New K3 User and New Ham
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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. |
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Give us some details about your tree so we can help. Where did you purchase
it, brand etc.? Steve N4LQ [hidden email] ----- Original Message ----- From: "KC2VNI" <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 8:19 PM Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 User and New Ham > > 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. > ______________________________________________________________ > 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: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.125/2600 - Release Date: 01/04/10 14:35:00 ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Steve,
Congratulations and welcome. I can't recommend a manufactured antenna since I make all of my own, which I encourage you to do eventually. I do understand your desire to get on quickly, though and I suspect you will get a lot of recommendations, some better than others. As to the battery, I use a Absorbed Glass Mat (AGM) 92 AH battery made by East Penn Manufacturing and sold under their "Deka" brand. (http://www.eastpenn-deka.com/assets/base/0139.pdf) I have it on continuous charge via a home-built 30A "smart charger." The charger to battery circuit (both wires) is fused at 30A and the radio circuit is fused at 25A. In addition I use a "battery boost" regulator made by TGE (http://stores.tgelectronics.org/Detail.bok?no=11) to provide a constant 14.1V at the radio regardless of battery state, and the inevitable voltage drop in the wiring. I can tell you that at the 100W level, without the charger running and the booster off, it doesn't take long before the K3 is beeping and warning about low battery voltage. This system was put together for RV/Field Day use, but I also use it in the fixed location when the RV is in storage, even though I have an Astron RM-35 sitting right next to the charger. Wes N7WS --- On Mon, 1/4/10, KC2VNI <[hidden email]> wrote: From: KC2VNI <[hidden email]> Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 User and New Ham To: [hidden email] Date: Monday, January 4, 2010, 6:19 PM 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. ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
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. > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
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 ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
On Mon, 4 Jan 2010 17:19:39 -0800 (PST), KC2VNI <[hidden email]>
wrote: Howdy Steve, > >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? > You can save 70 to 90% of what you would pay for a ready made antenna by building your own. We are going to build a 40m dipole or inverted vee: 1. Go to Lowe's or Home Depot and buy some of the yellow egg shaped electric fence insulators, about 75 or 80 feet of #14 insulated stranded copper wire and a package of 3/16 inch nylon rope. Also get a 3 inch piece of 1/2 inch PVC pipe. 2. When you get home, drill a 3/16 inch hole about 1/4 inch from each end of the PVC pipe. This is you center insulator. 3. Use one of the following formulas based on the mode you want to use: 468 / 7.035 for the CW and Data end of the band (66.5 feet) , or 468 / 7.170 (65.3 feet) for the SSB end of the band. Add 2 feet to either of the calculations for tying to the insulators and trimming and cur the wire exactly in half. Strip 1/2 inch of the insulation off of one end of each of these wires. 4. Pass the stripped ends of the two wires through the holes you drilled in the PVC pipe. Tie the wires to the center insulator leaving the bare copper of each wire hanging from the insulator about an inch. It's OK the have 1/2 inch or so of the insulated part of the wire protruding from the exit side of the insulator. 5. If you already have some 50 ohm coax, strip the outer insulation off of one end of the coax. You are going to solder the braid of the coax to one of the wires and the center of the coax to the other. 6. Put a yellow insulator on each empty end of each wire. 7. If you have two trees far enough apart to support the antenna hang it up as a dipole by hanging it from each tree with a rope passed through each end insulator. 8. If you have only one tree or post, then support the antenna from the center insulator by hanging a rope over a limb of the tree or some other support. Tie the other two ends to the fence on each side of the yard or in some other manner. Try to keep the angle at the apex of the Vee between 90 and 120 degrees if you can. To add another band just make another two wires cut to the right length and solder the stripped ends of those wires to the same points at the center insulator. It is easier to do this with an inverted vee than a dipole, but the idea is the same. No switches needed, no coils needed the wires that are cut for the band you are transmitting on will radiate the others won't. You now have an antenna that will get you on the air while you investigate other wire antennas you might want to make. I didn't go into how you trim the antenna to get it to perfect resonance, but if you have the tuner in the K3 you will be able to match the antenna without any trouble. Building and testing wire antennas is one of the most fun parts of hobby. If you enjoyed building the first one and want to learn more about antennas of all kinds you can order the ARRL Antenna Book from Elecraft or just about any place that sells books. 73, Tom, N5GE [hidden email] K3 #806 with SUB RX, K3 #1055, PR6, XV144, XV432, KRC2, W1, 2 W2's and other small kits 1 K144XV on order http://www.n5ge.com http://www.swotrc.net >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. ______________________________________________________________ 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
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Steve, I think you should go to www.radioworks.com and spend some time reading about wire antennas. The reading is free, but buying the antennas takes some bucks. It is worth the reading time even if you decide to buy the antenna somewhere else or build one. The antenna that is best for you depends a lot on what you want to do and your installation limitations.
