+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 17:42:53 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Subject: Re: [Elecraft] sidetone Hi Sonny, The new K1 firmware (that you got with the KAT1 option) "beeps" at the start of tune but doesn't generate a continuous tone. This was necessary because the main processor reads SWR data from the KAT1 via the auxBus during TUNE. Due to hardware limiations, sidetone can't be generated while the auxBus is in use. 73, Wayne N6KR ssmithson at rtol.net wrote: > > Hi, > After installing K1AT I can't hear my sidetone during tune. There is > output and the tuner and radio works wonderfully. Is this normal? > 73 de Sonny > K1-380 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Wed, 4 Apr 2001 14:29:24 -0400 (EDT) From: "Mazur Robert C." Subject: [Elecraft] RE: K1 Mods et al Did the Elecraft recommended T-R, and QSK mods. Also, did the unofficial AGC, and tuning pot mods. Changed C31 to 1.0uf, and added a 100k resistor to the 10-turn pot wiper, and hot side. What a difference that 100k addition made to the tuning across the bands! Like having a new radio, it's silky smooth, and consistent everywhere I tune. Definitely Elecraft should incorporate this in future incarnations of the K1. Now, I built the KNB1 kit, and decided to change the AGC capacitor C10 to 1.0uf as well, to match the K1's AGC circuit C31 capacitor value. Also, L2 is listed as 75uH, but if you wind it as per instructions, and measure the its inductance, you'll get around 130uH. I found that using 16T instead of 20T of enamel wire brings the value to around 80uH. I talked to Gary at Elecraft about this, and he had found the same thing. But, he said that since it's an RF choke, the value isn't that critical. I just wanted the numbers to match the schematic. Did a test by adding some capacitance to the VFO to expand the VFO tuning range, and found that 100pf gives a nice 150 kHz range, and the more linear 10-turm pot tunes very nicely across the band, so this is my next change, as soon as I can get a 100 pf NPO cap, and some time to realign the radio. Never had so much fun with electronics. If the government finds out, they'll tax me on that too! 73, Robert, VA3ROM K1 #303 FISTS #3589 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 13:26:38 -0500 From: Mike Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Help - K1#526 done, but band switch prob Tim and Nancy Logan wrote: > I have noticed a problem tho. When I switch between 40 and 20 the band > that I am switching to will not retain the same reading if I have > adjusted the VFO on the previous band. For example: if 40 says 7058 and > I move to 20m and adjust it to 14058; then return to 40 - well then 40 > will show 7064. If I then adjust 40 to 7058 adn go back to 20m - then > 20m will show 14051. Tim, There probably needs to be a FAQ addressing this, and there REALLY needs to be a note in the K1 manual. This question comes up real often! Your K1 is completely 100 percent normal and OK! The difference between the frequency displayed in the LCD's xy.z display from one band to the next is determined solely by the difference in the filter board crystals X1 and X2. If X1 was 15000.0 kHz exactly and X2 were 22000.0 exactly, then a 7000.0 LCD display on band 1 would get you a 14000.0 display on band 2. Even having a different situation, say, of 14998.1 for X1 and 21.998.1 for X2 would result in having the same digits displayed past the MHz digit on the K1 after calibration. But this situation is more likely: X1 might be 15005.1, while X2 might be 21998.6. This will result in there being a 6.5 kHz difference between band 1 and band 2 AFTER you have properly calibrated the display on each band to show the transmitted frequency. The ONLY way you could make them read the same going from band 1 to band 2 is to have some sort of trimmer capacitors around X1 and X2. The GOOD news is: WHO CARES? The LCD displays the correct frequency after you calibrate the display on each band. There is absolutely NO SIGNIFICANCE WHATEVER that the same digits are not displayed as you alternate bands. As long as an SSB receiver tuned to your transmit frequency on each band shows the same as your K1 display, you've got an accurate display. Also, the approximate 6 kHz difference you report seems to be typical for 40/20m K1 filter boards. 