K1 Band Choices
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I have a used K1-2 on the way, my first Elecraft rig, that is
currently configured for 40/20. Although two of these are my favorite bands, a couple are missing and I'm having a tough time deciding what to put under the hood as standard. At home, my single antenna is optimized for 80M & 40M and adding 30M onto this wouldn't be very difficult. Therefore, I am seriously considering building a 4-band board with only 3-bands on it - 80/40/30 and either rebuilding my 2-band board as a 17/15 WARC board for when contesting is too much on 80/40 or a 20/17 or 20/15 board. Would 80/40/30 and 17/15 be a silly way to go, losing 20 altogether? I just want to keep board swapping down to a minimum. None of these combos seem popular with the general population of Eclectic Elecraft Enthusiasts. 73, JT - W6FO - Canton, GA _______________________________________________ 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 |
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On 5/18/06, Ron Pfeiffer <[hidden email]> wrote:
> I believe the newer 4-band module does not support 80 meters. That is only > avail on the 2-band module. >From what I have read in the archives, you can put 80M on a 4-band module but, because of component sharing, you'd loose the 4th band and only be able to put 3-bands on the 4-band board. This is why I am thinking of the 80/40/30 combo. N7RR once stated that the following band combinations are possible on the 4-band board. However, only the first two are possible with components provided with the kit. Elecraft has parts kits for 80-15 on the website for $7.50. Possible band combos on KFL1-4: 40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 17-m 40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 15-m 30-m, 20-m, 17-m, 15-m 80-m, 40-m, 30-m 80-m, 30-m, 20-m 80-m, 20-m, 17-m 80-m, 20-m, 15-m 80-m, 17-m, 15-m Someone please correct me if my info is dated and no longer applies to the current revision of the KFL1-4 board. 73, JT- W6FO - Canton, GA _______________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JT Croteau-2
W6FO wrote:
>Possible band combos on KFL1-4: >40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 17-m >40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 15-m Add the following: 40m, 30m, 17m, 15m. >30-m, 20-m, 17-m, 15-m >80-m, 30-m, 20-m I don't think those two are good combos without some filter redesign to allow 20m and 30m to share the same low pass filter circuits. Normally 40m/30m share one LP filter section; 20m/17m/15m share another. You'd also have to be careful in re-arranging the capacitors that are switched in the RF and Premixer bandpass filter circuits to support these combos. >80-m, 40-m, 30-m >80-m, 20-m, 17-m >80-m, 20-m, 15-m >80-m, 17-m, 15-m The standard KFL1-4 filter board, *as supplied* from Elecraft, can be built for 40m/30m plus ANY TWO of the following: 20m, 17m, 15m. I've never understood why Elecraft advertises the *standard* KFL1-4 as supporting 40m/30m/20m plus ANY ONE of the following: 17m, 15m. It is a little more versatile than that. I guess the assumption is that no one would ever forgo 20m coverage. That's still no reason to inaccurately describe the technical capability of the standard KFL1-4. Mike / KK5F _______________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JT Croteau-2
On 5/18/06, Daniel Reynolds <[hidden email]> wrote:
> but it looks like you are actually trying to avoid contests all together... Not really, but I am trying to avoid the big contests when all the kilowatt klowns come out of the woodwork. I love the QRP contests and various QRP fox hunts. What I am really trying to avoid is board changes in the field. > When do you operate? What bands do you prefer to use? Do you plan on doing more > operating from home or in the field? Ideally, I'd like 80/40/30/20 all under the hood at the same time and I'd be happy. However, this simply isn't possible with the K1. My operating time is sporadic because of my work hours. I have equal opportunity to operate during the day and evenings. I do a bit of camping and trying to do even more in the future. This is why I downgraded from a big Ten-Tec rig to the K1. I also do a fair bit of winter camping and want to limit board changes when in the field. I probably should have gone for a KX1 but was offered a pretty good deal on this K1. > If money was a factor Money is a bit of a factor. However, I can afford a 4-band board or two 2-band boards. > I hope these thoughts have helped a little... Thanks for the input. 73, JT - W6FO - Canton, GA _______________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by Mike Morrow-3
Mike, thanks for the comments. But I am still a bit confused.
