++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 16 Oct 2001 05:14:10 From: "Bruce Prior" Subject: [Elecraft] Backpacking Radios Elecraft gang: I posted the following elsewhere and got an overwhelmingly positive reaction. For this list, of course, I'm preaching to the choir, but I thought I'd share it . . . Imagine tossing a contest-grade rig into a backpack! That’s exactly what I did this past summer. I needed a rig for a long backpacking trek along the Pacific Northwest Trail from the northeastern corner of Glacier National Park in Montana to the Idaho panhandle. For most of the trip I would be out of range of VHF and UHF repeaters and cellular telephone networks. Here’s the story of what I did. I had published generally positive reviews of both the Small Wonder Labs DSW series monoband CW transceivers (CQ December 1999) and the Yaesu FT-817 (CQ April 2001). There are also downsides to both radios which I enumerated in those reviews. The FT-817 is a fine radio for portable operation. It could even be used by a weekend backpacker. For a long distance hiker, however, its high current draw and rather heavy weight (including a steel cabinet) made it a non-starter. So, when I began my summer trek I took along both a DSW-80 and a DSW-40. --- snip --- On a home break between two stages of the summer trek, I decided to try an alternative rig. I wanted multi-band coverage so I could reliably pass formal message traffic to friends and family from a variety of trail locations and under varying propagation conditions. I thought of the Elecraft K1, a lean, mean multi-band HF transceiver kitoptimized for pure CW operation, yet it s a light-weight power miser and small enough to carry in my backpack all day long, day after day. The K1 would also serve as an excellent stand-by for use during a disaster or crisis to get a message through when all else fails. The K1 was obviously designed by and for serious CW operators. This list of features explains why I call it a contest-grade rig: A) The sidetone pitch or spot function is a breeze to use for quickly zero-beating with another station. The sidetone and offset and spot tone can be adjusted between 400 and 800 Hz. Its volume is determined both by a software adjustment and the AF gain setting. B) Most operators will set the iambic mode to A or B and then leave it alone, but it s great to have that choice. C) The iambic keyer speed can be adjusted between 8 and 50 words per minute on the fly with front panel buttons. D) Two different CW memories are programmable and its beacon-mode repeat function can be programmed to pause between zero and 255 seconds. E) The solid state transmit/receive circuit is smooth, with adjustable delay from zero to 900 milliseconds. I change it according to my current operating style. For contesting or net operation, I use zero (well, pretty close to zero, anyway) delay. For calling CQ with the memory, I prefer a 500 millisecond delay. F) The combination of RIT and XIT is very helpful for just about any kind of operation, but especially traffic nets and DXing. The RIT/XIT range can be increased or decreased by the builder by installing a higher or lower-value C7 capacitor. G) The three DSP filters are individually programmable for bandwidths between 200 and 850 Hz, making fine QRM-fighting tools. H) When receiving a reasonably strong signal, I often turn on the built-in -14 dB attenuator and advance the AF gain for low-noise reception. It works like a one-step RF gain control. On the summer trek, I used the basic K1 configured for 80-m and 40-m operation, and I carried separate halfwave dipoles for those bands. I had enough coaxial cable to erect the 80-m dipole as an inverted vee. The 40-m dipole was on a short thether, so it was roughly flat and close to the ground. My K1 is now considerably enhanced. It includes an internal noise blanker and a nifty built-in automatic antenna tuner. I very much like the wide-range tilt stand. The tilt stand will definitely accompany the rig on any future backpacking trip. The only significant downside of the K1 is its VFO, which is a varactor-controlled Colpitts oscillator, using a ten-turn pot. Mine covers 172 kHz on each band. On 40 and 80 meters it listens on lower sideband, so cross-mode with LSB stations is possible, but only within that 172 kHz of spectrum. If the rig is configured for higher bands, such as 20 or 17 meters, it still listens on the lower sideband, so normal cross-mode communication is not practical on those bands without modifying the VFO. I found operating the K1 on the second stage of my summer trek very enjoyable. I used it for 17 days of hiking. It s a lot easier to use in the field than the DSW rigs. If I had had it along on that fateful shake-down trip, I m sure I would have set it up from the wet bivouac and sent that important message that I was very uncomforable, but safe. The K1 is a keeper. Bottom line: The K1 is the best genuine backpacker HF rig now on the market. Except for the internal battery kit, which I found too awkward to deploy for a long trip, all of its options are useful and well-designed. The basic rig is packed with lots of excellent operating features. If the K1 had a digital oscillator which allowed it to cover the entire amateur band using either sideband, it would be a spectacular rig, although more pricey and perhaps not so energy efficient. (I guess what I'm looking for is a K2 in a K1 package!) 