+++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 17:44:12 -0800 From: Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] Major QRP Dxpedition to Jamaica for CQWW CW Looks like we've talked some of the 'big gun' contesters to run QRP this year in the CQ WW CQ contest! Here's a copy of their email announcement. Looks like they will be listening for QRP'ers too. 73, Eric WA6HHQ - -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Major K2 Dxpedition to Jamaica Date: Fri, 2 Nov 2001 05:48:24 -0100 Work Jamaica QRP! The guys of "Team Vertical" will be leaving the amps and big rigs back home and going down to Jamaica with five Elecraft K2's. But don't let that fool you, as the gang will be using their world-class vertical antenna system by Force 12. QRP never sounded so loud! QRP operations will be from November 20-26, 2001. The gang is specifically going down to Jamaica to be active in the CQ WW CW Contest on November 24-25, going for North American QRP single band records. They would really appreciate a contact during the contest. Is it possible to operate a contest without caffeine? (not likely!) So Team Vertical is giving you a chance to win some world renowned Jamaican Blue Mountain Coffee! The fastest stations to work us during the CQ WW CW Contest will win the coffee. QRP and QRO stations compete for the same prizes, and a total of 25 bags of coffee will be awarded. Check out www.k2kw.com for details about the awards and operation. Pre-contest QRP activity will be on 10-160m. There will be a dedicated 6m rig running high power. Outside the contest, operators will sign homecall/6Y5. During the CQ WW CW contest, the following callsigns will be used for single band QRP efforts: 6Y1A on 10m; K2KW op 6Y9A on 15m; KE7X op 6Y2A on 20m; N6XG op 6Y4A on 40m; N6BT op 6Y8A on 80m; W0YK op 6Y0A on 160m; K2KW op QRP Tactics: While our transmit signal may be a bit weaker than normal, we can easily hear your QRP signals with our high performance antennas! If you can hear us, we should be able to hear you. If you can't break the pileup after a few calls, try moving your transmit frequency slightly higher or lower to gain our attention. If the pileup is too big, try calling us again in a few minutes when it might be easier to get through. Good luck, and CU on the bands! QSL Information: QSL all QRP Jamaica DXpedition callsigns via WA4WTG. Special "QRP Jamaica" QSLs will be printed. WA4WTG will QSL all contacts made by this operation for: 6Y0A, 6Y1A, 6Y2A, 6Y4A, 6Y8A, 6Y9A, K2KW, N6BT, KE7X, N6XG, W0YK. For additional information, go to http://www.k2kw.com. 73, Kenny K2KW ++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 00:38:23 +0100 From: Jerry Bliss Subject: [Elecraft] K2's to JAMAICA for CQWW Haven't seen anyone posting this, so guess I will... A contest team is taking all Elecraft K2's to Jamaica for the CQWW (CW) contest, Nov 24/25. They are also only using Force12 vertical array antennas. You can see the details of this DXpedition at www.k2kw.com I have loaned the DXpedition my K2 (#500) so I will be contacting them with my ICOM turned down to 5 watts. Here's a good chance for you to add some K2 serial numbers to your collection. K2KW tells me that s/n 500 will be used with call sign 6Y1A on 10m. 73 es good hunting... de Jerry/k6iii San Jose, CA +++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2001 18:47:20 -0800 From: Phil Wheeler Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Major QRP Dxpedition to Jamaica for CQWW CW Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft wrote: > the guys of "Team Vertical" Before or after the rum? > will be leaving the amps and > big rigs back home and going down to Jamaica with five Elecraft K2's. But > don't let that fool you, as the gang will be using their world-class > vertical antenna system by Force 12. Does anyone know what this antenna is? 73, Phil +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 20 Nov 2001 15:58:03 -0600 From: "Stuart Rohre" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Major QRP Dxpedition to Jamaica for CQWW CW The Force 12 verticals are vertical dipoles in a 2 element array, with switching so the unfed element can be either a director or by switching in an extension, can be a reflector. The pattern flips 180 degrees faster than you could rotate a beam. The lobes are broad enough to cover the desired paths with only the two patterns. They work so well, because they are erected on the beach next to salt water. This was the same vertical beam array used on most bands on the recent Pacific DX pedition to that narrow shell atoll which did not have room for tower guy wires. I think that was the K5K DX expedition? 