K2 Upgrade Questions

[Ken Kirkley]

   I  am  looking at upgrading my K2 to a K2-100. If I do, will I have to
   remove  the  internal  ATU or battery pack? If I can leave the battery
   pack,  will  it  charge  while operating off of a 20amp supply for the
   100?  I  want  to  leave  the internal ATU for field operations at QRP
   levels.
   Thanks!
   Ken/NO4D
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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Ken,

The solution to that situation is to mount the KPA100 in an external EC2
enclosure.

If you are considering the KAT100 as well, order the KAT100-2 which has
all the 'hooks' that you can plug the KPA100 into.  If you do not choose
the KAT100-2, then you will need to mount a coax input jack in the lower
rear panel of the EC2 enclosure.

Add the KIO2 on your base K2 to pipe the signals needed to the KPA100
AUX I/O input - there are alternatives to the KIO2 if you have no desire
to connect a computer to your K2 (the KPA100 AUX I/O connector cannot be
used for computer control of the K2 when mounted externally.

73,
Don W3FPR

Ken Kirkley wrote:
>    I  am  looking at upgrading my K2 to a K2-100. If I do, will I have to
>    remove  the  internal  ATU or battery pack? If I can leave the battery
>    pack,  will  it  charge  while operating off of a 20amp supply for the
>    100?  I  want  to  leave  the internal ATU for field operations at QRP
>    levels.
>    Thanks!
>    Ken/NO4D
>
>  
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[Jim Wiley-2]

Ken -


I recently added a KPA100 and KAT100 to my K2.  The K2 already had
pretty much very option and upgrade, and I was not willing to give up
things like the internal battery and KAT2 low-power tuner for  higher
power.  So, as Don suggests, use the option of building your KPA100 into
the external EC2 case.  In my case, I opted for the KAT100 tuner as
well.  I also took this as an opportunity to make another mod that I
personally, prefer - I purchased and installed the shorter 1.5"
tilt-bails in place of the original versions.  Much better, IMHO.


I built the tuner first, and since I had the KIO2 already in the K2, it
was just a matter of plugging things in.  If you use this route, the
whole thing truly becomes "plug and play".   Other than having to make
some tests with the system opened up, and providing a bit of temporary
12 volt wiring for tests, once everything is built and running, it all
buttons up into a really great looking package and works seamlessly
between QRP and QRO power settings.


I did increase the current carrying capacity of the RF choke on the KIO2
board, as suggested in the builder's notes found on the Elecraft web
site, but that's all.  Since I did not plan to install the KPA100 in the
K2 cabinet (I ordered the KAT100-2 version), I left the speaker where it
was, and skipped the assembly steps in the KPA100 having to do with the
speaker wiring and installation.   I did install the supplied speaker
grille cloth for appearance sake.  Make sure you order the EC2 case at
the same time as you order everything else. You will also need a KIO2 if
not already installed in the K2.


Installing the KPA100 and KAT100 in the EC2 cabinet is one area where
the KPA100 and  KAT100 manuals could use some editing - there needs to
be a section in each showing what is needed and what can be skipped if
you are externally mounting the KPA100.   The KAT100-2 is good in this
respect, but it still needs some better notes for integrating it with an
external KPA100.  
 

However, the bottom line is that it was not all that difficult to figure
out what to do, and the whole system integrated with remarkable ease
once I got the idea of what needed to be done.   I would be glad to
offer assistance should you need it, but in truth the hints and reports
from the Elecraft web site should be adequate.  The only problem with
those notes is that it can be somewhat confusing because there are
various versions of the upgrade / integration notes that might have you
doing unnecessary work unless you read very carefully.  


Good luck!


- Jim, KL7CC



Don Wilhelm wrote:
> Ken,
>
> The solution to that situation is to mount the KPA100 in an external
> EC2 enclosure.
> If you are considering the KAT100 as well, order the KAT100-2 which
> has all the 'hooks' that you can plug the KPA100 into.  If you do not
> choose the KAT100-2, then you will need to mount a coax input jack in
> the lower rear panel of the EC2 enclosure.
>
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