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K3 RX Antenna & QSK

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James Bennett

K3 RX Antenna & QSK

Hi all,

Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP under it.

I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.

But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99% CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?

Thanks, Jim

Jim Bennett / W6JHB
Folsom, CA
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Vic Rosenthal

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

The Pixel can be connected to your amp key circuit. It turns off the
power and grounds the antenna on transmit. It works fine with the K3 QSK
at 30 wpm (haven't really tried it faster). The relay is a little noisy,
but I wear phones and it doesn't bother me. I am using it about 6m from
my vertical transmitting antenna with up to 1200 watts, so it is a good
idea to use this feature.

On 1 Feb 2015 06:52, James Bennett wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the
> past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more
> states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited
> antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP
> under it.
>
> I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and
> have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.
>
> But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99%
> CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive
> only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the
> RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?
>
> Thanks, Jim
>
> Jim Bennett / W6JHB Folsom, CA

Mike K2MK

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

In reply to this post by James Bennett

Hi Jim,

My Pixel loop is about 15 feet away from my BigIR vertical. I run 1500 watts QSK and have not had any problem at all. In fact since the recent improvements to the K3 QSK it's become a pretty pleasant way of operating. As Vic stated, there is a mechanical relay in the Pixel power box that resides inside the shack which could be distracting. However, the clicking from my amp's relay is much louder. So headphones are pretty much mandatory at my QTH. I should note that this amp is new and I've only been running QSK for about 5 months.

If you are noise sensitive and if you are running a silent amp like the KPA500 you'll probably be dissapointed in the sudden appearance of noise from the Pixel power box. I don't know how the Wellbrook does its switching. Perhaps the bigger question is how many cycles does this little relay go through in a typical weekend DX contest and how long will it last. Is it 10,000 cycles? Is it a million cycles? I always switch the Pixel off on the higher frequency bands for the sole purpose of extending the life of the relay.

73,
Mike K2MK

James Bennett wrote

Hi all,

Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP under it.

I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.

But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99% CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?

Thanks, Jim

Jim Bennett / W6JHB
Folsom, CA

Vic Rosenthal

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

I just stuck a piece of folded-up bubble wrap underneath the Pixel
control box which made it much quieter!

On 1 Feb 2015 13:20, Mike K2MK wrote:

> Hi Jim,
>
> My Pixel loop is about 15 feet away from my BigIR vertical. I run 1500 watts
> QSK and have not had any problem at all. In fact since the recent
> improvements to the K3 QSK it's become a pretty pleasant way of operating.
> As Vic stated, there is a mechanical relay in the Pixel power box that
> resides inside the shack which could be distracting. However, the clicking
> from my amp's relay is much louder. So headphones are pretty much mandatory
> at my QTH. I should note that this amp is new and I've only been running QSK
> for about 5 months.
>
> If you are noise sensitive and if you are running a silent amp like the
> KPA500 you'll probably be dissapointed in the sudden appearance of noise
> from the Pixel power box. I don't know how the Wellbrook does its switching.
> Perhaps the bigger question is how many cycles does this little relay go
> through in a typical weekend DX contest and how long will it last. Is it
> 10,000 cycles? Is it a million cycles? I always switch the Pixel off on the
> higher frequency bands for the sole purpose of extending the life of the
> relay.
>
> 73,
> Mike K2MK
>
>
>
> James Bennett wrote
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the past
>> year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more states for
>> WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited antenna space.
>> Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP under it.
>>
>> I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and have
>> looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.
>>
>> But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99% CW, I
>> depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive only antenna
>> to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the RX Ant fast enough
>> to protect the K3?
>>
>> Thanks, Jim
>>
>> Jim Bennett / W6JHB
>> Folsom, CA

dmb@lightstream.net

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

In reply to this post by Vic Rosenthal

Is there a significant benefit to running full QSK at speeds >= 30 WPM as
opposed to just running break-in w/ a delay of 0.04? I use the Pixel loop
here on 40 and 30 meters w/ my K3, and doing the latter saves a lot of
relay operations. Although you won't hear the band between keying
elements, you will definitely hear it between letters.

No sarcasm intended w/ my question; just trying to understand when and how
full QSK provides a benefit over break-in w/ minimal delay.

73, Dale
WA8SRA

> The Pixel can be connected to your amp key circuit. It turns off the
> power and grounds the antenna on transmit. It works fine with the K3 QSK
> at 30 wpm (haven't really tried it faster). The relay is a little noisy,
> but I wear phones and it doesn't bother me. I am using it about 6m from
> my vertical transmitting antenna with up to 1200 watts, so it is a good
> idea to use this feature.
>
> On 1 Feb 2015 06:52, James Bennett wrote:
>> Hi all,
>>
>> Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the
>> past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more
>> states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited
>> antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP
>> under it.
>>
>> I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and
>> have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.
>>
>> But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99%
>> CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive
>> only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the
>> RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?
>>
>> Thanks, Jim
>>
>> Jim Bennett / W6JHB Folsom, CA
>
> --
> 73,
> Vic, 4X6GP/K2VCO
> Rehovot, Israel
> http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/

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Vic Rosenthal

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

I just tried it at speeds from about 24 to 35 wpm. As you say, not much
difference in what you hear and a big reduction in relay operations.
0.005 extends the useful speed range downward without changing what you
hear much.

