.
I've read the K3 manual carefully
never be released as Panasonic or Canon or Olympus or Sony
> could easily use that information to their competitive advantage.
>
> 73,
>
>... Joe, W4TV
>
> On 12/8/2010 12:15 AM, eric manning wrote:
>> While we're on the topic, I would really like to have a text de
Samuel E-F said:
" Buy a radio, attend a quarterly held two or three day class presented
by the designers on advanced topics?
OK, maybe it's a four-hour class. :) Crazy Huh? "
Not crazy at all! Could also be held at Pacificon etc as one part of a K3
operators get-together.
[Which I'd very much
While we're on the topic, I would really like to have a text describing
the design of the K3,
an aid in understanding what the components do, the design choices and
why they were made, WHY modules were designed the way that they were,
and HOW they work at the component or group of components l
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Blue LEDs? Hernia from lifting 50 Kg?
The satisfaction of helping Japan to drive another nail into the
coffin of American manufacturing?
Eric
VA7DZ
Good grief! I
hope you got something for all those extra bucks!
Dave W7AQK
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This message has been scanned for viruses and
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RIght on. I make a point in contests of never calling or answering an op
with key clicks, or chirp, or a modulated cw carrier. [There's usually
somebody else to work on hf!] 73 Eric VA7DZ Only if someone thinks that
annoying everyone around them is the route to success... 73, Ken
Alexander VE3H
Eric
You've convinced me! When is the stock offering - so I can buy some Elecraft
Shares?
[I've been selling Elecraft radios for free and I'd like to cash in, to get
paid for it.
Owning the stock would do the trick.
Please? ]
Eric Manning
VA7DZ
Eric Swartz said:
We are well pa
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Guy said:
"Is there some way to move FORWARD in our love/hate relationship with
cords? Talk about old and dust covered analog. Listen to us, talking
about solving ergonometric problems with patch panels. Quaint, and a
part of me thinks that's really neat. Rest of me thinks that's really
retro.
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I'm running LP PAN, the E-Mu 1212 soundcard and cw skimmer with my K3.
After much dicking around, I found that audio IF offset of +4405 Hz
puts the waterfall traces at the right places on the frequency scale on
14 MHz.
However, I'm in error by about 1.5 KHz on 21 MHz.
1] Does the 14 MHz offse
N1MM LOGGER GOES INTO RTTY MODE WHEN I select PSK D, understandably.
However, it means that my cw messages don't work.
Neither do the N1MM digital messages work because the K3 is expecting cw
input.
So, do I have to hand key all of my transmissions???
Help please ...
eric
VA7DZ
--
This mess
Gang
I must travel by airline with my K3.
I would really appreciate some advice as to
1] What to pack it in [the built in handle is nice but I think I need a
case to protect
front and rear panels]
2] How to get through airport security? DO they expect me to switch it
on? - no power sup
Nicholas Farrar said:
But even the Queen of England could stand to refine herself a bit more.
_
WHAT? To us loyal subjects of Her Majesty, that is like saying that the
US Constitution
is imperfect. Unthinkable.
Elizabeth II has lasted a lot longer, with a a lot fewer screwups, than
any o
I think I would pay $500. I have no idea if it is do-able at that price.
eric
VA7DZ
How much would you be willing to pay? $300, $500?
Willis 'Cookie' Cooke
K5EWJ
____
From: eric manning
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Sent: Tue, August 10, 2010 1
Don Wilhelm said:
Brett,
I think the K3 gets an undeserved "bad rap" for the menus. The main
menu has only 13 items in it, and those are the items most likely to be
changed during operation.
___
I agree. I was intially overwhelmed by the CONFIG menus. However, after I got
my K3
tailored jus
JOHN SAID
Elecraft could design a small (RFI
quiet) switching PS which would constantly recharge an
appropriately sized LiFePO4 battery pack, which in turn would
supply the power needed by the K3/P3 combo (i.e. 25 amps).