73, Mike / KK5F ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sun, 15 Apr 2001 16:43:27 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Help - K1#526 done, but band switch prob Mike, Tim et al: There will always be some difference in VFO dial position between the two bands on a K1 Filter board. This is due to the distance that each of the two crystals (X1 and X2) are from their respective band edges. A spread of up to 10 kHz is perfectly normal. Then, on each band, you calibrate the VFO using the "CAL OPF" technique as described in the manual. The VFO dial will read accurately to within about +/- 200 Hz on each band once it is calibrated. The reason we did the calibration in firmware, rather than provide trimmer capacitors on the band module for each crystal, is simple: there wasn't enough room on the board! We'll add a note to the K1 manual to clarify this. 73, Wayne N6KR +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 11 May 2001 20:11:27 -0400 From: "Morrow, Michael A." Subject: [Elecraft] FYI - Measured K1 internal oscillator frequencies I though it might be of interest to some who are aligning their K1 to know what the actual internal oscillator frequencies are in a typical K1, and how they combine to determine the final frequency of operation on transmit or receive. My K1 is set for a 600 Hz sidetone. Since the K1 receives in LSB mode, that means the K1 transmitter frequency should be 0.6 kHz BELOW the K1 receiver frequency. K1 serial 175 measured values: Filter board heterodyne crystal (40m)* X1 = 15003.7 kHz Filter board heterodyne crystal (20m)* X2 = 21998.1 kHz Receiver BFO crystal X5 = 4913.1 kHz Transmitter mixer crystal** X6 = 4913.7 kHz VFO frequency when transmitting on 7000.0 kHz VFO = 3090.0 kHz * Heard only when band selected. ** Heard only when transmitter is keyed. The EXACT frequency on which the transmitter is set is determined by: F(xmtr) = (X1 or X2) - X6 - VFO On 40m, F(xmtr) = 15003.7 - 4913.7 - 3090.0 = 7000.0 kHz If I switch bands, leaving all else constant, On 20m, F(xmtr) = 21988.1 - 4913.7 - 3090.0 = 13994.4 kHz The EXACT frequency on which the receiver is set is determined by: F(rcvr) = (X1 or X2) - X5 - VFO On 40m, F(rcvr) = 15003.7 - 4913.1 - 3090.0 = 7000.6 kHz If I switch bands, leaving all else constant, On 20m, F(rcvr) = 21988.1 - 4913.1 - 3090.0 = 13995.0 kHz The examples above show all the oscillators which set the transmitted and received frequencies. 73, Mike / KK5F +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 3 Jul 2001 10:45:53 -0600 From: "Rod Cerkoney, N0RC" Subject: [Elecraft] some K1 tweaking notes Folks, Finished up 0197 a few days ago, and am already tweaking it. ;-) For me the AGC is just to slow on the K1 so I changed C31 to 1uF, as I did before on 539, but this time I also changed C67 to 1uF. During last night's ARS Sprint I only had C31 changed out, and noticed that strong nearby stations reduced RX gain a bit too much, while working weaker stations. Other "transient event's" also muted a few code elements on the weaker stations. The jury is out on how this C67 mod will change things, I'll have to wait for more crowded and mixed signal conditions. Limited testing, listening to weak sigs, then keying "the Big Rig" into a D/L, shows some promise. Also, during last night's sprint I found the RIT range too wide. Mine came in at about +/- 4kHz, this is a result of changing C2 [now 56pF] to limit tuning range to about 69kHz. Changing C7 to 22pF yielded +/- 2kHz; 15pF yielded +/- 1.3kHz, JUST RIGHT for me. Another mod I made is a piece of felt behind the tuning knob to add some drag. I bumped the main tuning knob a couple of times and got off Freq, the "felt drag" helps to minimize this. 73, Rod N0RC Ft Collins, CO ++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 05:47:28 -0600 From: "Rod Cerkoney, N0RC" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Newbie Question on using Spot feature Victor, You can set the sidetone to what ever you like. (My personal choice is 600hz) Then, activate the spot function and use the tune knob to adjust the audio of the station of interest to match the spot signal frequency. Try this method to match the frequencies: 1. Tune the signal of interest until it is very low in pitch, well below the spot frequency. 2. Slowly tune the signal so that the audio frequency increases. 3. As the signal pitch nears the sidetone pitch, listen carefully. You will hear a 3rd frequency, low in pitch. This is the "beat" frequency between the sidetone and signal you are tuning. 4. When you tune the signal so that its audio frequency is the same as the sidetone, the beat frequency will disappear--you are now "zero beated" NOTE: In practice you may not be able to match the sidetone frequency exactly. But you can get it very close, within a few hertz. Hope this helps, good luck. 73, Rod N0RC Ft Collins, CO - ----- Original Message ----- From: "Victor and Lisbeth Trucco" To: Sent: Monday, July 23, 2001 10:17 PM Subject: [Elecraft] Newbie Question on using Spot feature > I have a question regarding using the SPOT feature on the K1. What is > the recommended hz I should set the sidetone pitch to be able to properly > tune a cw signal? I noticed the pitch can be varied. Does different pitch > settings affect whether your able to zero beat a signal? Thanks, > > Victor Trucco KD6PTO > K1 #696 ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 05:42:41 -0700 From: lhlousek Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Newbie