72, Bruce Prior N7RR Blaine, WA +++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 15 Oct 2001 05:42:30 -0700 From: Bruce Grubbs To: n7rr at hotmail.com Cc: qrp-L Subject: [108784] Re: Backpacking Radios Message-ID: <5.1.0.14.0.20011015053935.042c4fc8 at earthlink.net> Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed At 05:02 10/15/2001 +0000, you wrote: >... (I guess what I'm looking for is a K2 in a K1 package!) Aren't we all! Seriously, that was a great post. I used the K1/KAT1 on a 9 day hike in the Wind River Range this summer, and I certainly agree that the K1 is a super backpacking rig. I have a DSW40 that I use when I'm really really need to cut weight- but funny thing, the K1 seems to be going anyway. 73 Bruce N7CEE +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Fri, 02 Nov 2001 08:16:51 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick Subject: [Elecraft] eHam.net review site If you're looking for product reviews of ham gear, check out http://www.eham.net/reviews/ This site is very well-organized and has categories for just about everything, including QRP transceivers, and it's easy to add your own reviews, or to forward reviews to friends. (If you use Netscape, be patient--sites like this that use large tables can take a long time to load due to a quirk in the browser.) A bit of a historical note: When eHam first came on the scene, they put the K2 into the "QRP Radios" category, rather than the "HF Transceivers" category. We convinced eHam's management to list the K2 in *both* places, for two reasons. First, at 15 watts, some would consider it a "medium-power" rig. Second, the K2 is a high-performance desktop rig; the fact that it doesn't put out 100 watts seems to be a secondary consideration for many of our customers. As a result, you'll see about the same number of K2 reviews in both categories. As for the K1, you'll notice that it still says "Two-Band HF Transceiver kit" in the description at the top of the K1 review page. We've already asked them to change this to "Four-Band...", which they'll do next week. (I don't think anyone has posted a review of the 4-band K1 yet.) There are lots of review sites on the web, so if anyone else has a favorite, please let us know. We like to keep track of what people are saying about ham gear in general, but especially about the K1 and K2 ;) 73, Wayne +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Mon, 11 Mar 2002 04:20:33 From: "Bruce Prior" To: qrp-l at Lehigh.EDU Subject: [121791] Elecraft K1 Transceiver: A Lean, Mean CW Machine Message-ID: Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed A TRANSCEIVER FOR BACKPACKING AND BEYOND Imagine tossing a contest-grade rig into a backpack! That s exactly what I did this past summer. I needed a rig for a long backpacking trek along the Pacific Northwest Trail from the northeastern corner of Glacier National Park in Montana to the Idaho panhandle. For most of the trip I would be out of range of VHF and UHF repeaters and cellular telephone networks. I wanted multi-band coverage so I could reliably pass formal message traffic to friends and family from a variety of trail locations and under varying propagation conditions. I thought of the Elecraft K1, a lean, mean multi-band HF transceiver kit optimized for pure CW operation, yet it s a light-weight power miser and small enough to carry in my backpack all day long, day after day. The K1 would also serve as an excellent stand-by for use during a disaster or crisis to get a message through when all else fails. A BUILDER S JOY I placed my order with Elecraft. The K1 serial number 833 kit arrived ahead of schedule before I had cleaned out the shack to welcome it! I chose to do the inventory piecemeal, only opening the bags relevant to one stage at a time. Elecraft engineers have gone overboard to ease the path for kit builders. The circuit boards are roomy, well-labeled and durable. The instructions are clear and explicit, with lots of illustrations - photographs of many parts accompany the parts lists. Resistors are mounted on ladder strings in the exact order they are to be installed. Many potential pitfalls are anticipated. Where alignment is important, instructions for installation include checking and double-checking before moving on to a stage where adjustments would be difficult. If you ve never had the pleasure of building your own rig from a kit, the K1 is a great one to get you going. THE BASIC K1 For the long hike I used the basic K1 with a two-band module. I order my 2-band module configured for 40 and 80 meters. The module can be ordered for any two of the amateur 80, 40, 30, 20, 17 or 15 meter bands. Builders can decide whether to configure the K1 for 80-kHz or 150-kHz range within each band. I chose the wider range, which actually turned out to be 172 kHz. I used the rig nightly to pass formal traffic through the Idaho Montana Net on 3647 kHz, the British Columbia Emergency Net on 3652 kHz and