72, Stuart K5KVH +++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 26 Nov 2001 19:54:18 -0800 From: Lee Hopper Subject: [Elecraft] CQWW CW QRP Jamaica Results Team Vertical in Jamaica with 5 K2's does exceptionally well: Alan Kaul, W6RCL, posted this to the qrp-l reflector. I repeat it here for those of you who don't subscribe to both and because they used K2's exclusively. Congratulations, Elecraft! ===================================================================== From: http://lists.contesting.com/_3830/200111/msg01102.html * To: <3830 at contesting.com> * Subject: [3830] CQWW CW QRP Jamaica Results (with callsigns this time) * From: "K2KW" * Date: Tue, 27 Nov 2001 11:44:08 -0800 I left off a few pieces of critical information.... our calls! (see below) - ------------------------------------------ Not too shabby when you consider that the bands were in really poor shape with a K=7 and A=95 on Saturday... Glad to see that the high bands were in good shape on Sunday, though the low bands were atypically noisy (for our QTH in Jamaica) on both nights This year "Team Vertical" decided to really see how well verticals on the beach play, so we decided to go QRP and do single band entries. All rigs were Elecraft K2's running 5 watts, and the antennas were all vertical arrays supplied by Force 12. Summary: we eclipsed all six North American QRP records, and also eclipsed 4 World QRP records. All this from a 2-point QTH! We had hoped to eclipse the 80m world record too, but Op N6BT came down with a flu and was in bed for much of the contest weekend. All entries are Single Band Entries running QRP 6Y0A - 160: 162Q, 6Z, 17C = 7,567 pts (K2KW ~ 4 hour effort) 6Y8A - 80: 588Q, 14Z, 55C = 86,763 pts (N6BT op) 6Y4A - 40: 1337Q, 22Z, 72C = 298,168 pts (old world record was 117K) (W0YK op) 6Y2A - 20: 1209Q, 23Z, 64C = 238,728 pts (old world record was 230K) (N6XG op) 6Y9A - 15: 2166Q, 28Z, 93Z = 637,670 pts (old world record was 364K) (KE7X op) 6Y1A - 10: 2578Q, 31Z, 99C = 843,700 pts (old world record was 431K) (K2KW op) This all boils down to 8,040 contest QSOs, 124 Zones, and 400 Countries. If this was a M/M, we would have had around 9.7M points! Quite amazing to have stations like 5A, VQ9, JY, etc call us when we were running 5W!. Also pretty amazing to beat out people in pileups. Who wudda thunk all this was possible with QRP!! A special thanks to the gang at Elecraft who offered technical support before the trip, and for K6KM, K6III and N6XI who each loaned their personal K2. de Kenny, K2KW k2kw at prodigy.net ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 07:34:20 -0700 From: "Cady, Fred" Subject: [Elecraft] Report on K2s in the CQWW The Performance of the Elecraft K2 Transceivers used in the 2001 CQWW CW Contest November 30, 2001 by KE7X, K2KM, W0YK, N6XG, N6BT Summary: * The K2 has sufficient "depth" to be able to present signals that can be acquired in large pileups.. * The K2 receiver audio sounded somewhat "tinny" to some ears. * Three transceivers exhibited a frequency change (unknown if only receive or both transmit and receive) when the rig was keyed. This was fixed by cycling the power. * One transceiver exhibited some receive frequency instability that was fixed by cycling the power. * There may be some slight transmit frequency stability problems. * The serial I/O interface managed to get CT confused at times. * The RIT control is not the greatest for contest operation and most operators used split to be able to move around in the pileup. *** The K2, with the 100 PA, will be a great DXpedition/contest radio. *** Analysis: Six K2s were used on 160 - 10 meters resulting 8040 QSOs, 124 zones and 400 countries during the contest. While we haven't totaled the non-contest QSOs, we suspect we made at least another 4000 QSOs before the contest. Our main concerns were what the receiver would sound like under the stress of the big pileups we were expecting and if the K2 would stand up to the greater than 50% transmitting duty cycle to which it would be exposed during the contest. Receiver Pileup Performance: The answer to the first concern is that the K2 receiver has plenty of "depth" that allows the pileup signals to be distinguished from one another. The 10M and 15M operators ran the K2 with a 1 kHz or 700 or 800 Hz filter bandwidth. It turns out, perversely it seems to the casual operator, that a wider bandwidth is preferable to a narrower bandwidth when on the DX end of a pileup. When many signals are there we need to be able to sort out signals based on their tone (and other audio clues) in addition to their signal strength. The K2s performed very well in this respect although we wished we could have had one of the other radios that we know perform well under these conditions such as the TS930 or IC765 to do an A-B comparison. As a