You don't say why you want to use battery power. The K3 is more forgiving of slightly low voltage than most rigs. It will operate pretty well down to 11.0 volts, but it operates better at 13.8 volts or so. You might be happier with a power supply. I have used a couple of Jetstream switching supplies with mine and found them satisfactory. You might find a birdie or two somewhere, but in 5,000 or so QSOs with my K3 I don't believe that I have lost a single QSO due to a birdie. I am currently using a Jetstream JTPS35BVCMA that will furnish 30 amps continuous and will float charge a battery. I am using a lead acid boat battery which seems OK. I have it in a plastic boat battery box. It will generate some hydrogen, so don't keep it in a closed cabinet. A gell cell would be better, but a 100 amp gel cell is pretty pricy. But I use the battery strictly as a back up and operate from the power supply as a rule. The advice that someone gave you to back off to 50 watts or less when operating on battery is good advice. Willis 'Cookie' Cooke K5EWJ ________________________________ From: KC2VNI <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email] Sent: Mon, January 4, 2010 7:19:39 PM Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 User and New Ham 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. ______________________________________________________________ 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 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Steve, congrats, you are now officially an OM! The ONE thing I'd like to add
about putting up ANY antenna.CAUTION. Power lines in the vicinity of your home and your antenna are lethal. Please plan ahead and give yourself a wide margin of safety. It's too easy to get in a hurry and loose sight of those insignificant little power lines. If you use a metal pole, they can difficult to manage into a vertical position. So good luck OM, hope to work you. 73, Fred, AE6IC ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by Cookie
--- On Mon, 1/4/10, WILLIS COOKE <[hidden email]> wrote:
The K3 is more forgiving of slightly low voltage than most rigs. It will operate pretty well down to 11.0 volts, but it operates better at 13.8 volts or so. Please don't do this to your ham neighbors. Nominal 12V PAs already put out too much garbage in the form of IMD at nominal voltage. Having the finest receiver in the world does no good when the band is cluttered with garbage signals. ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
Re: New K3 User and New Ham
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In reply to this post by n7ws
Wes,
Do share your 30A "smart charger". It's easy enough to find information for lower current chargers, but less so for something in this range. cheers, Julius
Julius Fazekas
N2WN Tennessee Contest Group http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html Tennessee QSO Party http://www.tnqp.org/ Elecraft K2 #4455 Elecraft K3/100 #366 Elecraft K3/100 |
Re: New K3 User and New Ham
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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Welcome Steve!