Question on using Spot feature When you change the sidetone pitch you need to also adjust the transmit offset with C13. Start with BFO alignment (page 40) then do the Transmit offset adjustment (page 47) If you don't do this the TX/RX offset won't be the same as the sidetone pitch. Using Spectrogram for the BFO alignment helps insure that the xtal IF filter is centered on the desired pitch. Lou W7DZN ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 24 Jul 2001 13:12:24 -0500 From: Mike Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Newbie Question on using Spot feature (Long Reply) Victor Trucco wrote: > What is the recommended hz I should set the sidetone pitch to be able > to properly tune a cw signal? ... Does different pitch settings affect > whether your able to zero beat a signal? Victor, Most CW operators like a sidetone between 600 to 800 Hz. Sidetone is the pitch you hear in the receiver when YOU are transmitting. But your question really pertains more to the adjustment of the OFFSET of the K1 transmitter frequency from the K1 receiver frequency, which is a completely separate adjustment. In the K1, sidetone is "artificially" generated by the front panel MPU, and can be set to whatever you want. On many *other* radio designs, the sidetone is generated by the partially muted receiver detecting the actual transmitted signal. This latter design has the advantage that whenever the transmitter frequency offset from the receiver frequency is adjusted, the effects will be heard in the receiver. But, this is NOT the system used in the K1. The artificially generated sidetone adjustment of the K1, made from the front panel menu, has absolutely NO effect of the actual offset between the receiver frequency and the transmitter frequency. For the STP adjustment to have been able to change the transmitter offset, a digitally-controlled frequency generation system such as found in the K2 would have been required. The offset between transmitter and receiver frequency is adjusted by C13 on the RF board. In ANY CW transceiver, the sidetone frequency should be the SAME as the offset between the transmitter and the receiver frequencies. For the K1, this is a two step process: (1) Set the pitch of the artificial sidetone using STP to that which is pleasing to you. (2) Adjust the transmitter offset using C13 to make the transmitted frequency offset below the receiver frequency the same as your sidetone frequency. This is described on page 47 of the manual, revision D. What follows is an example of what's taking place when you do the K1 offset adjustment, using some numbers from my K1: I used STP to set my sidetone to 600 Hz. This artificial sidetone is NORMALLY the only tone heard on transmit. The offset between the receive frequency and the transmitted frequency in the K1 is controlled by adjusting C13 in the transmit mixer stage (U8). The receiver in the K1 receives in LSB mode. You can verify the mode in which any receiver is operating simply by tuning in a signal. If the pitch of the signal gets higher as you tune higher in frequency, then the receiver is in LSB mode. If the pitch gets lower as you tune higher, it is in USB mode. If I tune the K1 receiver to 7010.0 kHz, receiving a signal at 7009.4 kHz would produce a 600 Hz tone in the audio. When I adjust offset with C13, the goal is to offset the transmitter frequency to be 600 Hz (same as my sidetone) below the receive frequency. I can tell when this happens by listening to the K1's transmitter signal in the K1 receiver and comparing the tone generated to the sidetone from the MPU. BUT, the K1 receiver is *normally* so well muted on transmit that only way I can hear the K1's transmitted signal in the K1's receiver is to reduce some of the muting in the receiver audio. This is done by disabling one of the muting switches, Q10, with the jumper at OFS. At that point I can hear both the MPU sidetone and the receiver output tone when transmitting. Adjusting C13 to alter the transmit frequency will change the tone heard from the receiver, while the MPU-generated sidetone pitch remains constant. When I hear both tones are the same pitch, I've now got my transmitter offset adjusted to be the same as the sidetone pitch I had set with STP. If I don't properly adjust the offset of the transmitter frequency from the receiver frequency, then something bad can happen. EXAMPLE: I tune in a CW signal and get a desired pitch of the other station of about 600 Hz. My K1 receiver is now, say, on 7010.0 kHz and operates in LSB mode, so that means the other station must be transmitting about 600 Hz BELOW 7010.0 kHz, or 7009.4 kHz, to produce the 600 Hz tone in my audio. When I transmit back to him, because I had adjusted my transmitter offset to be 600 Hz below the receiver, I too will be transmitting on 7009.4 kHz. Suppose that the other station's receiver operates on USB mode and has a sidetone/transmitter