reference, K2KW's peak clock hour on CW was 175 QSOs. During that hour, the peak "last 10" QSO meter was above 300/hr. Only a few times were there too many signals to easily sort out. During those times, K2KW cranked down the RF gain to about 50%, and then the pileup depth returned, and he easily ran stations. Even on some high-end radios, this technique does not help on the DX end of a pileup. A criticism of the audio sound was that it sounded somewhat "tinny" and one operator observed the sound was more full when plugging the Heil Pro headset into the external speaker jack in the back. This effect maybe due to the 82 ohm resistors in the front panel headphone jack circuit that are not in the circuit for the external speaker. Another operator would like to have more audio level as he had the AF gain cranked wide open most of the time. Most of the operators agreed that the sidetone mod to make a sinusoid sidetone should be done. K2 High Duty Cycle Performance: The K2s withstood the duty cycle over the whole contest with only a few problems. One op had a (specific) computer problem that would put a key-down when booting up CT , and one time a K2 was likely key-down for 2 hours at the 5W level. The rig was only slightly warm. The KE7X K2 heat sink was monitored through the contest and although it was warm it never seemed dangerously hot while running 5 W at all times. Three transceivers exhibited a problem when keying, either from CT or from the paddle input. The transceiver would jump down 100 Hz (or so) each time it was keyed. We are not sure if both transmit and receiver frequencies were changing (KE7X and W0YK were running split most of the time) or just the receiver. It happened on KE7X's radio several times and the cure was to cycle the power and then it would play OK. The KE7X K2, at least once, maybe twice, had a frequency stability problem on receive. The received signals sounded wobbly, kinda like my old Swan 350. The fix was to cycle the power and then it was OK. We've had a couple of reports that our signal, especially on 10m, had a slight but noticeable warble to it. He said it wasn't really bad, but with his discerning ears, it was noticeable. One possibility is that running the 4 K2s on one PS may at times overtax it? (The supply was an Icom PS30 30 amp switching power supply weighing 4 lbs. It, too, got warm but not hot.) The computer control with the serial I/O module had some problems. At times CT would get confused and not display the correct frequency in the band map. The rig might be on 80m, but CT was on 40m. Sometimes when you changed the rig, CT would cycle along with the change, keeping the 1 band discrepancy. A couple of times CT gave the error message "Com port overrun" indicating it wasn't keeping up with what the K2 was sending. To fix and resynch the two ports, the radio was switched off and then back on and CT was reloaded. In order for the radio and CT to talk in the first place, the radio has to be on when CT is executed. We were using the TS940 CT radio interface. General Comments: A general ergonomic complaint was that the RIT wasn't easy to use to move around in the pileup when acquiring a signal. The RIT range of 1 kHz was a good tuning rate, but the range was too small for working most CW split pileups that were often "up 1". The 2.4 kHz range was good for your typical split pileup, but then the tuning was too quick, often overshooting the person you were trying to tune in. An RIT range of around 1.5 kHz seems like a good balance. (Can this be programmed?) Most of us operated split and used the main tuning knob which worked better. In this mode, there should be a TX frequency lock feature, which we understand is coming out in new firmware. One operator suggested that the RIT and XIT indicator on the display should be solid, not flashing. Flashing seems to suggest some emergency situation. We are thinking about a mod to remote the RIT control to put it in a box that would be offer easier access to RIT, and have a pot with greater range and smoother to control than the existing POT. On the plus side, there was no station interference to speak of when all 5 rigs were operational at once. There were no phase noise problems detected. Second harmonics were very low, and usually at the ESP level, although there was an instance where the 20 M station was heard at a low level by the 40 M station. Our conclusion is that the K2, with the 100 W amplifier, will be an excellent DXpedition and contest-expedition radio. We are a little concerned about the observed frequency changing and some more testing is needed. The computer control needs to be solidified to be confident of multiband contest operation. Fred Cady Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717 