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K3/10

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Steve Coates

K3/10

With Hamvention this week I am thinking it is time to get an HF rig. I
have been out of radio for a good number of years and looking to get
back in. With the money limits I have the 10w K3 would be the only
option and I would add features as funds were available.

I understand the technical differences between 100w and 10w but I am
looking for input on the practical side of things. What should I
expect when running 10w? My CW is so rusty I really can't go there
right away, so I would be most interested in digital modes and SSB.

I will have some kind of multi-band dipole for an antenna.

Steve
N8JAF
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wayne burdick

Re: K3/10

Administrator

Hi Steve,

I run 10 W or less about 90% of the time, and my log is full of DX
contacts. If a band is open, 10 W (or even 1 W) will often do the job.
I kick in the "boots" when I'm desperate.

The reason I met Eric (WA6HHQ, my Elecraft co-founder) is that,
basically, he wanted to call me to brag about how he'd worked 100
countries on 40 meters with his NorCal 40A :) This a little rig I
designed in 1993. It put out 2 watts, usually, but Eric had tweaked
his to put out 4 W.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On May 16, 2011, at 9:12 AM, Steve Coates wrote:

> With Hamvention this week I am thinking it is time to get an HF rig. I
> have been out of radio for a good number of years and looking to get
> back in. With the money limits I have the 10w K3 would be the only
> option and I would add features as funds were available.
>
> I understand the technical differences between 100w and 10w but I am
> looking for input on the practical side of things. What should I
> expect when running 10w? My CW is so rusty I really can't go there
> right away, so I would be most interested in digital modes and SSB.
>
> I will have some kind of multi-band dipole for an antenna.
>
> Steve
> N8JAF
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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John Ragle

Re: K3/10

In reply to this post by Steve Coates

Steve...

Hearty welcome back to activity in this wonderful hobby! I have
used (in temporal order) a K2 for a year, a Flex 3000 for a year, and
now a K3 for a little over a year. Before that, it was a menagerie of
TenTec, Icom, Kenwood, Hallicrafters, home-built, etc.

Addressing your situation: the K3/10 in digital mode with a dipole
should enable you to work anyone you can hear. On HF I typically run
BPSK31 or another of the collection of modes available on FLDIGI or
HRD/DM780 or mixW. I typically run 20-30 watts out to the feedline of a
2-element Mosley triband beam at 30 feet. My location is what I would
call moderately poor to poor, near sea level, and in a bowl with 1000+
ft hills all around. I have no problem whatever working into Europe at
morning terminator time, nor into central or western USA/Canada in the
afternoon. Cross-equatorial contacts are easy. Before I put up the
Mosley, I used a trap vertical with a couple of radials.

Not to worry about rusty CW. First, it would come right back with a
tiny practice interval, and second, the other digital modes (CW is
digital, right?) at a keyboard are very relaxing...you can sip
coffee/tea and kick back, while enjoying what the other fellow has to
say. Keyboard skills also respond to practice...I took typing in high
school, and mark it as one of the most worthwhile courses of that
time...but even a Columbus-type typist (discover, then land) can do
30-40 wpm on a keyboard.

WRT the K3, it is simply the best all-around xcvr I have ever
owned, in 65 years of hamming. Mine happens to be a K3/100, but I only
crank it full bore on 6 meter USB when 6 is NOT open. (When 6 IS open,
10 watts will be plenty. I have worked KL7 from here with a 10 watt
ICOM. When Old Sol comes around, the world will be your oyster with the
K3/10, but don't expect to compete on 20 meter USB at contest time.

Your progressive add-on process will require a little thought. My
choice would be to add an amplier and antenna first, then SSB later.

Another thought: you might consider purchase of a K2 in kit form.
It will take you 30-50 hours to complete, but it is all hole-stuffing
"paint by numbers" and will save you a few bucks. If I hadn't been
suckered in by the Flex ads, I would still be running my K2/100. I used
a SignaLink-USB with it, and use the same set-up with my K3/100.

John Ragle -- W1ZI

=====

On 5/16/2011 12:12 PM, Steve Coates wrote:

Peter Wollan-2

Re: K3/10

Steve,

I have a K2, not a K3. It's a wonderful rig, but the K3 is better at
everything except running off a battery. If you can afford it, get a
K3.

