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New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

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Gary W. Marklund

New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

I should receive my new K1-2 with KAT1 tomorrow or Monday. I ordered
40M and 30M for starters. I will add others shortly. My question is
regarding modification for other bands. I've seen replacement parts
lists for 12 and 10 M. Is there any reason the KFL1-4 is limited to
40/30/20 and 17 or 15? What if I wanted to build a four band module as
say, 30/17/12/10 meters? Is there something inherent in the KFL1-4 that
prevents this?

Thanks,
Gary
KJ7RT

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w5tvw

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

The 4 band board can be only used on 40/30/20 and 17 OR 15 meters. That's
the way it's designed and your only option is whether the topmost band will
be 17 or 15 meters.

two band boards can be built for anything from 160 thru 15 meters. 160 is
not a standard Elecraft "stock" band, but all the parts can be obtained from
Elecraft except the crystal!

Eventually someone will come up with the parts required for 12 and 10 meters
I'm sure when they bands get usable again.

You will have a lot of fun with that rig and it's the best QRP rig I've ever
owned...so far.

73,

Sandy W5TVW

----- Original Message -----
From: "Gary W. Marklund" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 7:06 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

>I should receive my new K1-2 with KAT1 tomorrow or Monday. I ordered
> 40M and 30M for starters. I will add others shortly. My question is
> regarding modification for other bands. I've seen replacement parts
> lists for 12 and 10 M. Is there any reason the KFL1-4 is limited to
> 40/30/20 and 17 or 15? What if I wanted to build a four band module as
> say, 30/17/12/10 meters? Is there something inherent in the KFL1-4 that
> prevents this?
>
> Thanks,
> Gary
> KJ7RT
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

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05:58:00

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

In reply to this post by Gary W. Marklund

Gary,

The 4 band board cannot be modified much. The lower two bands must
share the same low pass filter, so you are limited to 40 and 30. A low
pass filter that would pass a 17 meter signal would be too close to the
second harmonic of 30 meters to effectively reduce that 2nd harmonic.
The K1, like all other transmitters must meet the FCC requirements for
harmonic radiation.

73,
Don W3FPR

Gary W. Marklund wrote:

> I should receive my new K1-2 with KAT1 tomorrow or Monday. I ordered
> 40M and 30M for starters. I will add others shortly. My question is
> regarding modification for other bands. I've seen replacement parts
> lists for 12 and 10 M. Is there any reason the KFL1-4 is limited to
> 40/30/20 and 17 or 15? What if I wanted to build a four band module as
> say, 30/17/12/10 meters? Is there something inherent in the KFL1-4 that
> prevents this?
>
> Thanks,
> Gary
> KJ7RT
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
> No virus found in this incoming message.
> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
> Version: 8.5.375 / Virus Database: 270.13.27/2258 - Release Date: 07/24/09 05:58:00
>
>

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Gary W. Marklund

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

In reply to this post by Gary W. Marklund

Thanks, Sandy and Don. Looks like the two-band modules will give me the
flexibility I want. Can't wait to get started. USPS tracking shows it
has arrived and been processed through the Phoenix sorting facility.
I'll have my kit tomorrow!

Gary
KJ7RT

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Rick Dettinger-3

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

I am not sure if you are planning to change the two band modules often
but if you are, I think it would be better to use an external tuner
like the T1 rather than the optional internal tuner. It makes module
swapping much easier.
The K1 wasn't really designed for frequent module changes and its not
just a matter of plugging a new one in, like with the Sierra. If you
have the internal tuner installed, it needs to be removed to change
band modules. I have often thought that if one could get along
without the internal batteries, the speaker and the tuner, that there
would be room for more bands on a larger board or multiple boards.
But this would require switching changes to the firmware. Not
something for mere mortals to play around with. Enjoy your new K1. I
sure like mine.

73

Rick Dettinger K7MW

On Jul 24, 2009, at 8:13 PM, Gary W. Marklund wrote:

> Thanks, Sandy and Don. Looks like the two-band modules will give me
> the
> flexibility I want. Can't wait to get started. USPS tracking shows it
> has arrived and been processed through the Phoenix sorting facility.
> I'll have my kit tomorrow!
>
> Gary
> KJ7RT
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

w7aqk

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

Hi All,

I sure agree with Rick's comment. I liked my K1 from the
outset, but not nearly as much as I have since I finally got
the 4 band board installed! As nicely designed as the K1
is, swapping band boards got to be a real pain. Personally,
I would never recommend that someone only buy a 2 band board
unless they were absolutely, dead certain they weren't going
to want to upgrade later. Of course, initially the 4 band
board wasn't available. Some folks may be put off by the
fact that 17 isn't the CW band that 40, 30, and 20 can be,
but when 17 is good, it's really good! So, if you decision
about getting the 4 band board is tempered by uncertainty
about 17 meters, I'd suggest you add it to your system.
Even while propagation was falling off the face of the earth
this past year or so, I worked a lot of good DX on 17
meters.

