k1 battery option and mods

[Henning V. Mikkelsen]

Hi all
Just acuired a secondhand K1 and I'm thinking about adding the battery
option
and hope to get some coments on the usability of this option

If anyone has made a drawing of the metal plate that goes inside, I would
like
to receive a copy. I'm going to make some mock-up before ordering the
option.
I'm also thinking about making one or two other mods. Especially the added
caps for broader tuning range on 40m. and maybe backlight.
But other sugestions on mods for the K1 are more than welcome.

73- Henning OZ4XF


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[Jim Younce]

Henning:

I would not install the internal battery option.  It requires that you
install a smaller speaker and there is always the danger of the batteries
leaking and damaging the board in the K1.  It is very easy to make up a
small battery pack and a short cable to connect it to the radio.
Additionally you have to remove the batteries to charge them if you use
ni-cads. I use a small 12volt 2.2 amp gel cell which will operate the K1 for
most of a weekend.  One other thing is that the option provides for only
eight AA cells and they will only produce 12.0Volts at maximum voltage when
using standard AA, only 10.8 Volts when using nic-cads, and the Gel Cell
will provide about 13.8 Volts at maximum.  The output power of the K1 is
directly proportional to the input voltage supply. I installed the internal
battery in my K2 and later removed it because of the danger of the leaking
battery and the fact that it made the K2 much heavier.

I would not install the extended coverage in the VFO because the tuning
becomes very touchy.  One rotation of the knob causes a much greater change
in frequency.  In the 80KHz setting you have about 8KHz per revolution of
the tuning knob and in the 180KHz setting it is 18KHz per revolution.

I love the backlight option and highly recommend it to you.  It is very easy
to install and makes the K1 much nicer when operating at night.

Please understand these are my personal observations and preferences. You
may have other reasons for making the changes.

Jim Younce K4ZM
K2  SN:18
K2 Field Tester

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[Ralph Tyrrell]

Henning:
I have K1 #1423, my only HF rig at this time, 4 bands.
 
I have always used an external battery, a bit more
bulk but I did not have to disturb the insides of the
K1, or worry about battery leaks.
I first built the K1 using 150KHz range for the
tuning. Tuning was much too difficult to use. Since
then I have adjusted the tuning range several times,
now it is back to about 80 KHz. I miss having a larger
tuning range and I want more bands, a K2 or K3 will
fix that.

Hilsen fra USA.
73, Ty, W1TF  ex OX5BT
--- "Henning V. Mikkelsen" <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> Hi all
> Just acuired a secondhand K1 and I'm thinking about
> adding the battery
> option
> and hope to get some coments on the usability of
> this option
>
> If anyone has made a drawing of the metal plate that
> goes inside, I would
> like
> to receive a copy. I'm going to make some mock-up
> before ordering the
> option.
> I'm also thinking about making one or two other
> mods. Especially the added
> caps for broader tuning range on 40m. and maybe
> backlight.
> But other sugestions on mods for the K1 are more
> than welcome.
>
> 73- Henning OZ4XF
>
>

       
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[Dave, G4AON]

I wholeheartedly endorse the comments by Jim, K4ZM. The back light is
really nice. I use a pack of 10 x AA sized 2700 mAH NiMh cells in a
battery holder inside a plastic project box. The battery pack has a
solid state self resetting fuse and short cable to the K1. It is charged
with a small home made variable voltage/current bench power supply.

73 Dave, G4AON
K1 #1154, K2 #1892, K3 (fingers crossed) < #200
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