T1 tuner from elephant-craft

[Alexandra Carter]

It never forgets! That it's a tuner! The AT-897 from LDG often forgot  
it was a tuner and thought it was a rock. I returned it and ordered a  
T1 kit, and what a neat lil' tuner!

Works tickety-boo as I think they say in Oz, and while the "operator  
interface" is 3 LEDs and 2 buttons, it's both easy to work with and  
tells you a lot. Tells me a lot. Tells one a lot. It does tune right  
down to a very low SWR, brrt brrt brrrrrt and there you are. I took  
it to the park today with my 897 and a bunch of wire and got 12 feet  
of that wire up in a tree (took 3 throws) and laid out a  
counterpoise... here and there.... and talked to Minnesota on 20W.

Don't feel ashamed if you choose to order it already built, they sure  
earn that $50 or so difference at the factory, this is harder than  
any of the mini-kits or rig accessories I've built, although there's  
less to it than to a KX1 or K1. You get to wind about 10 or so  
toroids, really no problem, and when you're done toroids will be  
familiar territory for you. The smallest value one is wound left-
handed for a change, meanwhile I'm left-handed and have learned to  
wind toroids right-handed because that's the standard.

With an 800 degree iron the BNC conns are easy to solder, for the  
rest a 700-degree pointy tip iron is just right. One row of relays  
has .1uF SMD caps between their legs so you have to solder a bit  
carefully. The control board needs to have its components trimmed  
close so have good flush cutters and solder "the Elecraft way"  
without leaving a big blobby fillet. It was greatly satisfying to see  
everything clearing the CPU very nicely when it all went together.  
When inserting the CPU get those legs at a nice perfect 90 degrees  
and make sure it all lines up when you install it in the socket,  
because it's going into a bit of a tight spot. It doesn't hurt to  
look at it from a few different angles to make sure the legs are all  
going in, as you squeeze it down bit by bit. That's a very high  
quality socket Elecraft uses so once it's in there right It's going  
to stay right. I'd say go slow and do it right, I did it in 2  
evenings, someone else told me theirs took a bit longer, it's  
possible to put one together in one sitting I guess .

With my 897 on battery power I'm limited to 20W and this is a 20W  
"max" tuner, so it works out just right. Everything is very logically  
laid out so I feel if I ever zorch something I can easily order the  
parts and fix it.

Great, great little tuner! 73 de Alex NS6Y
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[Alexandra Carter]

Yerg, but Eham's still down. I'll write an even better one when the  
site's back up, it'll be the bestest review in the whole wide world!  
Or something. I have to admit, when I first heard the name Elecraft,  
I imagined a cartoon of a bunch of elephants sitting around a table  
building stuff..... ought to draw it someday. 73 de Alex NS6Y

On May 26, 2006, at 8:43 AM, wayne burdick wrote:

> Thanks, Alex  :)
>
> This would make a great T1 review on eHam (better written than  
> most) when they come back up, someday....  the URL for T1 reviews is:
>
>   http://www.eham.net/reviews/detail/4956
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
> On May 26, 2006, at 1:36 AM, Alexandra Carter wrote:
>
>> It never forgets! That it's a tuner! The AT-897 from LDG often  
>> forgot it was a tuner and thought it was a rock. I returned it and  
>> ordered a T1 kit, and what a neat lil' tuner!
>>
>> Works tickety-boo as I think they say in Oz, and while the  
>> "operator interface" is 3 LEDs and 2 buttons, it's both easy to  
>> work with and tells you a lot. Tells me a lot. Tells one a lot. It  
>> does tune right down to a very low SWR, brrt brrt brrrrrt and  
>> there you are. I took it to the park today with my 897 and a bunch  
>> of wire and got 12 feet of that wire up in a tree (took 3 throws)  
>> and laid out a counterpoise... here and there.... and talked to  
>> Minnesota on 20W.
>>
>> Don't feel ashamed if you choose to order it already built, they  
>> sure earn that $50 or so difference at the factory, this is harder  
>> than any of the mini-kits or rig accessories I've built, although  
>> there's less to it than to a KX1 or K1. You get to wind about 10  
>> or so toroids, really no problem, and when you're done toroids  
>> will be familiar territory for you. The smallest value one is  
>> wound left-handed for a change, meanwhile I'm left-handed and have  
>> learned to wind toroids right-handed because that's the standard.
>>
>> With an 800 degree iron the BNC conns are easy to solder, for the  
>> rest a 700-degree pointy tip iron is just right. One row of relays  
>> has .1uF SMD caps between their legs so you have to solder a bit  
>> carefully. The control board needs to have its components trimmed  
>> close so have good flush cutters and solder "the Elecraft way"  
>> without leaving a big blobby fillet. It was greatly satisfying to  
>> see everything clearing the CPU very nicely when it all went  
>> together. When inserting the CPU get those legs at a nice perfect  
>> 90 degrees and make sure it all lines up when you install it in  
>> the socket, because it's going into a bit of a tight spot. It  
>> doesn't hurt to look at it from a few different angles to make  
>> sure the legs are all going in, as you squeeze it down bit by bit.  
>> That's a very high quality socket Elecraft uses so once it's in  
>> there right It's going to stay right. I'd say go slow and do it  
>> right, I did it in 2 evenings, someone else told me theirs took a  
>> bit longer, it's possible to put one together in one sitting I  
>> guess .
>>
>> With my 897 on battery power I'm limited to 20W and this is a 20W  
>> "max" tuner, so it works out just right. Everything is very  
>> logically laid out so I feel if I ever zorch something I can  
>> easily order the parts and fix it.
>>
>> Great, great little tuner! 73 de Alex NS6Y
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>>
>>
>
> ---
>
> http://www.elecraft.com
>

