Xverters
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Being new to this sort of thing, I hope someone could explain the benefit of the elecraft transverters. Here's the question: Why go for the elecraft xverters when I can get another 2m/70cm band radio to work sats with for less?
neg 1. two more boxes to move around rather than one (I travel a lot). I had a Kenoowd th-d7 that worked just fine. neg 2. price (can afford them, but dont like throwing money away) neg 3. Doesnt having more boxes connected between a K3 and the antenna (think for L band) just make it not worth it? I'm all for the idea, but particularly number 3 makes me wonder if this is the most effective way to work sats with my K3... YI9FMW And for those of you trying to find me, I'm temporaraly down. I'm being blamed for TVI in my area, despite the slight breach of the laws of physics I'd have to accomplish to do that. So my antenna is down right now. |
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On Fri, 6 Jun 2008 10:37:49 -0700 (PDT), cptpatmcd <[hidden email]> wrote:
> >Being new to this sort of thing, I hope someone could explain the benefit of >the elecraft transverters. Here's the question: Why go for the elecraft >xverters when I can get another 2m/70cm band radio to work sats with for >less? >neg 1. two more boxes to move around rather than one (I travel a lot). I >had a Kenoowd th-d7 that worked just fine. >neg 2. price (can afford them, but dont like throwing money away) >neg 3. Doesnt having more boxes connected between a K3 and the antenna >(think for L band) just make it not worth it? > >I'm all for the idea, but particularly number 3 makes me wonder if this is >the most effective way to work sats with my K3... > >YI9FMW > >And for those of you trying to find me, I'm temporaraly down. I'm being >blamed for TVI in my area, despite the slight breach of the laws of physics >I'd have to accomplish to do that. So my antenna is down right now. I've had an XV144 for about a year now. I also have the following rigs with 2m SSB capability FT-736R, TS-711A and FT-857D. I find the XV144 to be better than both for weak signal work. I'm currently building an XV432. neg 1. I have the FT-857D in the mobile and that covers the traveling for me. neg. 2 Yes they are expensive, but as I said they work better for weak signal work than the other three rigs, and I can select them from the band switch of the K3. neq 3. Well, if I put my FT-736R on the desk, I have to put my K3 on top of it, but both the XV144 and XV432 take up a small area on a shelf above the K3. Using another rig or two the do the same thing takes up more space here. On another note, I also have an Orion II. Using both XVTRs with it is not an option, in my case, so to use both of them I would have to have the K3 and the Orion plus the XVRTRs on the desk. Once again for me, too much stuff on the desk. I don't feel I've thrown money away on any of my Elecraft equipment. 73, Tom, N5GE - SWOT 3537 - Grid EM12jq "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" An excerpt from a letter written in 1755 from the Assembly to the Governor of Pennsylvania. Support the entire Constitution, not just the parts you like. http://www.n5ge.com http://www.eQSL.cc/Member.cfm?N5GE _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
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Tom,
My background is physics, not rf theory. But you're saying that the xv144 gives you better performance than a rig that was designed for that? I guess thats not too hard to believe, but still counterintuitive from my standpoint. Do you think I would get acceptable results from adding a texas microwave (or any brand) on top of the xv144 for 1.2 (or is it 1.4) ghz operation? My main interest in this area are the amsats but I've only managed a few sketchy qso's with a handheld before. Using transverters is uncharted waters for me. The only reason I'm considering one now is that 1. elecraft makes them and 2. a lot of folks seem to use them... so they cant be that bad right? I'm just skeptical of the added noise you introduce into the system with using them. Again though, I have no practical experience. |
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2008/6/6 cptpatmcd <[hidden email]>:
> > Tom, > > My background is physics, not rf theory. But you're saying that the xv144 > gives you better performance than a rig that was designed for that? I guess > thats not too hard to believe, but still counterintuitive from my > standpoint. Do you think I would get acceptable results from adding a texas > microwave (or any brand) on top of the xv144 for 1.2 (or is it 1.4) ghz > operation? My main interest in this area are the amsats but I've only > managed a few sketchy qso's with a handheld before. Using transverters is > uncharted waters for me. The only reason I'm considering one now is that 1. > elecraft makes them and 2. a lot of folks seem to use them... so they cant > be that bad right? I'm just skeptical of the added noise you introduce into > the system with using them. Again though, I have no practical experience. > -- There are several good reasons on this one.... to go for an xv... 1st: The dynamic range. You will not find any on the market radio born for 144 MHz with a dynamic range comparable to an HF plus xverter setup (almost every serious contesting station in europe goes for this choice). The main reason is that the designers don't think 144 MHz can be as crowded as HF, but there are many stations in the spread in europe that report 700-800 qsos per 24h contest. 2nd: You can benefit from the many optional filters and dsp stuff that are normally confined only in hf rtxs. 3rd: On weak signal the setup is as good as the best 144 rigs, if not better. 4th: The design and production in the majority of the commercial IC from the usual suspects is often directed to save money in the production process, regardless of the final performance. 5th: You don't really add noise, take a look at the NF figure of the xverter, and try to compare it with some of the "good" rigs on 144 MHz. 73 de Giulio IW3HVB P.S. I currently use an IC-275 on 144 MHz (on FM...) But for serious operation the XV144 and the K2 added a lot of fun and made my life much easier in contest. _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Good points. I'm glad to hear from someone with a bit of experience.
