New K3 User and New Ham

[KC2VNI]

Mike: I don't have any form of power supply. From my brief discussion with the tech over at Elecraft, he recommended the RS-35A from Astron.

 

In this instance, I did look at the Western Mountain Radio unit you have below.

 

I wanted to make sure I understand something: that the radio can be supplied from 120VAC from this unit OR you can use it to supply power from an external battery as you mentioned below.

 

Is this the case?

  

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] New K3 User and New Ham
From: "Mike B-12 [via Elecraft]"
<[hidden email]>
Date: Mon, January 04, 2010 9:26 pm
To: KC2VNI <[hidden email]>

Good evening, Steve.  As for item #2, you'll likely find that even with
a 100 AH battery, the voltage will drop rather quickly at 100 watts.
And as the voltage drops, the current consumption will rise to keep the
output the same, even more rapidly draining the battery.  I would suggest:

1) consider using lower power. You'll likely find that running at 50
watts (or less, particularly on CW or PSK) will net you essentially the
same number of QSOs, at far less power consumption.

2) run 2 batteries in parallel (in this case, 12 volt batteries).  That
will help keep the voltage up by spreading the load across more than one
battery.

3) even if running parallel batteries, consider a battery booster from
MFJ or http://stores.tgelectronics.org/StoreFront.bok  I have not tried
either, but I think QST did a review of 2 models some time back.

By far the easiest (and most common) type of large battery to use is a
sealed lead acid.  Technically called Valve-Regulated Lead Acid, but
more commonly called "gel cells" or AGM (Absorbed Glass Mat).  While
there are slight charging differences between gel & AGMs which need to
be observed, for our purposes here either will work the same.  These are
NOT automotive batteries, but rather true deep cycle batteries.  Perhaps
you already know this, but automotive batteries have many, thin lead
plates that give a lot of surface area.  This is great for sudden, short
periods of high current draw, like starting your car, but very bad for
long-term discharge (like leaving your headlights or radio on).  True
deep cycle batteries are essentially the opposite, made with fewer but
thicker lead plates, and generally poor at very high current discharges,
but great at running smaller loads long term.

Some AGM batteries on the market now will work as starting batteries,
too, but that's not relevant for our needs.

If you're on a tight budget, a car battery will work at low power for a
while, but you'll quickly want a better battery.  The batteries labeled
as "deep cycle" at the big stores generally are NOT deep cycle - it's
just marketing.  You'll likely have to go to a real battery store,
though the some of Optima line of batteries are deep cycle, and can be
found at Sears, among other shops.

The gel- & AGM-style batteries are sealed to the point where you can't
add water, but if over-charged will vent gas.  However, with a quality
charger, this is a non-issue and these batteries are approved for
in-home use (think electric scooters and wheelchairs).

This is an example of a quality, American-made AGM battery:
http://www.sunxtender.com/  We've used these at work for our remote
weather sites for the last 5 years or so, and have been quite happy with
them (no financial relation, yada yada yada).  The PVX-1040T size is one
we use; it's rated at around 100 AH (at a 20-hour rate), and tend to
cost around $230.  Not cheap, eh?  There are less expensive brands out
there, typically made in China.  I have zero experience with these.

This is a long email (sorry), but food for thought.  There are lots of
battery choices out there, but since you've picked the top rig, I
thought I'd show you one of the top batteries ;-)  Once you've got your
batteries picked out, get a quality charger.  There's no better way to
destroy any battery than to cook it (or chronically under-charge it)
than with a crappy charger.  I'd even venture to say that if you want to
save money on batteries now, put the money towards a good charger - it
will outlast at least a few sets of batteries.

If you already have a power supply, or simply as another option, West
Mountain Radio's Super PWRGate works well
(http://westmountainradio.com/SuperPWRgate.htm).  It needs a power
source, but has a charging circuit and essentially works as an
uninterruptable power supply for your rig.  I bought one 3 or 4 years
ago, and it's done a great job of maintaining my batteries.

73,
Mike KW1ND
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[KC2VNI]

Thanks Dave 

 

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] New K3 User and New Ham
From: "David Herring-2 [via Elecraft]"
<[hidden email]>
Date: Mon, January 04, 2010 9:12 pm
To: KC2VNI <[hidden email]>

You might consider going with a G5RV antenna as a "starter" antenna.  It's multiband...80 meters and up to I think 10 meters...your rig has the auto-tuner so any minor matching adjustments will be handled by the tuner just fine.  There's no real challenges with the antenna.  It's not the "best" antenna in the world, but it will work very well as a simple starter antenna (people have worked the world with them), especially if your tree is high enough.  I assume you have 1 tree?  If so, then I'm assuming you'll run this in an inverted-vee configuration (center up high as possible, ends slope down from center at a 30 to 45 degree angle).  The inverted-v is a little more omni-directional, which again is good for a starter antenna.  I think key is getting the center up as high as you can.  30 feet?  40 feet?  Again, as much height as you can will help (in general).

If you are pressed for space, then you can always consider the G5RV jr.  It's shorter in length, requires less height, but it only runs 40 meters and up (40 - 10).

I believe MFJ has a G5RV.  If not, there's plenty other vendors that do.  One's pretty much as good as another.  The G5RV is simple enough that you could probably even make one yourself...

I can't comment too much on the batteries, other than to say I know of people powering their rigs using car batteries and golf cart batteries...

Good luck and welcome to Amateur Radio!

73,

Dave K6DCH


On Jan 4, 2010, at 3:19 PM, KC2VNI wrote:

>
> Folks: I am a new ham. I just purchased a K3 100W radio with an auto-tuner.
> Several basic questions:
>
> 1) Wire antennas- Do you guys have suggestions for a multi-band wire antenna
> pre-made by someone like MFJ or similar that I could hang in a tree?
>
> 2) Battery based power: From speaking with the fellow from customer support
> from elecraft, a 100 Amp-Hr battery is what is required to operate at 100W.
> What type of battery do I use? Is sealed-lead acid acceptable? What size
> fuses do I want on the line running from the radio to the battery?
>
> I recognize that this radio has orders of magnitude of capability that I
> don't understand yet. I also recognize that reading the manual will be of a
> help here. If you have further resources and/or suggestions, please advise.
>
> 73,
>
> KC2VNI.
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/New-K3-User-and-New-Ham-tp4253024p4253024.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

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