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[wayne burdick]

Alex,

I'd just as soon *not* imagine the Elephants. The "E" is for "elegant"  
:)

I'll busy forgetting this for the rest of the day....

Wayne


On May 26, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Alexandra Carter wrote:

> Yerg, but Eham's still down. I'll write an even better one when the
> site's back up, it'll be the bestest review in the whole wide world!
> Or something. I have to admit, when I first heard the name Elecraft, I
> imagined a cartoon of a bunch of elephants sitting around a table
> building stuff..... ought to draw it someday.



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[Chuck Gehring]

It's perfect!!!  The "Peanut" sized Tuner with an "Elephant" sized
performance and memory to stomp on the competition.
73 KI4DGH
Chuck Gehring

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of wayne burdick
Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 3:49 PM
To: Alexandra Carter
Cc: Elecraft Reflector
Subject: [Elecraft] Re: T1 tuner from elephant-craft


Alex,

I'd just as soon *not* imagine the Elephants. The "E" is for "elegant"
:)

I'll busy forgetting this for the rest of the day....

Wayne


On May 26, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Alexandra Carter wrote:

> Yerg, but Eham's still down. I'll write an even better one when the
> site's back up, it'll be the bestest review in the whole wide world!
> Or something. I have to admit, when I first heard the name Elecraft, I
> imagined a cartoon of a bunch of elephants sitting around a table
> building stuff..... ought to draw it someday.



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[Kevin Rock]

The ElephantCraft CW Net ;)   Big ears, good hearing, I like it; it has that certain je ne sais quoi!  
    Kevin.  KD5ONS

-----Original Message-----

>From: Chuck Gehring <[hidden email]>
>Sent: May 26, 2006 2:02 PM
>To: wayne burdick <[hidden email]>, Alexandra Carter <[hidden email]>
>Cc: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>
>Subject: RE: [Elecraft] Re: T1 tuner from elephant-craft
>
>It's perfect!!!  The "Peanut" sized Tuner with an "Elephant" sized
>performance and memory to stomp on the competition.
>73 KI4DGH
>Chuck Gehring
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: [hidden email]
>[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of wayne burdick
>Sent: Friday, May 26, 2006 3:49 PM
>To: Alexandra Carter
>Cc: Elecraft Reflector
>Subject: [Elecraft] Re: T1 tuner from elephant-craft
>
>
>Alex,
>
>I'd just as soon *not* imagine the Elephants. The "E" is for "elegant"
>:)
>
>I'll busy forgetting this for the rest of the day....
>
>Wayne
>
>
>On May 26, 2006, at 1:30 PM, Alexandra Carter wrote:
>
>> Yerg, but Eham's still down. I'll write an even better one when the
>> site's back up, it'll be the bestest review in the whole wide world!
>> Or something. I have to admit, when I first heard the name Elecraft, I
>> imagined a cartoon of a bunch of elephants sitting around a table
>> building stuff..... ought to draw it someday.
>
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
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>You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
>Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
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>
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>
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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

Wayne wrote:
I'd just as soon *not* imagine the Elephants. The "E" is for "elegant"  
:)

I'll busy forgetting this for the rest of the day....

----------------------------------------------------------

With all due respect, Wayne, that little K2/100 parked on my operating desk
is, indeed, the 600 lb gorilla, if not an elephant, in my Hamshack.

I like the cartoon idea, including an image of one elephant sitting there
concentrating on soldering a part on the pc board while his trunk quietly
slips over to the guy next to him stealing a needed part from his tray...

So *that's* what keeps happening to parts while I build!!  Ain't that
"elegant"?

Ron AC7AC

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[Ron D'Eau Claire-2]

Ha, ha!! We're proving that no one can come up with a company name that
someone else can't change in a heartbeat with the right image!

Ron AC7AC

-----Original Message-----

The ElephantCraft CW Net ;)   Big ears, good hearing, I like it; it has that
certain je ne sais quoi!  
    Kevin.  KD5ONS

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