I think you'll find if you can build a K3, a simple antenna will be a piece of cake to construct, not to mention a lot less expensive. The biggest problem you will have is making a choice. A dipole is a good place to start, vertical or the traditional horizontal configuration. There are plenty of places online to find dimensions, or calculate them. Verticals are popular to, but require decent radials to work well. A half Square is another option. It would be easier if you provide a bit more detail about the tree(s) and what your intended area of interest might be (DXing, Ragchewing, contesting, etc.) Here is one place to start: http://www.dxzone.com On batteries, this paper is worth reading to learn more about specific batteries and their properties: http://www.norcalqrp.org/files/Batteries_and_Charging_Systems_KK6MC_whitepaper.pdf An option is to look for a place that supplies batteries for UPS systems to the telecommunication industry. We have one that sells to the public and often you can buy batteries that are perfectly acceptable for ham radio, that are no longer usable for cell systems. Some are used, or exceed the industry's shelf life requirements. I recently purchased "new" 150AH deep cycle batteries for under $100. They work fine. Yellow Tops are another car/boat variety that are popular in some ham circles, they're pricey new. You'll most likely want to consider buying or building a current balun for you feed line. What type will be dictated by the antenna. Make sure you ground your station correctly and don't leave the rig connected to your antenna when not in use. Trust me, it will save you a lot of headaches ;o) You can do an awful lot with QRP too. It will be a lot easier on you battery... Cheers, Julius
Julius Fazekas
N2WN Tennessee Contest Group http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html Tennessee QSO Party http://www.tnqp.org/ Elecraft K2 #4455 Elecraft K3/100 #366 Elecraft K3/100 |
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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Thanks for the many fine comments. I only have the 1 tall tree. It is approximately 25-30 feet high. It is dead so there is no way I am going to harm it (accordingly, this is not a concern). Here's the "take-away" I got from reading your many fine suggestions thus far: - Make sure you do some research on the type of antenna you want to get. (I am an electrical engineer by background but RF engineering and antennas is NOT my strong suit.) - Make sure you get some height to your antenna. I purchased the Buddi Pole system BUT I understand that any form of antenna like this is NOT going to give you good performance. - It is probably a good idea to use some of the local hams here to get some help with the antenna system as they can help out with picking this. - Battery power may or may not be appropriate for continuous operations of the equipment. - I am not so concerned about getting a "Ferrari" for a radio as my 1st one (in lieu of something closer to a Chevy) as I believe that the manual is fairly well laid out. The big concern here is context. Example: it's nice to know HOW to perform an alignment of the radio BUT the question for the beginner is "What does alignment actually do?". |
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Steve,
Your tree may be an opportunity for putting up a horizontal or sloped delta loop antenna. The lowest operating frequency would depend primarily on the total length of wire you put up. A total length for a loop antenna should be close to the wavelength of your lowest frequency of operation but with a good tuner there is a lot of room to play. A friend of mine has a sloped delta loop with one corner high up in a palm tree (about 75 feet up) and the other two corners are at roof top level stretching the 50 feet across the length of his house. I think he has about 280 feet of wire so you can see that it would be a narrow delta loop (similar in fact to one that I have). But, his performance over the years from 80 meters on up to 10 meters has been good. I also have a delta loop with one corner up a fir tree about 70 feet and the other two corners in two other fir trees about 55 feet apart from each other and each up to about 50 feet height. I couple that using a Palstar BT1500A balanced line antenna tuner -- I feed the antenna using 450 ohm window style ladder line. It is my best antenna. I also have a Traffie 5-bander Hex Beam which is also a very good antenna. 73, phil, K7PEH On Jan 5, 2010, at 10:27 AM, KC2VNI wrote: > > > Thanks for the many fine comments. I only have the 1 tall tree. It is > approximately 25-30 feet high. It is dead so there is no way I am going to > harm it (accordingly, this is not a concern). > > Here's the "take-away" I got from reading your many fine suggestions thus > far: > - Make sure you do some research on the type of antenna you want to get. (I > am an electrical engineer by background but RF engineering and antennas is > NOT my strong suit.) > > - Make sure you get some height to your antenna. I purchased the Buddi Pole > system BUT I understand that any form of antenna like this is NOT going to > give you good performance. > > - It is probably a good idea to use some of the local hams here to get some > help with the antenna system as they can help out with picking this. > > - Battery power may or may not be appropriate for continuous operations of > the equipment. > > - I am not so concerned about getting a "Ferrari" for a radio as my 1st one > (in lieu of something closer to a Chevy) as I believe that the manual is > fairly well laid out. The big concern here is context. Example: it's nice to > know HOW to perform an alignment of the radio BUT the question for the > beginner is "What does alignment actually do?". > > > > > -- > View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/New-K3-User-and-New-Ham-tp4253024p4256584.html > Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Steve