the Seventh Region net on 7048 kHz. I also arranged schedules to meet my wife Margaret, KD7CEL, on 40 meters. Since I hadn t installed the optional internal antenna tuner for my summer hike, I erected separate half-wavelength inverted vee dipoles for the 80 and 40 meter bands. I usually erected the antennas inverted vee style, first lobbing a fairly large rock over a tree branch which was attached to military surplus parachute cord with a knot which I invented, called the Grapevine Noose. This very secure knot uses half of a grapevine or double fishermen s bend to lock the noose. AN ENHANCED K1 My K1 is now enhanced with some options, including the four-band module, the noise blanker, the internal automatic antenna tuner and the wide-range tilt stand. The standard configuration of the four-band module is for 40, 30, 20, and a choice between 17 or 15 meters. The components for all five bands arrive with each four-band module. Because of space and component limitations, the KFL1-4 four-band module includes two low-pass filters, which are designed for adjacent amateur bands. A band which is the second harmonic of a lower band cannot share the same filter with that lower band. So, for instance, if a builder wishes to include the 80-meter band on the four-band module, another band cannot share that filter, so only three total bands could be accommodated. My K1 now sports a KNB1 Noise Blanker. The Pacific Northwest Trail route took me far from power grid, ignition and other artificial noise sources, so I didn t need the KNB1 Noise Blanker for backpacking, but for other uses including emergency communications using generator power, I thought it might be useful. I thought that the KBT1 Internal Battery Option would provide added convenience of dispensing with an external battery pack for backpacking. Installing the recessed on/off switch took some fancy finger-work, but I managed the assembly of the KBT1 without significant problems. I decided in the end, however, to dispense with the KBT1. See the "Quibbles" section for details. The Wide-Range Tilt Stand seemed like a weighty luxury for through-hike backpacking, but I wanted to try it out for possible use on shorter trips. Finally, the internal KAT1 Automatic Antenna Tuner seemed an ideal way to simplify the antenna part of operating a multi-band backpacking radio. I carried light-weight earphones for occasions when I needed to operate without keeping the neighborhood wildlife awake. In spite of the fact that it consumes more current, I prefer using a speaker on a hiking trip. The speaker allows me to listen while doing camping chores, and in practice I didn t use earphones with my K1 on my long hike. HELP FROM ELECRAFT After building the K1, error message E42 told me that the VFO wasn t oscillating. The failure was caused by my swapping one RF choke for another. I had confused 33-microhenry (orange-orange-black) with a 22-microhenry choke (red-red-black). I didn t catch my error until my e-mail plea to Elecraft elicited a prompt and detailed reply from Gary Surrency, the Dr. Fix-It at Elecraft. Gary s first sentence read, "You may have installed the wrong inductor at RFC1." That cured the problem. I was impressed. When I built my K1, its operating frequency drifted more than the specified <200 Hz/hour after a 5-minute warm-up at room temperature. Gary Surrency again stepped in to help. My rig now has replacement varactor diodes and a new 1200-pF polystyrene capacitor in the oscillator circuit, and the drift problem is solved. OPERATING THE K1 The finished K1 is one beautiful rig. Like its big cousin K2, the K1 looks snazzy enough to reside in a living room. The impressive Owner s Manual includes a helpful chapter with operating instructions as well as a one-page quick-reference sheet. A more detailed double-sided laminated quick reference two-card set, the Elecraft K1 Vade Mecum, is available for $6.00 + $1.00 shipping from Kairos Research, 853 Alder Street, Blaine, WA 98230-8030. I use a mini keyer paddle made by G4ZPY. I ve removed the heavy magnetic base from the keyer paddle and substituted Velcro, reducing the total weight while allowing me to use the K1 as the paddle stabilizer. The paddle is further stabilized with a 3-mm kernmantel perlon cord tied with a Grapevine Noose cinched tightly around the K1 cabinet. Another manufacturer has produced a keyer paddle especially for the K1, which mounts on the Wide-Range Tilt Stand. The BP-K1 is available for $45.50 + $3.00 shipping from The Paddlette Company, P.O. Box 6036, Edmonds, WA 98026 http://www.paddlette.com The LCD display serves varied functions. It reports the operating frequency, S-meter reading, input voltage, and with the automatic antenna tuner installed, SWR as well. The same display gives all the feedback needed to operate the main menu and the automatic antenna tuner menu. The K1 was obviously designed by and for serious CW operators: The sidetone pitch or spot function is a breeze to use for quickly zero-beating with another station. The sidetone and offset and spot tone can be adjusted between 400 and 800 Hz. Its volume is determined both by a software adjustment and the AF gain setting. Most operators will