John rightly says that with 10 watts, you can talk to hordes of people
using digital modes; also true with CW. Even with those modes,
though, you will find some people you can copy clearly who simply
can't hear you. With SSB, that's much more common. While you will be
able to talk to a lot of people using 5 or 10 watts SSB, it will be
dependent on good propagation, and perhaps on good antennas on their
part. Which still means you'll have lots of fun, and when or if you
buy more power you'll still find QSOs you can't complete -- just keep
your expectations realistic.

I think John's comment about "adding SSB" is confusing. The K2
requires an additional module to have either SSB or digital
capability, but the K3 will do it all in the base configuration.
(except FM). (and AM?). I think what he means is that he'd recommend
you use digital modes till you add the 100 watt module, and only then
start to use SSB. My recommendation would be to get the K3/10, put up
a dipole, explore digital modes, see how many people you can reach
with SSB, and eventually add 100 watts. Oh yes, having the autotuner
will make it much easier to put up a simple multiband antenna.
Without the tuner, you'll have to have a well-tuned antenna, and it
will most likely be for just one or two bands.

Peter W0LLN

On Mon, May 16, 2011 at 11:37 AM, John Ragle <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Steve...
>

> Addressing your situation: the K3/10 in digital mode with a dipole
> should enable you to work anyone you can hear.

> Your progressive add-on process will require a little thought. My
> choice would be to add an amplier and antenna first, then SSB later.
>
> Another thought: you might consider purchase of a K2 in kit form.
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Ross Primrose N4RP

Re: K3/10

In reply to this post by Steve Coates

I've been working HF at not more than 5W, into wire antennas, since Jan
'09. I don't do CW (yet.) I've got 120 DXCC entities in the log with 89
confirmed on LoTW, about 90 worked with 62 confirmed on SSB, WAS on 80m,
40m & 20m. If you can put up a decent antenna system, you'll make plenty
of contacts with 10W.

73, Ross N4RP

On 5/16/2011 12:12 PM, Steve Coates wrote:

--
FCC Section 97.313(a) “At all times, an amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.”

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K5DNL

Re: K3/10

In reply to this post by Steve Coates

Steve ,

You can work the world with 10W on the
digital modes , go for it.

73 Ken K5DNL
---------------------------------------------------------------
--- On Mon, 5/16/11, Steve Coates <[hidden email]> wrote:

> From: Steve Coates <[hidden email]>
> Subject: [Elecraft] K3/10
> To: [hidden email]
> Date: Monday, May 16, 2011, 11:12 AM
> With Hamvention this week I am
> thinking it is time to get an HF rig. I
> have been out of radio for a good number of years and
> looking to get
> back in. With the money limits I have the 10w K3 would be
> the only
> option and I would add features as funds were available.
>
> I understand the technical differences between 100w and 10w
> but I am
> looking for input on the practical side of things. What
> should I
> expect when running 10w? My CW is so rusty I really can't
> go there
> right away, so I would be most interested in digital modes
> and SSB.
>
> I will have some kind of multi-band dipole for an antenna.
>
> Steve
> N8JAF
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
>

Ross Primrose N4RP

Re: K3/10

On 5/16/11 3:58 PM, Ken Roberson wrote:
> Steve ,
>
> You can work the world with 10W on the
> digital modes , go for it.
>

Phone too...

73, Ross N4RP

--
FCC Section 97.313(a) “At all times, an amateur station must use the minimum transmitter power necessary to carry out the desired communications.”

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Chuck Shefflette

Re: K3/10

In reply to this post by Steve Coates

Steve,

You've gotten a lot of great replies. I've got 2 K3/100s here but I rarely run either of them over 50W, more often 10W or below SSB and CW (I'm still working on getting proficient with CW but I am trying!). I dabble a bit with PSK and that I run 4-5W. A good (or even moderately good) antenna will make up for a lack of power. More often than not, some of the bigger guns with their big antennas will be able to pull a QRP station out fairly easily. I would suggest that you get the K3/10 with the built-in ATU - I'm sure there are better ATUs out there, but I've been quite successful tuning most anything I can hook up to the radio. The only thing I've found I really can't tune is an ocf dipole cut for 80M on 160M - I resort to a manual MFJ for that!

Welcome back to the hobby, I was out for a very long time and sort of jumped in with both feet but I'm having a great time of it.

73 and hope to cu on the air,
Chuck - AA3CS
On 16 May 2011, at 12:12, Steve Coates wrote:

73 - Chuck, AA3CS