I'll seriously consider one now.
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In reply to this post by cptpatmcd
The FT736R is not known for having much dynamic range. I own one. :-)
Its a great overall rig for VHF/UHF use with multiple bands in one box, but as a result there are many compromises. Most multi-band VHF rigs compromise their dynamic range, phase noise etc. In general a high performance transverter, like our XV family, paired with a high dynamic range rig like our K3 and K2, will outperform most multi band VHF/UHF rigs for receive performance. The Elecraft XVs are designed to match the wide dynamic range of the K2 and K3. Plus their front end pre-amps are very quiet. While they will work with most HF rigs, they tightly integrate with the K3 and K2. The K3 supports up to 9 transverter bands (6 on the K2) with correct VHF/UHF frequency display and individual transverter offsets programmable on each band. Each of our XVs will power up and drop on/off line as they are selected by the K3 or K2. Also, we support using an XV, like the XV144, as an intermediate IF for microwave use. 73, Eric WA6HHQ cptpatmcd wrote: > Tom, > > My background is physics, not rf theory. But you're saying that the xv144 > gives you better performance than a rig that was designed for that? I guess > thats not too hard to believe, but still counterintuitive from my > standpoint. Do you think I would get acceptable results from adding a texas > microwave (or any brand) on top of the xv144 for 1.2 (or is it 1.4) ghz > operation? My main interest in this area are the amsats but I've only > managed a few sketchy qso's with a handheld before. Using transverters is > uncharted waters for me. The only reason I'm considering one now is that 1. > elecraft makes them and 2. a lot of folks seem to use them... so they cant > be that bad right? I'm just skeptical of the added noise you introduce into > the system with using them. Again though, I have no practical experience. > Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Hello OM,
I am using XV144 with my K3, IC7800 and IC7700. It outperform my IC970H, IC910H, TS790A and of course FT736R. My only complaint is that XV144 is not quite design for FM use and becomes extremely hot when operating under FM mode. I now use a cooling platform, which is designed for notebook computer, to cool my XV144. I hesitate to buy the XV432 because I have learnt some unfavourable reports about frequency and operation instability. I am awaiting more positive reports about XV432 before I go ahead and build it. cheers, Johnny VR2XMC --- 2008年6月7日 星期六，Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft <[hidden email]> 寫道﹕ > 寄件人: Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft <[hidden email]> > 主題: Re: [Elecraft] Xverters > 收件人: "cptpatmcd" <[hidden email]> > 副本(CC): [hidden email] > 日期: 2008 6 7 星期六 上午 7:30 > The FT736R is not known for having much dynamic range. I own > one. :-) > Its a great overall rig for VHF/UHF use with multiple bands > in one box, > but as a result there are many compromises. Most multi-band > VHF rigs > compromise their dynamic range, phase noise etc. > > In general a high performance transverter, like our XV > family, paired > with a high dynamic range rig like our K3 and K2, will > outperform most > multi band VHF/UHF rigs for receive performance. > > The Elecraft XVs are designed to match the wide dynamic > range of the K2 > and K3. Plus their front end pre-amps are very quiet. While > they will > work with most HF rigs, they tightly integrate with the K3 > and K2. The > K3 supports up to 9 transverter bands (6 on the K2) with > correct VHF/UHF > frequency display and individual transverter offsets > programmable on > each band. Each of our XVs will power up and drop on/off > line as they > are selected by the K3 or K2. Also, we support using an XV, > like the > XV144, as an intermediate IF for microwave use. > > 73, Eric WA6HHQ Yahoo! Mail具備一流的網上安全保護功能，請前往 http://hk.antispam.yahoo.com/ 了解更多相關資訊! _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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