set the iambic mode to A or B and then leave it alone, but it s great to have that choice. Most rigs designed for portable operation offer only one iambic mode. The now-discontinued DSW series by Small Wonder Labs uses iambic mode B, as does the Yaesu FT-817. The SGC SG-2020 and SG-2020 ADSP operate in iambic mode A. The iambic keyer speed can be adjusted to any integer between 8 and 50 words per minute on the fly with front panel buttons. Two different CW memories are programmable and its beacon-mode repeat function can be programmed to pause for any integer second between zero and 255 seconds. The solid state transmit/receive circuit is smooth, with adjustable delay from zero to 900 milliseconds. Mine is normally set for zero delay or full break-in. I don t even notice it while operating, which is the way it should be. The combination of RIT and XIT is very helpful for just about any kind of operation, but especially traffic nets and DXing. The RIT/XIT range can be increased or decreased by the builder by installing a higher or lower-value C7 capacitor. The three DSP filters are individually programmable for bandwidths between 200 and 850 Hz, making fine QRM-fighting tools. When receiving a very strong signal, I often turn on the built-in -14 dB attenuator and advance the AF gain for low-noise reception. It works like a one-step RF gain control. OPTIONAL TILT STAND The Wide-Range Tilt Stand configured with its shorter upright stays is a wonderful accessory for desktop operation. I should have taken the cleverly-designed the tilt stand with its longer upright stays along on my hike. Trail-side operating is almost always awkward. The ability to view and operate the rig from any conceivable angle makes the tilt stand weight worthwhile. I added some heat-shrink to the back arm of the tilt stand to protect the K1 surface when I use it in the shack. From now on, the tilt stand will definitely accompany my K1 on every trip. OPTIONAL NOISE BLANKER The KNB1 Noise Blanker can be turned off or it can be activated at two different threshold levels, depending on the severity of the interfering pulse noise. The higher threshold can be increased further by substituting a green LED (supplied with the kit) for the 1N4148 diode at D2. OPTIONAL INTERNAL ANTENNA TUNER The optional internal KAT1 Automatic Antenna Tuner is a great addition to this diminutive rig. It allows for a lot of flexibility when planning the antenna part of an HF backpacking station. Plug in just about any antenna that s convenient, tune on or near the intended operating frequency, then activate the tuner. After some rapid relay chatter, the antenna impedance is matched with the radio, and the resulting SWR is automatically displayed. Since it uses latching relays, the tuner consumes no extra power once it is adjusted to the operating frequency. With the KAT1 installed, SWR can also be viewed from the front panel LCD without operating the tuner. I ve now acquired a BNC-to-dual-binding-posts adapter. Now I can use the K1 with a end-fed 17.5-m wire and a counter-poise made of five pairs of small-gauge speaker wire each 3 meters long soldered together on one end horse-tail fashion to couple capacitively to the ground. That way, I ll save a lot of weight now taken up by two dipoles and coax. BUILT-IN FUN Many kit radios are more fun to build than to operate. This one is easy to build and a blast to operate. Although it s well-designed for trail use, I find that I turn it on frequently in the shack as well for rag-chewing, contesting or traffic net operation. I also like to use it to monitor the NCDXF/IARU beacon network on 14.100 MHz and 21.150 MHz. My entire K1 station including extra batteries, tilt stand and antenna fits nicely into a 4-L Rubbermaid plastic box and weighs 2.05 kilograms or 4.5 pounds, so it s definitely in the backpacker class. QUIBBLES I was disappointed with the KBT1 Internal Battery Option, which was not well designed for convenient cell replacement in the field. The smaller KBT1 speaker sounds just fine, but it is held against the cabinet top only by friction. When the cabinet top is opened to change AA cells, the speaker becomes a loose item which is awkward to handle in the shack, let alone inside a flapping tent. I decided to disassemble the KBT1 option before leaving on my backpacking trip and I installed the standard cabinet top with its well-mounted speaker. Without the KBT1 installed, the K1 is a solid, well-engineered radio. My power supply is a simple 8-AA cell holder from RadioShack. It worked fine on the Pacific Northwest Trail. Loaded with eight fresh lithium cells, it needed only one replacement during more than two weeks of nightly operation, a fine testimony to the low-current drain of this transceiver. Unlike the K2, which allows reception on either sideband, the K1 receiver is configured to detect the lower sideband on all bands. That s fine for 80-m and 40-m. On those bands, cross-mode communications are possible with SSB stations which are using the standard LSB mode within the frequency range of the K1. For example, The Canadian Aurora Net operates on 7055 kHz LSB Monday through Saturday starting at 0230Z and the Transprovincial