I got my license at age 15. I read in the ARRL Handbook how to make a 40 meter dipole. I got mom to take me to an electrical store where I bought some wire and RG58 coax. I threw ropes over tree limbs and put up this dipole, connected it to my $50 rig and was on the air before the license even came. Believe me, I did not have a background in RF engineering and antennas nor did I have any money. Hey...I'm not trying to put you down or anything but surely this isn't asking too much is it? I must admit....I did visit a local ham and looked at his 20 meter dipole to see how he built it. I think this would be your best bet. You will get too many suggestions here. Just go see what others are doing and copy it. If I lived near you I would be glad to rush over and help you turn your dead tree into an antenna support. You have the best rig money can buy. Do some self study and by all means learn how to make a wire antenna if nothing else. PS: Don't let any dead limbs fall on your head. Gravity has side effects. Steve N4LQ [hidden email] ----- Original Message ----- From: "KC2VNI" <[hidden email]> To: <[hidden email]> Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 1:27 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] New K3 User and New Ham > > > Thanks for the many fine comments. I only have the 1 tall tree. It is > approximately 25-30 feet high. It is dead so there is no way I am going to > harm it (accordingly, this is not a concern). > > Here's the "take-away" I got from reading your many fine suggestions thus > far: > - Make sure you do some research on the type of antenna you want to get. > (I > am an electrical engineer by background but RF engineering and antennas is > NOT my strong suit.) > > - Make sure you get some height to your antenna. I purchased the Buddi > Pole > system BUT I understand that any form of antenna like this is NOT going to > give you good performance. > > - It is probably a good idea to use some of the local hams here to get > some > help with the antenna system as they can help out with picking this. > > - Battery power may or may not be appropriate for continuous operations of > the equipment. > > - I am not so concerned about getting a "Ferrari" for a radio as my 1st > one > (in lieu of something closer to a Chevy) as I believe that the manual is > fairly well laid out. The big concern here is context. Example: it's nice > to > know HOW to perform an alignment of the radio BUT the question for the > beginner is "What does alignment actually do?". > > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/New-K3-User-and-New-Ham-tp4253024p4256584.html > Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > ______________________________________________________________ > 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: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.126/2601 - Release Date: 01/05/10 02:35:00 ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by Julius Fazekas n2wn
Julius, et. al,
My charger is actually a marriage of some commercial gear with a few tweaks. The motivation for this was the absolutely horrible RFI from the switch-mode charger in my 5th wheel trailer. It was so bad that when I had the trailer stored here at home the RFI would actually interfere with OTA TV, so you can imagine what it did to the ham bands. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I used an Astron RS-35M for its case, metering, raw DC, heat sink and pass transistors. Rather than building my own board, I married this to an A&A Engineering smart charger board, (http://www.a-aengineering.com/150PCAAppNotes.pdf) doing a little trickery to allow the use of a fixed current sense resistor while still having some adjustment of the max charge current. The heart of this circuit is the UC3906 integrated circuit that is designed for just this purpose. (http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/uc3906.html) I shopped the idea of an article about this to ARRL but they weren't interested, so I never completed any further documentation. Wes N7WS --- On Tue, 1/5/10, Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> wrote: From: Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] New K3 User and New Ham To: [hidden email] Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 10:17 AM Wes, Do share your 30A "smart charger". It's easy enough to find information for lower current chargers, but less so for something in this range. cheers, Julius ______________________________________________________________ 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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You might take a look at the Jetstream JTPS35BCMA. It includes volt and ammeters, connections for the rig plus low amp connections for accessories and a connection point for the battery. The switch to battery is automatic when AC power is lost. The artifacts are reasonable and liveable. On the down side, the fan comes on with a 1 amp load and is noiser that I would like, but liveable.