fcady at ece.montana.edu http://www.coe.montana.edu/ee/cady/cadyhmpg.htm (406) 994-5976 +++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:36:31 -0700 From: "Cady, Fred" Subject: [Elecraft] CQWW K2 report author correction Well, I busted a call! The correct author list for the report on the K2 performance in the CQWW contest is: KE7X, K2KW (not K2KM), W0YK, N6XG, N6BT 73, Fred KE7X Fred Cady Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Montana State University Bozeman, MT 59717 fcady at ece.montana.edu http://www.coe.montana.edu/ee/cady/cadyhmpg.htm (406) 994-5976 ++++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 09:43:32 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Report on K2s in the CQWW Fred, Thanks for the detailed report. I'm pretty sure your CQWW operation was the most serious test yet of the K2 in "battlefield" conditions. We appreciate all of the positive comments regarding the K2's receiver. The fact that you could operate five of them at close quarters with almost zero interference mirrors our own experience using multiple K2's at field day. I believe we can easily address each of the other issues you mentioned. Every field test brings up something that hasn't been seen before, and we look at it as an opportunity to improve the rig. Audio sound: The resistors in series with the headphone jack are provided so that the operator can plug in either stereo or mono headphones. This is common practice in the industry, but it could compromise the frequency response of some headsets. Since the Heil Pro headset sounded better when plugged into the external speaker jack, it apparently is one of those that responds best to low-impedance drive. Another thing to keep in mind is that not all of your K2s had the recent AF GAIN pot modification in place. This mod improves the low-frequency audio response, especially with headphones. The original circuit has a high-pass response that becomes more pronounced as the gain control is turned counter-clockwise. I'm hoping you can help us identify one or two operators who were most affected by this. We could then do some experiments to see if there's some way to improve the sound other than by one of the means mentioned above. Sidetone mod: This is a likely addition to any future revision of the K2. Keying anomaly: It sounds like you encountered a timing window in SPLIT mode that resulted in a small frequency shift. This should never happen. I'll check with Gary to see what firmware revisions you were using. It may be that we haven't seen this because we haven't pounded on SPLIT mode as extensively in our own testing. But in any case, if there's a firmware issue, we'll fix it. CT: > At times CT would get confused and not display the correct frequency in the band map. We noticed during the last Field Day that CT's implementation of the Kenwood protocol may be different from other logging programs. How well it worked seemed to depend the CT version we were using, and on how we booted the laptop and started up the program. (Eric took some notes on this, and will comment further when he gets back next week.) We'll try to duplicate your specific problem in the lab. If necessary, we can add a "CT" mode selection to the PORT menu entry to handle idiosyncrasies in the way CT interacts with the K2. RIT: > The RIT range of 1 kHz was a good tuning rate, but the range was too small > for working most CW split pileups that were often "up 1". The 2.4 kHz range > was good for your typical split pileup, but then the tuning was too quick, > often overshooting the person you were trying to tune in. An RIT range of around > 1.5 kHz seems like a good balance. (Can this be programmed?) We could add a 1.5 kHz RIT range selection to the menu. I've added this to the firmware task list. Of course when you're using a program like TR that allows RIT control from the computer, the RIT range is -9.99 to +9.99 kHz, with 10 Hz resolution. To take advantage of this, we'll consider offering a product that remotes the RIT control--using a shaft encoder, not a pot--and also adds an RIT/XIT zero button. This box might also sport a few dedicated keyer message buttons. Any further suggestions for this "contest control" box would be appreciated. TX Split Lock: > Most of us operated split...in this mode, there should be a TX frequency > lock feature, which we understand is coming out in new firmware. This is definitely on the list. Thanks again, and I look forward to working with you and other ops on the specifics. 73, Wayne, N6KR Elecraft +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 14:16:47 -0600 From: Tom Hammond =?iso-8859-1?Q?N=D8SS?= Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Report on K2s in the CQWW Fred: >Receiver Pileup Performance: > >The 10M and 15M operators ran the K2 with a 1 kHz or 700 or 800 Hz filter >bandwidth. It turns out, perversely it seems to the casual operator, that a >wider bandwidth is preferable to a narrower bandwidth when on the DX end of >a pileup. When many signals are there we need to be able to sort out >signals based on their tone (and other audio clues) in addition to their >signal strength. Gawd... I wish MORE ops (esp. the newbies) would learn this!!! I can't think of a contest, regardless of which end you're on), where you don't benefit from (at least) starting out with a fairly wide CW filter... During the CW SS (for the past 30 years or more) I always use a filter in the 1kHz range, and then only reduce bandwidth if I must cope with a REALLY STRONG _and_ nearby station. It's simply amazing how many QSO's I'll pick up because they're calling far enough off-freq. that the guys with 500Hz-250Hz filters will NEVER hear!!! >The K2s performed very well in this respect although we >wished we could have had one of the other radios that we know perform well >under these conditions such as the TS930 or IC765 to do an A-B comparison. >As a reference, K2KW's peak clock hour on CW was 175 QSOs. During that hour, >the peak "last 10" QSO meter was above 300/hr. Only a few times were there >too many signals to easily sort out. During those times, K2KW cranked down >the RF gain to about 50%, and then the pileup depth returned, and he easily >ran stations. Even on some high-end radios, this technique does not help on >the DX end of a pileup. Agreed... been there... from V31TP several years. >A criticism of the audio sound was that it sounded somewhat "tinny" and one >operator observed the sound was more full when plugging the Heil Pro headset >into the external speaker jack in the back. This effect maybe due to the 82 >ohm resistors in the front panel headphone jack circuit that are not in the >circuit for the external speaker. I, too, have found that headphones tend to produce a wider range audio response than the 'kinda small' built-in speaker. >Another operator would like to have more audio level as he had the AF gain >cranked wide open most of the time. This is a phenomena I've noticed myself in contests... the longer I operate at a sitting, the more I crank the AF GAIN... even when using my TS-930, I'd end up with the AF GAIN set to 3 o'clock by the time my shift was over... and of course, I'd then go to bed, trying to sleep, with my ears 'ringing' CW for another 3-45 minutes yet! >Most of the operators agreed that the sidetone mod to make a sinusoid >sidetone should be done. Without a doubt. >Three transceivers exhibited a problem when keying, either from CT or from >the paddle input. The transceiver would jump down 100 Hz (or so) each time >it was keyed. We are not sure if both transmit and receiver frequencies >were changing (KE7X and W0YK were running split most of the time) or just >the receiver. It happened on KE7X's radio several times and the cure was to >cycle the power and then it would play OK. This is a strange phenomena... Although I used TRLog, I cannot say that I ever noticed this problem while I was in the CW SS earlier this month. >The KE7X K2, at least once, maybe twice, had a frequency stability problem >on receive. The received signals sounded wobbly, kinda like my old Swan >350. The fix was to cycle the power and then it was OK. Was this problem consistent on all frequencies? Or just on certain segments of the band? And was it only when TUNING the VFO? Or while sitting on one freq? >We've had a couple of reports that our signal, especially on 10m, had a >slight but noticeable warble to it. He said it wasn't really bad, but with >his discerning ears, it was noticeable. One possibility is that running the >4 K2s on one PS may at times overtax it? (The supply was an Icom PS30 30 >amp switching power supply weighing 4 lbs. It, too, got warm but not hot.) That certainly shouldn't have been a problem of overloading. It might possibly have been one of rapidly changing load... but at a 12A (absolute MAX) change, I can't believe that this would have had any impact, as ALL of the freq-controlling voltages are over-regulated down to a level where no radio should have even hiccupped! >The computer control with the serial I/O module had some problems. At times >CT would get confused and not display the correct frequency in the band map. >The rig might be on 80m, but CT was on 40m. Sometimes when you changed the >rig, CT would cycle along with the change, keeping the 1 band discrepancy. >A couple of times CT gave the error message "Com port overrun" indicating it >wasn't keeping up with what the K2 was sending. To fix and resynch the two >ports, the radio was