Net starts on the same frequency daily LSB at 1500Z. These offer convenient cross-mode operating with for K1 operators. However, on 20-m and 17-m, where USB is the standard SSB mode, routine cross-mode communication is not practical with the K1. Since the K1 incorporates a Colpitts varactor diode VFO circuit with a 10-turn potentiometer for frequency control, band coverage is limited. The high-end Elecraft K2, the simpler, now-discontinued Small Wonder Labs DSW rigs, the Yaesu-Vertex FT-817and the SGC SG-2020 and SG-2020 ADSP cover the whole amateur band rather than just 80-kHz or 150-kHz segments. All of those other rigs except the K2 have other disadvantages, however, such as lack of a choice of iambic keying modes, no keyer memory, and no provision for an internal antenna tuner. BOTTOM LINE The K1 is the best genuine backpacker HF rig now on the market. Except for the internal battery kit, all of its options are useful and well-designed. The basic rig is packed with lots of excellent operating features. If the K1 had a digital oscillator which allowed it to cover the entire amateur band using either sideband, it would be a spectacular rig, although more pricey and perhaps not so energy efficient. K1 Transceiver kit including one 2-band filter module kit, custom-ordered for any two amateur bands between 80 and 15 meters. $279 K1-4 Transceiver kit including one 4-band filter module kit, covering 40, 30, 20 and either 17 or 15 meters at the builder s option $349 KFL1-4 additional 4-band filter module kit $129 KFL1 additional 2-band filter module kit $59 KTS1 Wide-Range Tilt Stand $35 KNB1 Noise Blanker kit $35 KAT1 Automatic Antenna Tuner kit $89 KBT1 Internal Battery kit $44 Shipping and Handling (variable according to which options are ordered) $6 to $14 Elecraft, P.O. Box 69, Aptos, CA 95001-0069, (831) 662-8345 http://www.elecraft.com 72, Bruce Prior N7RR +++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 12:31:52 -0800 From: lhlousek To: qrp-l at Lehigh.EDU, n7rr at hotmail.com Subject: [121925] Re: Elecraft K1 Transceiver: A Lean, Mean CW Machine Hi Bruce, Excellent review of the K1 and I couldn't agree more about most aspects. It is certainly a marvel to be able to build a kit that packs all those capabilities and features into such a little box. However, I include the KBT1 internal battery option on the plus side of the equation. Fitting all the features and capabilities AND the power source in the little box makes it all the sweeter. I admit that I haven't done any backpacking with my K1 but I have used in on a few motorcycle camping trips and regularly operate it from my hotel room on business trips. I've even used it air-mobile with its internal batteries. Running 3W and a set of 1800 mAh batteries I easily get two full evenings of casual operating out of a single charge. Granted it does take a little care to swap out the batteries but considering the compactness and the "cool" factor of a completely self-contained rig I personally feel it's well worth the effort, especially since it doesn't need to be done very often. For someone who is planning to do a lot of operating over a number of days a larger external pack might be a reasonable alternative but for my purposes I simply added a small in-line connector in the lead for my K1's battery holder so that I could carry a spare set of batteries in a holder and just swap out battery packs. Lou W7DZN ++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 13:34:23 -0800 From: "Dave Fifield" To: , "Low Power Amateur Radio Discussion" Subject: [121929] Re: Elecraft K1 Transceiver: A Lean, Mean CW Machine Why not just add a small jack on the rear panel to charge the batteries internally, or even modify the existing circuitry to allow the existing jack to charge the internal batteries when the rig is turned off? I'm going to take a look at the circuit myself and see what can be done. Cheers es 72, Dave Fifield, AD6A (snip) > Granted it does take a little care to swap out the batteries but considering the (snip) +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 14:04:38 -0800 From: Wayne Burdick To: Elecraft Cc: qrp Subject: [121931] Elecraft K1 Kit Enhancements Based on feedback from customers, we've made a number of minor changes to the K1 transceiver kit that will make it even easier to build and align. We've been shipping the revised kit (manual revision F) for about a month. Changes include: - simpler transmit offset alignment, thanks to the addition of a small slide switch on the bottom of the RF board that turns the transmit carrier oscillator on/off - addition of a jumper block for selecting the source voltage for the RF detector (RF board or KAT1 antenna tuner), making it easier to install or remove the KAT1 option or align new filter boards - RF board updated to incorporate all required changes and added components - attenuator on/off audio artifacts eliminated - VFO potentiometer tuning linearity improved - owner's manual completely updated to reflect the new 4-band version of the K1 We'd like to thank everyone who built the K1 and sent us manual corrections and suggestions over the past year. 73, Wayne, N6KR Eric, WA6HHQ +++++++++++++++++