Going 2014 with my K2
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I love my five year old K2, and although I have a K3, I’d like to keep using the K2 for the field and digital. I’ve noticed that there have been discussions on the two items below on the reflector, but they are years old. Does this list’s collective brain trust have 2014 suggestions?
1. The SLA battery is about worn out, although it has been kept topped up using Don Wilhelm’s suggestion of the AA Engineering charger. I’d like to replace the battery with one that is newer and lighter - LiPO or LiPOFe. Has anyone done this, and can you suggest particular batteries, part numbers, and set up for charging. 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their K2s? Thanks, Phil Philip L. Graitcer, W3HZZ Atlanta and St Simons Island, GA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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Hello Philip,
With advancement in battery technology, it is really a good idea to replace the internal SLA. The best will be a 4 cells LiPOFE which will give you an operation voltage of about 13.2v. This will make K2 delivering its full power. LiPoFe cells are also more stable. On the other hands, a 3 cells LiPo 11.1v is also a possible alternative. The trick is to make sure you get all those cells from reputable battery suppliers. To charge those cells, I would suggest you stick to the intelligent balance chargers which are easily avaliable from the RC shops. 73 Johnny VR2XMC ________________________________ 寄件人︰ PHILIP GRAITCER <[hidden email]> 收件人︰ [hidden email] 傳送日期︰ 2014年04月24日 (週四) 9:30 AM 主題︰ [Elecraft] Going 2014 with my K2 I love my five year old K2, and although I have a K3, I’d like to keep using the K2 for the field and digital. I’ve noticed that there have been discussions on the two items below on the reflector, but they are years old. Does this list’s collective brain trust have 2014 suggestions? 1. The SLA battery is about worn out, although it has been kept topped up using Don Wilhelm’s suggestion of the AA Engineering charger. I’d like to replace the battery with one that is newer and lighter - LiPO or LiPOFe. Has anyone done this, and can you suggest particular batteries, part numbers, and set up for charging. 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their K2s? Thanks, Phil Philip L. Graitcer, W3HZZ Atlanta and St Simons Island, GA ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net/ Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by PHILIP GRAITCER
On 4/23/2014 6:30 PM, PHILIP GRAITCER wrote:
> 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, > but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their > K2s? I use a RigBlaster Plus interface and an iMic audio "sound-card" to a fairly new Dell laptop running Win7 Pro operating system and MixW3 application. I usually run PSK31 and RTTY. Not the most sophisticated system but it suits my needs very well. -- -- 73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane Elecraft K2/100 s/n 5402 From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by PHILIP GRAITCER
I was recently made aware of the following solution for fixed audio output:
http://www.genebitsystems.com/david/K2MiscAccessoryBoard/index.htm It is a very compact solution with the SMDs, however, like the W3FPR solution, there are no kits available, so you would need to source the parts yourself (probably not too hard) and fabricate a board (probably not economical unless the costs can be spread over a number of boards). Once my K2SB module arrives, I'll probably look at doing a W3FPR solution on some perf/prototype board, as I have all the parts in through-hole already. As for batteries, if I take my K2 out of the shack, I would run it on a 4S LiFePO4 battery that I picked up cheaply together with balanced charger from a RC hobby company on the internet. I would not bother mounting the battery inside the K2, so that it is easy to change over the battery when it is depleted (all my batteries have APP connectors). You can run off one battery while you have another on charge. You definitely don't want to have any lithium battery inside your K2 while charging. 73, Matt VK2RQ > On 24 Apr 2014, at 11:30 am, PHILIP GRAITCER <[hidden email]> wrote: > > I love my five year old K2, and although I have a K3, I’d like to keep using the K2 for the field and digital. I’ve noticed that there have been discussions on the two items below on the reflector, but they are years old. Does this list’s collective brain trust have 2014 suggestions? > > 1. The SLA battery is about worn out, although it has been kept topped up using Don Wilhelm’s suggestion of the AA Engineering charger. I’d like to replace the battery with one that is newer and lighter - LiPO or LiPOFe. Has anyone done this, and can you suggest particular batteries, part numbers, and set up for charging. > > 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their K2s? > > Thanks, > Phil > > > > Philip L. Graitcer, W3HZZ > Atlanta and St Simons Island, GA > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > Message delivered to [hidden email] Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by PHILIP GRAITCER
Phil,
On the digital modes setup for the K2, the only update was to the Fixed Audio Output - same circuit, but the board was redesigned to allow all the components to lay flat on the board so it could be mounted between the Front Panel and the Control Board. My memory is fuzzy about when that came out, but I believe it was greater than 5 years ago, so you likely have the latest. I am still using the Digital Mode switchbox that is on my website www.w3fpr.com and it changes from digital modes to microphone (the mic still plugs into the switchbox. The only change I have done to it is add a capacitor between the switch and the audio output transformer to block the DC from the microphone bias resistor which would flow through the transformer if the capacitor were not present - I use the Elecraft MH2 microphone, so it needs the bias resistor. 73, Don W3FPR On 4/23/2014 9:30 PM, PHILIP GRAITCER wrote: > I love my five year old K2, and although I have a K3, I’d like to keep using the K2 for the field and digital. > > 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their K2s? > > ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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In reply to this post by PHILIP GRAITCER
> Date: Wed, 23 Apr 2014 21:30:55 -0400 > From: PHILIP GRAITCER<[hidden email]> > Subject: [Elecraft] Going 2014 with my K2 > > > I love my five year old K2, and although I have a K3, I?d like to keep using the K2 for the field and digital. ....... > > 2. Digital modes. Don has a nice solution to digital modes on the K2, but are there updates? What are others doing to go digital with their K2s? > > Thanks, > Phil > > Philip L. Graitcer, W3HZZ For many years my K2 (sn 537) has performed admirably (over 250 digital entities at 5 watts and over 100 at one watt) on RTTY, PSK and JT65/9 as well as a few other digi modes with a very basic set up: Direct connection from K2 to a laptop with small transformer isolation, bypass caps and ptt circuits built into the patch cords, all connecting at the K2 mic connector after running RX audio to an unused mic connector pin. The rx audio level is NOT constant, but I have never found this to be a problem. Software now is MMTTY (with N1MM for contests), WSJTX2 and Digipan, etc. On RTTY I use somewhat lower than the standard 2125-2195 hz tones to allow for the K2 bandpass. My K2 has not been updated for at least 6 or 7 years. Schematics for the audio isolation and ptt circuits are available on AA5AU's website. 73, Dave, K2YG ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [hidden email] |
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