Willis 'Cookie' Cooke K5EWJ ________________________________ From: Wes Stewart <[hidden email]> To: [hidden email]; Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> Sent: Tue, January 5, 2010 1:22:47 PM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Smart Charger Julius, et. al, My charger is actually a marriage of some commercial gear with a few tweaks. The motivation for this was the absolutely horrible RFI from the switch-mode charger in my 5th wheel trailer. It was so bad that when I had the trailer stored here at home the RFI would actually interfere with OTA TV, so you can imagine what it did to the ham bands. Rather than reinventing the wheel, I used an Astron RS-35M for its case, metering, raw DC, heat sink and pass transistors. Rather than building my own board, I married this to an A&A Engineering smart charger board, (http://www.a-aengineering.com/150PCAAppNotes.pdf) doing a little trickery to allow the use of a fixed current sense resistor while still having some adjustment of the max charge current. The heart of this circuit is the UC3906 integrated circuit that is designed for just this purpose. (http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/uc3906.html) I shopped the idea of an article about this to ARRL but they weren't interested, so I never completed any further documentation. Wes N7WS --- On Tue, 1/5/10, Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> wrote: From: Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] New K3 User and New Ham To: [hidden email] Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 10:17 AM Wes, Do share your 30A "smart charger". It's easy enough to find information for lower current chargers, but less so for something in this range. cheers, Julius ______________________________________________________________ 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 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 |
Re: Smart Charger --- and, technical note library suggestion
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In reply to this post by n7ws
Wes and others...
There is such a wealth of technical information on this reflector that I am a little surprised and maybe a little disappointed that the Elecraft "technical notes" section of their web site is so sparse. I would like to see a program where some peer reviewed articles are papers are submitted for "publication" on the Elecraft web site. By peer review, I mean enough review so that an article meets the minimum acceptable rules of Elecraft plus ensuring technical accuracy and fitness for the Elecraft world. Since there are so many helpful volunteers on this reflector, it would not be hard to create a forum for peer review made up of a varied number of volunteer technical wizards. I submit that such an article by Wes would be good fodder for experiment if this is a worthy workable idea. And, there are a lot of others. In fact, I have been following this reflector for about two months now and merely by mining the material contained herein you could create some worthy information useful to the masses. I know there are other such locations on the web that provide such information but something useful for Elecraft would be the common denominator of fitness and purpose to the Elecraft product lineup. Does this make sense, has it been raised before, or maybe there is some hidden corner of the Elecraft web site that I have missed entirely. 73, phil, K7PEH On Jan 5, 2010, at 11:22 AM, Wes Stewart wrote: > Julius, et. al, > > My charger is actually a marriage of some commercial gear with a few tweaks. The motivation for this was the absolutely horrible RFI from the switch-mode charger in my 5th wheel trailer. It was so bad that when I had the trailer stored here at home the RFI would actually interfere with OTA TV, so you can imagine what it did to the ham bands. > > Rather than reinventing the wheel, I used an Astron RS-35M for its case, metering, raw DC, heat sink and pass transistors. Rather than building my own board, I married this to an A&A Engineering smart charger board, (http://www.a-aengineering.com/150PCAAppNotes.pdf) doing a little trickery to allow the use of a fixed current sense resistor while still having some adjustment of the max charge current. > > The heart of this circuit is the UC3906 integrated circuit that is designed for just this purpose. (http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/print/uc3906.html) > > I shopped the idea of an article about this to ARRL but they weren't interested, so I never completed any further documentation. > > Wes N7WS > > > > --- On Tue, 1/5/10, Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> wrote: > > From: Julius Fazekas n2wn <[hidden email]> > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] New K3 User and New Ham > To: [hidden email] > Date: Tuesday, January 5, 2010, 10:17 AM > > > Wes, > > Do share your 30A "smart charger". It's easy enough to find information for > lower current chargers, but less so for something in this range. > > cheers, > Julius > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 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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In reply to this post by Steve Ellington