switched off and then back on and CT was reloaded. In >order for the radio and CT to talk in the first place, the radio has to be >on when CT is executed. We were using the TS940 CT radio interface. For the KEYING interface? Or for the serial interface? >General Comments: >A general ergonomic complaint was that the RIT wasn't easy to use to move >around in the pileup when acquiring a signal. The RIT range of 1 kHz was a >good tuning rate, but the range was too small for working most CW split >pileups that were often "up 1". The 2.4 kHz range was good for your typical >split pileup, but then the tuning was too quick, often overshooting the >person you were trying to tune in. An RIT range of around 1.5 kHz seems like >a good balance. (Can this be programmed?) With v2.0x of the K2 firmware, you have the choice of RIT ranges of 4.8kHz, 2.4kHz, 2.1kHz an 600Hz. >Most of us operated split and used the main tuning knob which worked >better. In this mode, there should be a TX frequency lock feature, which >we understand is coming out in new firmware. It's there NOW... and HAS BEEN for a LONG time... BUT it's probably just the reverse of what you need. It's designed for DXing, NOT being on the other end of the pileup. Assuming you're stateside, working DX working split: Tune in the DX station Press [A=B] to 'synch' the two VFOs to the same freq Hold [Split] to enter split mode Hold [LOCK] to lock the RECEIVE VFO to the freq of the DX station Hold [REV] to UNlock the TX VFO and to switch to it for tuning around to find the stateside guys who are working the DX. When you release [REV], you're returned (and locked) to the DX freq. and your TX VFO is on the freq of the guy who last worked the DX. Problem is that what you need for being on the other end of the pileup is to be able to LOCK the TX VFO instead of the RX VFO. Maybe Wayne can add a firmware switch to allow the SPLIT LOCK/REV function to be user-swapped from locking the RX freq. to locking the TX freq. >We are thinking about a mod to remote the RIT control to put it in a box >that would be offer easier access to RIT, and have a pot with greater range >and smoother to control than the existing POT. A 10-turn pot might be just the ticket here. Thanks for taking the time to post your observations. They'll help a LOT of us who do contest using our K2's. 73 - Tom Hammond N0SS +++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 30 Nov 2001 15:35:24 -0800 From: "J. Edward \(Ed\) Muns" Subject: [Elecraft] RE: Report on K2s in the CQWW Hi, Wayne. I can provide some more specifics on my K2. It is S/N 2338, built the week before we left! It has firmware 2.01 and I got the KAF2 and KIO2 modules done before leaving. I also did the following mods: 1. Audio Gain Pot 2. Crystal grounding (but not the bypass caps). 3. Sidetone sinewave 4. Microphone ground wire Other than an unprogrammed IOC, there were absolutely no hitches in the 36 hours of construction. I used Spectrogram to adjust the filters. In 6Y, I was the only one running on my own dedicated power supply, a 35 amp switcher (no noise). I used the Heil Pro headset plugged into the headphone jack on the K2 front panel. I plugged the LPT keying output of my computer in parallel with my paddle and into the K2 key input jack. Unlike the other ops, I typically used the 400Hz filter and tuned for the pileup spread. I ran split after quickly determining that the RIT was too hard to use. Occassionally, if there was nearby QRM, I would punch in AF1 and sometimes AF2. But, they were turned off as soon as I didn't need them anymore. They seemed to work fine, but I preferred having a more open bandpass. I discovered part way through the contest (first time I'd ever used a K2) that while in split and transmitting, if I turned the VFO dial, then the RX frequency would come into the display and change as I tuned. When I stopped moving the VFO dial, then sometimes the display would revert to the TX frequency and sometimes it would remain with the RX. This was 100% consistent and reproducible. On a few occassions, the RX frequency would start wandering off on its own, like the scanner was operating. I never cycled power, like Fred did, but with use of the VFO and A/B switch, I could get the scanning to stop and then move my frequency back to where it was supposed to be. I was never aware of the TX frequency changing without me doing it. You really need to get the firmware version for each of our radios, the option modules and mods to correlate with these specific experiences. I would prefer that the display indicator for the active VFO be solid, not flashing. For split operation, I would flash the OTHER (inactive) VFO. I want to be able to quickly glance and see which VFO I'm on without having to wait a