Would an 80/40/30 combo work on a KFL1-4 board? Thanks - JT On 5/18/06, Mike Morrow <[hidden email]> wrote: > W6FO wrote: > > >Possible band combos on KFL1-4: > >40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 17-m > >40-m, 30-m, 20-m, 15-m > > Add the following: 40m, 30m, 17m, 15m. > > >30-m, 20-m, 17-m, 15-m > >80-m, 30-m, 20-m > > I don't think those two are good combos without some filter redesign to allow 20m and 30m to share the same low pass filter circuits. Normally 40m/30m share one LP filter section; 20m/17m/15m share another. You'd also have to be careful in re-arranging the capacitors that are switched in the RF and Premixer bandpass filter circuits to support these combos. > > >80-m, 40-m, 30-m > > >80-m, 20-m, 17-m > >80-m, 20-m, 15-m > >80-m, 17-m, 15-m > > The standard KFL1-4 filter board, *as supplied* from Elecraft, can be built for 40m/30m plus ANY TWO of the following: 20m, 17m, 15m. I've never understood why Elecraft advertises the *standard* KFL1-4 as supporting 40m/30m/20m plus ANY ONE of the following: 17m, 15m. It is a little more versatile than that. I guess the assumption is that no one would ever forgo 20m coverage. That's still no reason to inaccurately describe the technical capability of the standard KFL1-4. > > Mike / KK5F > 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 |
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Another option I am thinking about is multiple 2-band boards. Keep
the 40/20 and add a 40/30 and an 80/40. This way, I will have my primary band, 40M, available at all times and switch in 20, 30, or 80 as the need or propogation warrants. 73, JT - W6FO - Canton, GA _______________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JT Croteau-2
JT Asked:
>Would an 80/40/30 combo work on a KFL1-4 board? You could build a KFL1-4 board mostly normally per directions, with band 1 being 40m and band 2 being 30m, and both using the current LP and bandpass filter designs. After that, you could build band 3 as an 80m band, using the component values for 80m that others on this list have developed. So yes, an 40m/30m/80m KFL1-4 is definitely possible. In the as-designed KFL1-4, the each of the two sections or branches of the output low pass filter supports multiple bands. The section that supports 40m and 30m allows the fundamental frequencies of 7 MHz and 10 MHz through, but does not allow the second and higher harmonics of 14 MHz and 20 MHz through. Similarly, the section that supports 20m, 17m, and 15m allows the fundamental frequencies of 14 MHz, 18 MHz, and 21 MHz through, but does not allow the second and higher harmonics of 28 MHz, 36 MHz, and 42 MHz through. This shows why a particular section of the LP filter can NOT serve for multiple bands that are harmonically related. An LP filter that passed both 3.5 MHz and 7 MHz signals for 80m and 40m operations would also allow the second harmonic of 3.5 MHz right on through too. I built my four-band board for the standard 40m/30m/20m/15m bands. I built a two-band board for the 80m and 17m bands. I don't often swap in the two-band filter board, but it's nice to have that capability when desired. Mike / KK5F _______________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JT Croteau-2
JT wrote:
>Another option I am thinking about is multiple 2-band boards. Keep >the 40/20 and add a 40/30 and an 80/40. The downside to having the same band, in this case 40m, on multiple filter boards, is that only ONE frequency display calibration factor per each HF ham band can stored by the front panel MPU. The MPU can store one calibration factor for each of the nine ham bands from 160m to 10m. Unless all of your 40m heterodyne crystals on each of your filter boards oscillate at nearly the same frequency, there will be some frequency display error on 40m whenever a board is installed that wasn't in place when the display was last calibrated. The heterodyne crystals can vary several kHz between each other, so there could be a display error of several kHz. 73, Mike / KK5F _______________________________________________ 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 |
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On 5/18/06, Mike Morrow <[hidden email]> wrote:
> The downside to having the same band, in this case 40m, on > multiple filter boards, is that only ONE frequency display calibration > factor per each HF ham band can stored by the front panel MPU. Sheesh, I can't win for losing on this. Heh. Thanks for the replies everyone. Not quite sure what I am going to do but with the 4-band board created after the K1 was developed and all this component sharing on the 4-band board going on, maybe a 4-band board isn't what I want anyway and sticking with all 2-band boards will be more efficient in the long run. I am now thinking of keeping the 40/20 board as is and build a 30/15 board and a low band 160/80 board. I think I can live without 17M. 73 JT, W6FO _______________________________________________ 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 |
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