Field Day report
Locked
 
|
I hope many of you who did Field Day worked us at W2GD.
We had Elecraft K2's on the 2A and a IC-703 on the GOTA station (N4HY). We had a Steppir Beam on 10-20 (15 meters surprised us with a nice opening and accounted for 1/7 of our QSO's). We had a Steppir Vertical on the GOTA station to aid in the isolation (vertical vs horizontal) and it did help. Along with wire beams on 80/75 and 40 meters, we did very well with just under 15 QSO's and several hundred in bonus points. The K2 was excellent. SSB stinks as a QRP mode on FD and we had only 141 QSO's inclusive of the 100 we did on GOTA (N4HY). Lastly, Gary at Elecraft is second as a major resource of help behind the existence of the internet and this exploder. I had a weak receiver problem (finishing the radio at the last minute). It was working but deaf. Gary said it is one of 3 things and the problem was 1st in his list. I would hope that in the future, Elecraft could STANDARDIZE on the transformers, Red wire was ALWAYS holes 1 and 2, and green wire is ALWAYS 3 and 4. After having several that way, the T7 comes along and is the opposite. I was not careful and put it in backwards! The other gotcha for me is reading what to do with the 4.7 pf on the back edge stuck in as a hole filler where a three pin jumper goes. I would change the instruction manual to read: If looking from at the RF board from the front panel side, then left pin is 1 and right pin 3, solder the capacitor into holes 1 and 3. I put it in the pins near the OUTER EDGE, misinterpreting the instructions. The story of discovering this is pretty funny. After Gary helped me fix the T7 problem, it was clear that signal coming through the mixer were much louder. The "birdie" at 7000 Hz used in the initial alignment was much louder and easier to do the alignment of the can. However, the radio was still deaf at the antenna (signals heard but REALLY weak). 8640B set to -40 dBm to produce an S9 signal. I decided to inspect the bottom side of the board again, grabbed the radio on its back edge, and almost blasted my ears off as the receiver came to life. I actually dropped it. I then ran my finger along the back edge until the receiver came to life and then discovered the 4.7 pf in the wrong pins! Great transceiver and a fun kit. I look forward to putting the 160, 60 meter, and DSP in to finish. Bob N4HY _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
|
|
I second this one. It took me a minute to figure this one out. I did put the 4.7pf cap in right, but the interpretationi of the
outer edge pads threw me at first, and I almost put it in pins 2 and 3 rather than 1 and 3. That's the only really ambiguous thing I found in the otherwise EXCELLENT manual. I got mine #4338 done in time for Field Day, and it performed admirably. Too bad there was so much noise due to thunderstorms on 160 meters. I heard a few mostly East coast stations, but even with a super good inverted L antenna up 80 feet or so, they weren't workable QRP. 80 meters was a different story, and with the K2, I worked everyone I called, using the same inverted L. Had about a page (30) 80 meter contacts. Jim Sheldon, W0EB K2# 4338 > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Robert McGwier > Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 9:02 AM > To: Elecraft Mail > Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day report > The other gotcha for me is reading what to do with the > 4.7 pf on the back edge stuck in as a hole filler where > a three pin jumper goes. I would change the instruction > manual to read: If looking from at the RF board from > the front panel side, then left pin is 1 and right pin 3, > solder the capacitor into holes 1 and 3. I put it in the > pins near the OUTER EDGE, misinterpreting the instructions. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
|
|
In reply to this post by Robert McGwier
I'm pretty sure I've made the same mistake during my build process. Thanks
for the tip! -- "It takes brains. It's not like forward, where you can get away with scoring and not play defense... On defense you have to be thinking." ---Chris Chelios David M. Katinsky [hidden email] N2RDT > From: Robert McGwier <[hidden email]> > Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2004 14:02:29 +0000 > To: Elecraft Mail <[hidden email]> > Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day report > > The other gotcha for me is reading what to do with the > 4.7 pf on the back edge stuck in as a hole filler where > a three pin jumper goes. I would change the instruction > manual to read: If looking from at the RF board from > the front panel side, then left pin is 1 and right pin 3, > solder the capacitor into holes 1 and 3. I put it in the > pins near the OUTER EDGE, misinterpreting the instructions. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
|
|
In reply to this post by Robert McGwier
1500 QSO's sorry ;-)
Bob -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Robert McGwier Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 2:02 PM To: Elecraft Mail Subject: [Elecraft] Field Day report I hope many of you who did Field Day worked us at W2GD. We had Elecraft K2's on the 2A and a IC-703 on the GOTA station (N4HY). We had a Steppir Beam on 10-20 (15 meters surprised us with a nice opening and accounted for 1/7 of our QSO's). We had a Steppir Vertical on the GOTA station to aid in the isolation (vertical vs horizontal) and it did help. Along with wire beams on 80/75 and 40 meters, we did very well with just under 15 QSO's and several hundred in bonus points. The K2 was excellent. SSB stinks as a QRP mode on FD and we had only 141 QSO's inclusive of the 100 we did on GOTA (N4HY). _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
|
|
In reply to this post by Robert McGwier
Naaa, the thanks all go to you guys at Elecraft. This is one
great kit and radio. I love the size and plan on using two of them at the 160 meter contest season during Winter at W2GD (we won Multi-Multi CQ WW this past year). The way we use them, the simplicity and lack of "extras" is a plus. I don't intend to give away secrets here but these radios will be of great benefit to the way we use them. The strong signal handling along with the squeal proofing from being on the same frequency (diodes off the toroidal transformer) as well as the high IP3, etc. will make this radio one superior performer on 160. I am also building the W0UN/W8JI small vertical array at that site and we should be able to hear with the best of them at the end of it. The site is on the Jersey coast in Tuckerton and we are so close to the water that during a Nor'easter last year the bottom of the tower used for the wire BEAMS on 160 was under two feet of water! Thanks for allowing us to have real pride on this side of the Pacific again. The really truly great thing you have done is to raise the bar and FORCED the other manufacturers to pay attention to these "minor" details!! Your customer service and the adminstration of this exploder are just tops. It is a pleasure doing business with you, Eric, and the rest of the Elecraft company. Bob N4HY -----Original Message----- From: wayne burdick [mailto:[hidden email]] Sent: Monday, June 28, 2004 2:35 PM To: Robert McGwier Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Field Day report Thanks for the report, Bob. You can bet that I'll be updating the K2 manual to incorporate your suggestions. I did a KX1 FD here -- details soon. 73, Wayne _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] 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 |
«
Return to Elecraft
|
1 view|%1 views
| Free forum by Nabble | Edit this page |