I've also been less than thrilled with the internal battery
option in either the K1 or the K2. I think it's better to
forgo that option, and just use outboard power sources.
That way, you have more flexibility about what size power
source you provide, and the rig doesn't get weighed down
with batteries. Probably a lot of folks will disagree with
that, but it's strictly personal preference. You still have
to have "the weight" somewhere, but with external power you
can pack it separately, like "checked luggage" vs.
"carry-on".

The internal ATU option is a tricky decision. I have it in
both the K1 and K2, but the T1 is a super alternative. If
you have both rigs, or other rigs (like an FT-817 maybe?),
the T1 can solve a lot of problems. If I was really
pinching pennies (which I seem to be doing more of these
days!), I might have just let the T1 be my sole tuner option
for QRP stuff. If you have any kind of collection of QRP
rigs, you will probably want the T1 anyway. It's a great
little tuner.

Dave W7AQK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Rick Dettinger" <[hidden email]>
To: "Gary W. Marklund" <[hidden email]>
Cc: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, July 24, 2009 10:36 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] New K1 on the way - Band Module
Questions

>I am not sure if you are planning to change the two band
>modules often
> but if you are, I think it would be better to use an
> external tuner
> like the T1 rather than the optional internal tuner. It
> makes module
> swapping much easier.
> The K1 wasn't really designed for frequent module changes
> and its not
> just a matter of plugging a new one in, like with the
> Sierra. If you
> have the internal tuner installed, it needs to be removed
> to change
> band modules. I have often thought that if one could get
> along
> without the internal batteries, the speaker and the tuner,
> that there
> would be room for more bands on a larger board or multiple
> boards.
> But this would require switching changes to the firmware.
> Not
> something for mere mortals to play around with. Enjoy
> your new K1. I
> sure like mine.
>
> 73
>
> Rick Dettinger K7MW
>
>
> On Jul 24, 2009, at 8:13 PM, Gary W. Marklund wrote:
>
>> Thanks, Sandy and Don. Looks like the two-band modules
>> will give me
>> the
>> flexibility I want. Can't wait to get started. USPS
>> tracking shows it
>> has arrived and been processed through the Phoenix
>> sorting facility.
>> I'll have my kit tomorrow!
>>
>> Gary
>> KJ7RT
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> 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
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list:
> http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

Bill W4ZV

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

David Y. wrote

The internal ATU option is a tricky decision. I have it in
both the K1 and K2, but the T1 is a super alternative. If
you have both rigs, or other rigs (like an FT-817 maybe?),
the T1 can solve a lot of problems. If I was really
pinching pennies (which I seem to be doing more of these
days!), I might have just let the T1 be my sole tuner option
for QRP stuff. If you have any kind of collection of QRP
rigs, you will probably want the T1 anyway. It's a great
little tuner.

I have two QRP rigs (a K2 and KD1JV's ATS-3) so I opted for an external tuner that works well with either. I have nothing against the T1, but another low cost ($65 kit, $90 assembled) alternative is the Emtech ZM-2:

http://emtech.steadynet.com/zm2.shtml

It's small, light (8 ounces), passive (non-autotune but very easy to tune and no battery to worry about) and tunes virtually anything on 10-80m (but not 160). The 15W power rating is a nice complement to the QRP K2.

CU tomorrow in the Flight of the Bumblebees...I'll be using my K2 and the ZM-2 from the top of Morrow Mountain (NC).

73, Bill W4ZV

Mike Morrow-3

Re: New K1 on the way - Band Module Questions

In reply to this post by Gary W. Marklund

Sandy wrote, and the information supplied by Elecract seems to imply, that:

>The 4 band board can be only used on 40/30/20 and 17 OR 15 meters.

This board is actually more flexible. It can be used on 40m, 30m, and ANY two
of the 20m, 17m, and 15m bands. The assumption that Elecraft makes
was that nobody would ever choose not to use 20m. If that is valid, then
likely very few would choose 17m over 15m either.

>That's the way it's designed and your only option is whether the topmost band
>will be 17 or 15 meters.

The real choice is which of the 20m, 17m, and 15m bands you will select to assign
to the *two* top bands. The common elliptical filter for 40m can be used for 30m
since the highest frequency that will be passed is less than two times the lowest
frequency. Similarly, the other elliptical filter on the four-band board can be used for
ANY combination of 20m, 17m, and 15m, because no frequency the filter will pass will
be greater than twice the lowest frequency that it will pass, for those bands.

It makes *no* technical sense to select a two-band board for two of the five bands
that the four-band board can support. The four-band board has much better
filtering than does the two-band board. The two-band board is inferior in performance
on any band that is available on the four-band version. The only advantage of the
two-band board is that it is cheaper (for good reason) than the four-band board,
if the four-band board covers the two bands in which the builder is interested. The *only*
technical advantage of the two-band board is that it can be built for the bands that
the four-band board doesn't cover.

I built my four-band board for 40/30/20/15m, and re-built an old two-band board for
80/17m. That covers all six "official" bands supplied by Elecraft for the K1.

The four-band board offers the happy coincidence of double the band coverage,
with better RF performance on those bands, compared to the two-band board.
Elecraft should make note of that to customers who initially choose a two-band
board for bands that the four-band version covers.

Mike / KK5F
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