I'll try it in the next pileup and see if I think it matters. I have two
relays in my amp and the one in the loop, and the less work they do the
better.

On 1 Feb 2015 15:58, [hidden email] wrote:

> Is there a significant benefit to running full QSK at speeds >= 30 WPM as
> opposed to just running break-in w/ a delay of 0.04? I use the Pixel loop
> here on 40 and 30 meters w/ my K3, and doing the latter saves a lot of
> relay operations. Although you won't hear the band between keying
> elements, you will definitely hear it between letters.
>
> No sarcasm intended w/ my question; just trying to understand when and how
> full QSK provides a benefit over break-in w/ minimal delay.
>
> 73, Dale
> WA8SRA
>
>
>
>> The Pixel can be connected to your amp key circuit. It turns off the
>> power and grounds the antenna on transmit. It works fine with the K3 QSK
>> at 30 wpm (haven't really tried it faster). The relay is a little noisy,
>> but I wear phones and it doesn't bother me. I am using it about 6m from
>> my vertical transmitting antenna with up to 1200 watts, so it is a good
>> idea to use this feature.
>>
>> On 1 Feb 2015 06:52, James Bennett wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the
>>> past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more
>>> states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have limited
>>> antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a K2AV FCP
>>> under it.
>>>
>>> I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna, and
>>> have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.
>>>
>>> But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99%
>>> CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive
>>> only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the
>>> RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?
>>>
>>> Thanks, Jim
>>>
>>> Jim Bennett / W6JHB Folsom, CA

Chester Alderman

Re: K3 RX Antenna & QSK

In my opinion, you do not gain anything by running full QSK with your K3
below about 40 wpm. But if you do run full QSK, you do lose the use of
RIT/XIT and SPLIT. For me using RIT during contest is quite important,
therefore I do not use full QSK in any contest. But during the now seldom
times I have QRQ (above 60 wpm) QSO's, I always use full QSK. Relay noise
from amplifiers T/R relays can not be avoided so therefore you either have
to train yourself to ignore the relay noise or wear good headphones, or
both. I am presently trying to learn to use VFO A for receiving and VFO B
for transmitting as I normally operate in the RUN mode during contest, but
of course with the K3 you lose full QSK when running SPLIT. However this
also makes using spotting cluster almost impossible.

YMMV!!
73,
Tom - W4BQF

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Vic
Rosenthal 4X6GP/K2VCO
Sent: Sunday, February 1, 2015 9:41 AM
To: [hidden email]
Cc: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 RX Antenna & QSK

I just tried it at speeds from about 24 to 35 wpm. As you say, not much
difference in what you hear and a big reduction in relay operations.
0.005 extends the useful speed range downward without changing what you hear
much.

I'll try it in the next pileup and see if I think it matters. I have two
relays in my amp and the one in the loop, and the less work they do the
better.

On 1 Feb 2015 15:58, [hidden email] wrote:

> Is there a significant benefit to running full QSK at speeds >= 30 WPM
> as opposed to just running break-in w/ a delay of 0.04? I use the
> Pixel loop here on 40 and 30 meters w/ my K3, and doing the latter
> saves a lot of relay operations. Although you won't hear the band
> between keying elements, you will definitely hear it between letters.
>
> No sarcasm intended w/ my question; just trying to understand when and
> how full QSK provides a benefit over break-in w/ minimal delay.
>
> 73, Dale
> WA8SRA
>
>
>
>> The Pixel can be connected to your amp key circuit. It turns off the
>> power and grounds the antenna on transmit. It works fine with the K3
>> QSK at 30 wpm (haven't really tried it faster). The relay is a little
>> noisy, but I wear phones and it doesn't bother me. I am using it
>> about 6m from my vertical transmitting antenna with up to 1200 watts,
>> so it is a good idea to use this feature.
>>
>> On 1 Feb 2015 06:52, James Bennett wrote:
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> Have a K3/P3/KPA500/KAT500 and have been working 160 meters more the
>>> past year or so than in the previous 49 years. Only need three more
>>> states for WAS. Got a lot of noise here at this QTH, and have
>>> limited antenna space. Using an Inverted L up about 40 feet with a
>>> K2AV FCP under it.
>>>
>>> I'm looking at perhaps getting a magnetic loop receiving antenna,
>>> and have looked at the Wellbrook ALA 1530 and the Pixel RF Pro 1B.
>>>
>>> But my question is on the T/R switching of the K3. As I operate 99%
>>> CW, I depend on QSK operation. If I connect either of those receive
>>> only antenna to the RX Ant, does the K3 switch between Ant1 and the
>>> RX Ant fast enough to protect the K3?
>>>
>>> Thanks, Jim
>>>
>>> Jim Bennett / W6JHB Folsom, CA

--
73,
Vic, 4X6GP/K2VCO
Rehovot, Israel
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco/
______________________________________________________________
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Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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delivered to [hidden email]

______________________________________________________________
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Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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