In effect this would replace the large caps in the HPS-1a
design, with the
Susan Said:
the antenna farm will most likely be vertical and located right at the shore
line.
What suggestions do you have for me to construct for antennas?
I had very good luck with a Force 12 Sigma 5, a CENTRE-FED inductively loaded
short half-wave vertical [i.e., a short centre-f
Tom W8JI said:
"If we want to see what manufacturing we have left survive"
I think you'd d**n well better want to see US manufacturing survive!
An economy based on the financial "products" [aka snake oil] produced by
the kids in red suspenders on Wall Street is a house of cards, a recipe
for d
TIm said
Can someone tell me if the K2 users, support, and production are all
still going strong?
Tim, I have both and I don't think the K2 and K3 are competitors; I
think that they fill different niches in the market.
And, we see plenty of K2 traffic on this reflector.
So I doubt if the K3's s
I think it's a good idea.
The serious screwup is not being shorted by Elecraft for a 50 cent
component, it is installing the wrong component somewhere.
Doing a careful identification of all the parts by inventory is a good
way to avoid this.
You match up each component with its descriptions b
Someone said:
"Personally I send as slow as 18wpm and as high as 35 wpm . . ., and enjoy the
fast switching of the new CW+ mode. In my opinion THIS is what QSK SHOULD
sound like.."
I agree. I prefer CW+ to CW for use at 18-25 wpm with a paddle. CW+ is close to
perfect QSK; I believe I can hea
Can someone please tell me where on the K3 rf board the Revision Code
[e.g. H3] is written?
eric
VA7DZ
K3 3620, bought in Fall '09, so it should have the Rev. H3 board,
HOWEVER skimmer can't detect weak signals which I can copy.
And my ears aren't all that great!
--
This message has been sca
PHIL HYSTAD SAID:
"This is a very surprising statement. The only RS232 interfaces I see
lingering around are from the ham radio community. So, do you mean
the ham radio "industry"?
Uh - oh. Here we go again ...
Phil, if you look in the archive of a few weeks back you will find the whole
issu
Don Wilhelm said:
All in all, if you can read and follow the instructions correctly, and
can do a good job of soldering, then you can build Elecraft kits at any
age.
Yes indeed.
The only serious difficulty I have had in building a fully-optioned K2
and K3, was installing the K3 SUB rcvr , due
Dave said:
"My voice won't
hold up during a SSB contest anymore, so I'm honestly tempted to spend
the next CQ WW DX SSB contest just recording audio samples (both good
and bad) identified by callsign."
Why not? Maybe some of the offenders would clean up their act if you sent them
e-mail with t
Yes, the K3 is light and rugged. On the other hand, it doesn't run on a
built-in battery.
I did a "light-weight" one-person DXpedition to Bangladesh. Mains
power on St Martin's Island [on the Bay of Bengal]
was a generator which ran only a few hours per day. So, the built-in
battery of the K2
Thanks to everyone for suggestions.
Turning up the sidetone level helped.
NB and power level didn't affect it at all as far as I could see.
eric
VA7DZ
K3 3620 + ICOM 500w amp [with external ALC connected]
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I put the knob from my defunct ICOM 740 on my K2.
Very nice in every way altho it hides one
of the little ^ symbols on the display.
eric
VA7DZ
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___
When my K3 switches between T & R in full QSK mode, I hear audio thumps.
[The tramsmitted signal is apparently clean with no clicks; I always get
good signal quality reports.]
Now, My K2 has no such thumps; you can't tell when the radio switches
between T & R by listening to the audio.
The tran
Gang
It's been a great discussion and a real eye-opener for this naive
academic, who assumed that USB is properly regulated by an IEEE
Standard [it is not]
and that a well-engineered, standard-observant and portable USB driver
exists. [It doesn't.] Thank you all for helping to set me stra
act that all computers built in this century have USB, and not
the ancient RS 232...
We are stuck with that fact.
And, the conversation was about USB on the K3, not on the computer...
