K2 with FT8 at .1 Watt of Power

[Wb9msm]

Hi All -

I am really enjoying my K2/100 very much.  It really is a nice radio.  I
recently got my WAS endorsement sticker for QRP.  It was a great time
chasing the states around the bands.  I operated my K2 in the range of 4.5
Watts.  There was a bit of power creep up and down from that but minimal at
best.  Just the other night I decided to try making contacts on FT8 with
only .1 Watt(100 milliwatts)  and was really impressed that I was making
contacts with that low of power.  I do not have an actual wattmeter that
will measure that low of power.  Can anyone tell me if the .1 Watt setting
on the K2 is in the ballpark of that amount of power.  This radio really has
been impressing me with all of its capabilities.  I am continually amazed at
what it does!  I am using an old RigBlaster which interfaces with my ACER
Aspire perfectly for FT8.  I could not be happier to say the least. If
anyone can share their experience with this power output question I have I
would appreciate your comments.  Thanks and 73,  Denny WB9MSM  P.S. I am
thinking of going for QRPp WAS.



-----
Dennis Berg
--
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[Don Wilhelm]

Denny,

If you have the base K2 only, then it is likely accurate, even more so
with the KAT2.

I repaired a lot of K2s, but never thought to measure the accuracy at
those low power levels even though I do have accurate low power
measuring tools.  The major limiting factor will be the forward voltage
drop of the 1N5711 diodes.

If you have an oscilloscope with a 10X probe and a 50 ohm dummy load,
you can check your own K2.  Measure the RF voltage across the dummy
load.  Power = Vp-p squared divided by 400 for a 50 ohm load. (the
'scope will display the peak to peak voltage, no need to go through a
lot of conversions.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 8/26/2020 3:02 PM, Wb9msm wrote:

> Hi All -
>
> I am really enjoying my K2/100 very much.  It really is a nice radio.  I
> recently got my WAS endorsement sticker for QRP.  It was a great time
> chasing the states around the bands.  I operated my K2 in the range of 4.5
> Watts.  There was a bit of power creep up and down from that but minimal at
> best.  Just the other night I decided to try making contacts on FT8 with
> only .1 Watt(100 milliwatts)  and was really impressed that I was making
> contacts with that low of power.  I do not have an actual wattmeter that
> will measure that low of power.  Can anyone tell me if the .1 Watt setting
> on the K2 is in the ballpark of that amount of power.  This radio really has
> been impressing me with all of its capabilities.  I am continually amazed at
> what it does!  I am using an old RigBlaster which interfaces with my ACER
> Aspire perfectly for FT8.  I could not be happier to say the least. If
> anyone can share their experience with this power output question I have I
> would appreciate your comments.  Thanks and 73,  Denny WB9MSM  P.S. I am
> thinking of going for QRPp WAS.

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