second for the flash to occur. The only images I got from other stations, that I found, was from 20 meters (I was on 40). There, I could hear the 20 meter station at 7.000 and 7.038, but I can't recall exactly were the 20 meter station was transmitting. In any case, the signal strength was so low that it was no bother at all. I never tried using speaker jack for my headphones, and I had the audio gain wide open the whole weekend, wishing that I had more gain. Yes, the audio sounds a bit "tinny" but not enough to be a problem for me, just not the robust, full, soft audio in my Kenwoods. Please let me know what questions you have. 73, Ed - W0YK ++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 11:33:17 -0800 From: "J. Edward \(Ed\) Muns" Subject: [Elecraft] K2 As A Contesting Rig As already noted in our K2 report from our recent 6Y contest expedition, the K2 RX was outstanding in the ferocious DX-side pileups. It was least effected by receiver overload of any commercial radio I've used. We were able to hear distinct calls down into the pileup rather than having the receiver present just a roar of noise as it overloads. I built S/N 2338 only the week prior to leaving for Jamaica along with the KAF2 and KIO2 options. I had no time to use it before putting it into the pileups at 6Y. The assembly went without incident, other than an unprogrammed IOC, and with the aid of Spectrogram, the crystal and audio filter alignment was a snap. This past week, since returning from Jamaica, I've added the K160RX, KNB2 and KSB2 with similar ease and success. I'm now adding the KAT2. I'm so impressed with the radio, I plan to get a second one and put the 100W PA option in both for my SO2R home station, replacing my TS950Ss. The primary reason is the receiver performance. Beyond that, the K2 has all the other features I need in a contest radio. As our more complete K2 report pointed out, there are some minor suggestions we have after running 6 K2's for an intense 48 hours in CQWW CW, and Elecraft is looking into them. 73, Ed - W0YK/6Y5 (6Y4A on 40m QRP in CQWW CW) ++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 3 Dec 2001 13:05:52 -0800 From: "J. Edward \(Ed\) Muns" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] K2 As A Contesting Rig Not at all. Generally, we ran with about a 1KHz crystal filter so we could hear everything in the pileup. If a really strong signal was close by, sometimes we would narrow down the crystal filter and/or switch in the audio filter. Of course we were always tuning the RIT or the RX VFO in split. I wouldn't have wanted passband tuning on top of all this. The RIT was difficult to use, so most of us used one of the VFOs on split. 73, Ed > -----Original Message----- > From: owner-elecraft at qth.net [mailto:owner-elecraft at qth.net]On Behalf Of > Eddy Avila > Sent: Monday, December 03, 2001 12:41 PM > To: w0yk at msn.com; elecraft at qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K2 As A Contesting Rig > > > Ed, this is really fascinating!!! One important question regarding the RX > performance and contesting....did you find you were missing (in need of) > bandpass tuning to tune out the qrm in pileups? > > Thanks much and 73...../ed k6sdw +++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 07 Dec 2001 17:58:39 -0800 From: Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] QRP is! Confessions of a QRO op gone QRP. Team Vertical (K2KW, KE7X, N6XG, W0YK and N6BT) entered the CQWW CW contest this year from Jamaica running all K2s at 5 Watts. It now looks like they have blasted through at least five North America CQWW CW QRP records and four World Records! As an example, the claimed score for 6Y1A on 10M was 843,700 versus a previous world record of 431,060. Ed, W0YK, has written an excellent article with pictures on the Team Vertical Effort titled: 'QRP is! Confessions of a QRO op gone QRP.' This article is reprinted with permission from the Northern California Contest Club (NCCC) newsletter. To find out how they did it, and how we converted five confirmed KW+ QRO op's to QRP, you can read .pdf of the article on our web site at: http://www.elecraft.com/DXpeditions/QRP_is.pdf I hope we see more of these big QRP contest efforts! 72, Eric WA6HHQ ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2002 15:57:35 -0800 From: Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft Organization: EleCraft To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net, QRP-L , GQRP Subject: [Elecraft] QRRL web Article on QRP DXpedition Jim, W6JHB, has written a great article on QRP DXpeditioning for the ARRL web page. See: http://www2.arrl.org/news/features/2002/01/28/2/?nc=1 You do not need to be an ARRL member to view it. 73, Eric WA6HHQ ++++++++++++++++++