> 73,
>
> ... Joe, W4TV
>
>
>
>> -Original Message-
>> From: elecraf
Arrange a nice, comfortable and WELL-LIT workplace.
Get one of those illuminated magnifiers on a boom and all of the
recommended tools.
Don't do too much at one sitting.
Do NOT keep track of your time. Efficiency is the enemy of craftsmanship.
Think of building as an experience to be savoured, not
t; Win2K
>> WinXP,
>> Vista/32 bit
>> Vista/64 bit
>> Win7/32 bit
>> Win7/64 bit
>> Mac OS X 10.5 PPC,
>> Mac OS X 10.5 Intel,
>> Mac OS X 10.6,
>> and the various versions of Linux (32 and 64 bit).
>>
>> I'm all for it.
>
All in favour of a USB port on the K3?
Then we could forget about un-necessary, expensive , flaky and
crash-prone USB to serial adapters.
THe serial port with its RS-232 interface is obsolete. It dates back to
the 70's if not earlier and was superseded by USB.
eric
VA7DZ
S/N 3640
--
This
"the K3 . . . is a very technical radio."
It certainly is.
My first kit shipment arrived in November, and I've been engaged ever
since in building, testing, reading, dis-assembling,
asking questions, scratching my head, dicking around with optional
options in the apparaently endless parameter
Bob said:
"the K3 is on top, but it is also a very technical radio.
...
I think
that's a good thing, but others just want to push a button,"
COULD we say that the K3 is the radio for people who like to use their brains,
and the KenYaeCom radios are for the appliance operators?
Two completely di
DO NOT, repeat NOT, plug a mono plug into the stereo speaker jack on the
back of your K3.
The manual says that the microprocessor firmware will switch the audio
to SPKRS 1, which it will.
However, if there are other events queued up for the cpu to process, it
may take some milliseconds, durin
Wonderful band condx!
20 and 15 were open to Europe, Asia and S America at the same time for
hour after hour and noise was very low [S0 here]
I heard no DX stations request UP or DOWN so there were big pileups
smack on the DX freq.
I had spotty luck in the pileups [only 500w and a yagi h
IN 1954 I had the Walter Ashe Radio kit which comprised a 2-triode
regenerative receiver [6SN7]
, a 6AG7 - 6L6 rockbound transmitter on 40 and 80, and a single power
supply with a 2-position switch.
[That's called T-R switching!]
The whole station cost aboot $50 and I really liked it. But I like
Further to Julian's & others' comments about CW Skimmer removing the
need to tune the band,
a skilled part of the operating experience which is enjoyable to many
[but not all!] of us:
My friend is hot to write a software layer which will sit on top of CW
Skimmer and which will
win contests -
I VOTE FOR 250 HZ.
No ringing, I don't think I miss much as I tune around,
and you can narrow it further with the DSP filtering.
eric [ "250 Hz Forever!] VA7DZ
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One of the K2 owners has worked in communications equipment marketing
for many years. He told me once that he absolutely hates the ham market
segment because
we are never satisfied and are extreme cheapskates.
[I prefer to call it the amateur spirit of doing a lot with a little -
the junkbox tr
If you use a center-fed vertical [like the Sigma 5 I have] you don't
need radials at all. It's just a half-wave dipole
stood up on end.
Much better than the old-fashioned quarter-wave vertical with all its
problems of ground losses.
Needs to be center loaded for 40 but 33 feet is a full half-wav
I have both the 250 and 400 Hz filters. I never use the 400 Hz filter
for cw [want to buy it?]
I have no trouble tuning across the band with the 250 Hz filter - the
signals just pop in and out very nicely.
Maybe it's due to the very steep skirts of the filters.
eric
VA7DZ
K3 3640
--
This mess
Personally, I thought both of the little stories were great examples of
American Humour and very funny.
I recognized myself and some of my ham colleagues on this reflector
too! Diversity problems indeed.
And they are in a long and honourable amateur radio tradition --
remember Larson E Rapp a
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