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K144XV vs XV144

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Ron W3ZV

K144XV vs XV144

I am looking to add 2m to my K3. I need to decide whether to get the internal transverter or the external. The way I would purchase them, cost is almost equal. Crystal oven on the external, K144RFLK and KXV3 upgrade on the internal. Neither will drive my current brick amp to full output so, thats a wash as well. Building the XV144 is a plus. So I guess it comes down to receive performance and transmit stability. If anyone has made this choice, what made you choose one or the other?

Ron, W3ZV

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David Pratt

Re: K144XV vs XV144

Both have a similar low noise, high gain front ends, Ron, and there is
little to choose between them as regards performance. There have been
several comparisons between the two on the reflector and a search on the
nabble archive might prove useful. In your application, with an external
amplifier I think I would be inclined to go for the XV144. (I have both)

73 de David G4DMP

In a recent message, Ron W3ZV <[hidden email]> writes
>I am looking to add 2m to my K3. I need to decide whether to get the
>internal transverter or the external. The way I would purchase them,
>cost is almost equal. Crystal oven on the external, K144RFLK and KXV3
>upgrade on the internal. Neither will drive my current brick amp to
>full output so, thats a wash as well. Building the XV144 is a plus. So
>I guess it comes down to receive performance and transmit stability. If
>anyone has made this choice, what made you choose one or the other?
--
+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +
| David M Pratt, Kippax, Leeds. |
| Website: http://www.g4dmp.co.uk |
+ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - +

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N0AZZ

Re: K144XV vs XV144

In reply to this post by Ron W3ZV

I chose the internal for several reasons the first was to cut down on desk
top clutter even with less power output nice package. I have a 350w brick
and for digital modes and a little SSB it makes more than enough power with
my M2 34' boom 2m yagi that takes care of the heavy lifting for a little
pistol. The key also is to use a very good mast mounted preamp.

With the internal module it also gives you direct frequency readout very
easy, it will do the same with a external also but a little extra setup. All
in all a very nice package bundled all in the radio.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ron W3ZV
Sent: Friday, December 14, 2012 11:56 PM
To: Elecraft
Subject: [Elecraft] K144XV vs XV144

I am looking to add 2m to my K3. I need to decide whether to get the
internal transverter or the external. The way I would purchase them, cost is
almost equal. Crystal oven on the external, K144RFLK and KXV3 upgrade on the
internal. Neither will drive my current brick amp to full output so, thats a
wash as well. Building the XV144 is a plus. So I guess it comes down to
receive performance and transmit stability. If anyone has made this choice,
what made you choose one or the other?

Ron, W3ZV

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N5GE

Re: K144XV vs XV144

In reply to this post by Ron W3ZV

I have both but like the built-in better.

On Sat, 15 Dec 2012 00:55:47 -0500, Ron W3ZV <[hidden email]>
wrote:

>I am looking to add 2m to my K3. I need to decide whether to get the internal transverter or the external. The way I would purchase them, cost is almost equal. Crystal oven on the external, K144RFLK and KXV3 upgrade on the internal. Neither will drive my current brick amp to full output so, thats a wash as well. Building the XV144 is a plus. So I guess it comes down to receive performance and transmit stability. If anyone has made this choice, what made you choose one or the other?
>
>Ron, W3ZV
[snip]
73,
Tom
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
ARRL Lifetime Member
QCWA Lifetime Member

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Amateur Radio Operator N5GE

KH7T

Re: K144XV vs XV144

In reply to this post by Ron W3ZV

The receiver sensitivity of the XV144 was good enough to do moon bounce
with no other preamp at the antenna. Had about 120 ft of BuryFlex.
JT65, and did not drive the power amp to more than 300 watts. I might
have gotten more but a bias resistor in the amp was bad at the time.

73, John KH7T

On 12/15/2012 12:25 AM, [hidden email] wrote:

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Edward R Cole

Re: K144XV vs XV144

In reply to this post by Ron W3ZV

Not a comment on the K144XV vs XV144, but one about running eme.

Use of a low-noise figure preamp is not "optional" for eme, so
transverter sensitivity is less important an issue, though its nice
if it is low. I use a DEMI 144-28 transverter with 0.8 dB NF
(unmeasured) and 17-dB conversion gain. With my 0.1 dB NF preamp
(26-dB gain) this produces a S4 noise floor in the K3 on 28-MHz (a
bit too much gain). This will result in impacting large signal
handling but I have no issues for that on 2m since the nearest active
2m eme station is in BC about 1300km away.

Use of an external preamp is encouraged on 2m and higher freq if one
is into working CW/SSB/digital long-range, weak-signal contacts. You
can't work em if you can't hear me! My 2m-eme receiving system MDS=
-153 dBm. (-172 dBm with antenna gain). K3 diversity receiving makes
eme a real joy!

Best Wished for the Holidays!
Ed - KL7UW
we will be attending Dayton this year! We will be at the microwavers
flea mkt location with WA5VJB and NE8I (and others). I plan to demo
the new 5w/140w HF amp using the KX3 as exciter.

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Edward R Cole

Re: K144XV vs XV144

In reply to this post by Ron W3ZV

oops! meant to say: "you can't work em if you can't hear em", but
also true on 2m-eme if you can not hear "me" - LOL!
I run ERP= 73kW on 2m-eme.

Ed

At 09:53 AM 12/16/2012, Edward R Cole wrote:

>Not a comment on the K144XV vs XV144, but one about running eme.
>
>Use of a low-noise figure preamp is not "optional" for eme, so
>transverter sensitivity is less important an issue, though its nice
>if it is low. I use a DEMI 144-28 transverter with 0.8 dB NF
>(unmeasured) and 17-dB conversion gain. With my 0.1 dB NF preamp
>(26-dB gain) this produces a S4 noise floor in the K3 on 28-MHz (a
>bit too much gain). This will result in impacting large signal
>handling but I have no issues for that on 2m since the nearest
>active 2m eme station is in BC about 1300km away.
>
>Use of an external preamp is encouraged on 2m and higher freq if one
>is into working CW/SSB/digital long-range, weak-signal
>contacts. You can't work em if you can't hear me! My 2m-eme
>receiving system MDS= -153 dBm. (-172 dBm with antenna gain). K3
>diversity receiving makes eme a real joy!
>
>Best Wished for the Holidays!
>Ed - KL7UW
>we will be attending Dayton this year! We will be at the
>microwavers flea mkt location with WA5VJB and NE8I (and others). I
>plan to demo the new 5w/140w HF amp using the KX3 as exciter.