offset of 800 Hz. Operating in USB mode for a 800 Hz offset means that the other station's receiver frequency will be be 800 Hz BELOW his transmitter frequency. Thus, HIS receiver frequency will be 7009.4 kHz (HIS transmitter freq) - 0.8 kHz (HIS offset) = 7008.6 kHz. Situation A (GOOD): I properly set MY offset such that I transmit 600 Hz below my receiver frequency. I'll be transmitting on 7010.0 kHz (MY receiver freq) - 0.6 kHz (MY offset) = 7009.4 kHz. The other station's receiver is tuned to 7008.6 kHz, so my signal on 7009.4 kHz will produce a tone of 7009.4 kHz - 7008.6 kHz = 0.8 kHz (800 hz) in his receiver audio. The other station will hear my signal at HIS desired 800 Hz pitch, even though his receiver operates on the opposite sideband as mine. Situation B (BAD): I IMproperly set MY offset such that I transmit 1500 Hz below my receiver frequency instead of 600 Hz. I'll be transmitting on 7010.0 kHz (my receiver freq) - 1.5 kHz (my offset) = 7008.5 kHz. The other station's receiver is tuned to 7008.6 kHz, so my signal on 7008.5 kHz will be heard in his receiver ONLY if his receiver were on LSB mode instead of USB (or had poor opposite sideband rejection), and would produce a tone of 7008.6 kHz - 7008.5 kHz = 0.1 kHz (100 hz). Because of this, the other station won't even my 100 Hz pitch, opposite sideband signal when I call. Situation C (BAD): Let's say I IMproperly set MY offset such that I transmit 0 Hz below my receiver frequency instead of 600 Hz (no offset at all). I'll be transmitting on 7010.0 kHz (my receiver freq) - 0.0 kHz (my offset) = 7010.0 kHz. The other station's receiver is tuned to 7008.6 kHz, so my signal on 7010.0 kHz will be heard in his receiver as a tone of 7010.0 kHz - 7008.6 kHz = 1.4 kHz (1400 Hz). Because the other station likely has narrow IF/AF bandpass, he probably won't even hear my 1400 Hz pitch signal when I call. The simple moral to this long-winded story is that you want to always TRANSMIT on or very near the SAME frequency as the other station. If you do that, it won't matter what mode (LSB/USB) or offset the other station is using. The actual receiver frequencies of two or more stations will vary with the offset and sideband mode used by each receiver, but if each station uses the SAME TRANSMIT frequency, everyone will be happy. The way you make this happen on the K1 is: (1) Decide what is a pleasing pitch to you when receiving CW, i.e., the tone you'll just naturally tune to hear another station. (2) Set that pitch into the K1 using the STP menu item. (3) MOST IMPORTANT STEP. Adjust C13 per the manual such that the transmitter offset matches the STP pitch. (4) When tuning in a station, tune for the pitch that is the same as your sidetone. Failure to do this will result in your tuning in stations and wondering why no one hears you when you call, unless they routinely use their RIT to search for off-frequency replies. If you decide later that you want a different sidetone, say 800 Hz, and you set that with STP, this will NOT change the actual offset. You'll have to go back and do the transmit offset adjustment to put the transmitter 800 Hz below the receiver. 73, Mike / KK5F +++++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 12:45:57 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Cure for the K1 Atten pop Hi Lou, Thanks for taking the time to investigate this. Sounds like you've come up with a reasonable approach. There may be an optimal value for the choke. We'll verify that it works in all cases, and if so, we'll add a note about it on our web site. 73, Wayne lhlousek wrote: > > Elecraftisti, > > The K1 puts out a big audio pop when switching the attenuator out. It > appears that this is due to the path of the RX turn on current changing > from going through R16 and 17 in parallel (bypassing R16 via the primary > of T1) to all going through the primary of T1 when the attenuator is > switched out. > > I had a 10 uH choke on hand and put it between pins 3 and 8 of K1. This > keeps the turn on current constant when switching between straight > through and the pad. Works FB. The pop is entirely gone and there is > no change in the attenuation. > > Lou W7DZN ++++++++++++++++++ ate: Tue, 31 Jul 2001 13:02:07 -0700 From: Phil Wheeler Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Solved: K1 Internal Battery & Top Cover Leo Starrenburg PE1OBG wrote: > > > after installing the internal battery option in my K1, the new > topcover > > shows a slight bulge. > > > > hi All, > > turned out the pressed-on nuts in the sideframe didn't support the > aluminum batterybracket > directly, but was resting on the series diode near the switch. Moving > the diode a little inwards ie: away from the sideframe did the trick. > Thanks for that, Leo .. I will check mine today. Phil W7OX +++++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Sat, 13 Oct 2001 09:35:30 -0700 (PDT) From: "Mazur Robert