Steve - I am new to this hobby as well. The reflector is fantastic and
you will end up getting a lot of information and still looking for direction at the end of the day. My advice would be start with a dipole or end fed wire as high up as you can get it. Preferably half wave. So if you working 40 meters, get your dipole 66 feet off the ground. End fed wires from Par Electronics are also a great way to go. Give these a shot and continue to research. You could make a full time job researching antennas if you wanted to. Hope this helps. Frank On 1/5/10, Steve Ellington <[hidden email]> wrote: > Steve > I got my license at age 15. I read in the ARRL Handbook how to make a 40 > meter dipole. I got mom to take me to an electrical store where I bought > some wire and RG58 coax. I threw ropes over tree limbs and put up this > dipole, connected it to my $50 rig and was on the air before the license > even came. Believe me, I did not have a background in RF engineering and > antennas nor did I have any money. Hey...I'm not trying to put you down or > anything but surely this isn't asking too much is it? > > I must admit....I did visit a local ham and looked at his 20 meter dipole to > see how he built it. I think this would be your best bet. You will get too > many suggestions here. Just go see what others are doing and copy it. If I > lived near you I would be glad to rush over and help you turn your dead tree > into an antenna support. > > You have the best rig money can buy. Do some self study and by all means > learn how to make a wire antenna if nothing else. > > PS: Don't let any dead limbs fall on your head. Gravity has side effects. > > Steve > N4LQ > [hidden email] > > > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "KC2VNI" <[hidden email]> > To: <[hidden email]> > Sent: Tuesday, January 05, 2010 1:27 PM > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] New K3 User and New Ham > > > > > > > > Thanks for the many fine comments. I only have the 1 tall tree. It is > > approximately 25-30 feet high. It is dead so there is no way I am going to > > harm it (accordingly, this is not a concern). > > > > Here's the "take-away" I got from reading your many fine suggestions thus > > far: > > - Make sure you do some research on the type of antenna you want to get. > > (I > > am an electrical engineer by background but RF engineering and antennas is > > NOT my strong suit.) > > > > - Make sure you get some height to your antenna. I purchased the Buddi > > Pole > > system BUT I understand that any form of antenna like this is NOT going to > > give you good performance. > > > > - It is probably a good idea to use some of the local hams here to get > > some > > help with the antenna system as they can help out with picking this. > > > > - Battery power may or may not be appropriate for continuous operations of > > the equipment. > > > > - I am not so concerned about getting a "Ferrari" for a radio as my 1st > > one > > (in lieu of something closer to a Chevy) as I believe that the manual is > > fairly well laid out. The big concern here is context. Example: it's nice > > to > > know HOW to perform an alignment of the radio BUT the question for the > > beginner is "What does alignment actually do?". > > > > > > > > > > -- > > View this message in context: > > http://n2.nabble.com/New-K3-User-and-New-Ham-tp4253024p4256584.html > > Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > ______________________________________________________________ > > 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: 9.0.725 / Virus Database: 270.14.126/2601 - Release Date: 01/05/10 > 02:35:00 > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > -- Frank KD8FIP ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by KC2VNI
Dear Steve,
Welcome to the amateur and K3 community! I would like to share two thoughts regarding a pre-made antenna and a power source. First, I recommend you make use of the eHam website - there's a lot of useful information and reviews there. Along that line, I suggest you look at the True-Talk 40m G5RV. I have one as an inverted V and I am very pleased with it. I have made contacts to Europe, Russia, Australia, etc. The K3 will autotune from 80, 40, 20 and 10m. The eHam review is found at http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/2202. A reasonable AC power supply is the Alinco DM-340MVT for around $177. I know there are a lot of other very good options out there, these are just two. It was not long ago that I was a new ham and I remember appreciating the specific recommendations. So you may consider these in addition to the many great recommendations and instructions you have already received from the more experienced hams on this thread. 73, Skip, W9SKP |
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In reply to this post by Cookie
Cookie,
Is this a switcher or serious iron type PS? Looks like all the Jetstreams may be switchers, but could be wrong. I like my PS heavy, not me radio ;o) 73, Julius
Julius Fazekas
N2WN Tennessee Contest Group http://www.k4ro.net/tcg/index.html Tennessee QSO Party http://www.tnqp.org/ Elecraft K2 #4455 Elecraft K3/100 #366 Elecraft K3/100 |
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