C." Subject: [Elecraft] K1 #303 ALC Problem I'd like to add my bit of praise for the Elecraft crew, as well. Gary helped me identify a bad ALC RF Q1 2n7000, and possibly RF Q2. The K1 worked fine for months, then one day, I turned on the rig, and could barely hear any audio. After following the manual's troubleshooting section, I was able to pass on the results to Gary, who identified the problem, and had replacement parts sent, free of charge. With the ALC RF Q1 and Q2 removed the K1 worked fine, sans ALC, and I learned an ear-splitting reason why ALC, even audio-derived is well-worth the money. I suspect that the K1 got a nasty jolt of rf from my IC706 sitting next to it. But, I'd rather blame my friend VE3DP, a klick away, who swamps the K1's front end with his awesome signal ;) Perhaps, I should have turned the K1's ALC OFF! My hat is off to Gary and Elecraft. 73, Robert, VA3ROM K1 #303 ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Thu, 22 Nov 2001 06:10:42 -0600 From: Mike Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Manual Help and/or Suggestions for Newbie with ordered K2? N7SG K7FD wrote: > I have mod's ala go go on my K1 (agc, qsk, etc) ... if I knew the > latest K1's had all the mod's, I'd recommend it to him in a flash... Hi John and all, I think the mod situation with the K1 is still pretty straightforward. I have a four-band early K1 (SN 175) with all available options. The only electrical mods I've found worthwhile in more than a year of owning it are: (1) QSK thump Application Note (2) Noise Blanker KNB1 RF noise elimination Builder Alert #4 (Thanks for initially pointing me to that mod, John, even before the alert was issued. I think this mod is now incorporated in new KNB1s.) (3) VFO pot kHz/turn linearization mod (100k resistor from hot side to wiper). Other than that, a few mechanical mods to eliminate speaker vibration problems (foam pads at the corner of the front panel board, tape around the speaker magnet for the KBT1) are all I've done to mine. I didn't need the RIT range reduction mods or the lighted LCD mods. I'm pretty impressed that, more than a year after initial introduction, the list of mods people have found worthwhile is so short and the mods so minor in scope. The K1 seems to be an amazingly mature design. I *would* like to see some sort of speaker grill cloth as a standard part of Elecraft kits. (I use porous cross-stichting cloth.) 73, Mike / KK5F ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 15 Jul 2002 22:58:40 -0700 From: Wayne Burdick Organization: Elecraft To: "Sandy, W5TVW" Cc: Elecraft , qrp Subject: [Elecraft] 60 meter CW/SSB QRP frequencies? Hi Sandy, We haven't tested 60 meters in the K1 yet, but there's a good chance this will work. Like you, we're waiting to see where the preferred CW/QRP band segment ends up, since this will determine the premix crystal needed for the K1's filter board. Since the proposed band is 5.250-5.450 MHz, it seems that 5.250-5.300 could become the most active CW subband. In this case 5.290 might be a good choice for the CW QRP frequency, and 5390 for SSB. No doubt other frequencies have been proposed, too. 73, Wayne N6KR "Sandy, W5TVW" wrote: > > Will be looking for an addition to my K1 as well when the ARRL or whoever > decides on where CW will be! (Lower 50 khz?) > An 80/60 meter 2 band board would be a nice addition to the 4 band K1!! > > 73, > Sandy W5TVW > K1 #1178 ++++++++++++++++ From: "Morrow, Michael A." To: "'elecraft at mailman.qth.net'" Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:47:30 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] RE: K1 - Mystery of missing C78 Tony wrote: > In the K1 Rev. F manual, C78 is said to be an electrolytic > supplied with the 80 metre filter module. > > However I could not find the electrolytic for this in the > 80 module pack, and the manual for the 2-band filter is > silent on C78. Then I wrote: > There was no C78 in my 80m filter board component pack > (received 07/02) either. The K1 Upgrade application > note also fails to mention installation of C78 in older K1s. I'm sure Gary Surrency won't mind my sharing with the list the info that he promptly sent to me: > All 80m kits for the KFL1-2 board SHOULD come with a 10uF > 16VDC to 25VDC electrolytic cap. If you have such a cap, > or even a tantalum cap (better), then install it if you > operate on 80m. > > The cap just insures stable operation of the Driver on 80m, > particularly when the KAT1 operates. > > On older K1's, the cap goes across the 12V feed to Q6 and > ground. You can find this on the bottom of the PCB, just to > the left of the mounting screw for Q6. > > On later K1's with rev. E RF PCBs, there are pads for C78. This enhancement is easy to miss, since it does *NOT* appear in the K1 rev. D to rev. E RF-PCB upgrade instructions at http://www.elecraft.com/Apps/K1%20upgrade%20instructions_3f.pdf . 73, Mike / KK5F ++++++++++++++++