Upgrades, planning, the future...

Over the last couple of weeks, I've started participating in a little round table on 80m at 5 AM.  Yikes.  These group of guys are outstanding CW operators and all working on honing in on their high speed, or QRQ, operating.  The average speed is in the 40-50 wpm range depending on who is there and conditions, though pretty much everyone is running (well) over 100w so conditions don't usually have much impact!  I'll admit, the last few years of inactivity mixed with the intermittent keyboard-sent contests, my sending has suffered immensely.  Yes, I can probably manage quick fills in a contest at 35wpm but even though I'm close to copying ragchew QSOs at 40wpm, I can't send over an extended period more than 30wpm without errors.  It is a humbling and frustrating experience to be among such great ops and still feel like a complete LID!  They are all very accommodating though and willing to withstand the poor fist while I improve, which is honorable.

My station has been performing very well through all of this though which is a great feeling.  There has been little RFI to speak of and I've become used to relatively comfortable operations.  (save the computer taking a dump on me but that's not related to ham radio)  With that said, I am always looking for ways to improve the station (plus it gives me something to strive for, which is always good in life).  Based on recommendation from a friend, I figured I'd try to get an antenna resonant on 60m.  I used to work on 60m a bit from Iowa but it's been years since I have had any interest or reason to check it out.  With its "unusual" propagation characteristics, it might be a nice change of pace from the other "low" band operations I'm used to.  The Gap Titan is not resonant anywhere near 5.3 MHz so I was left with figuring out something on the inverted L for now.  The inverted L is cut for 80m and does a pretty good job there but to get from 3.5MHz to 5.3MHz I'd need to add some capacitance to make the antenna look shorter.  Luckily I picked up a homebrew tuner some years back at a hamfest so I had a couple of open air tuning capacitors at my disposal to do the job.  I rigged up some hokey wiring and hooked it up and was able to tune a nice null a few places along the coil with the capacitor in series.  It was interesting to see how I could pick different spots of resonance and get different network Q, showing a variety of usable bandwidths.  I decided to pick a lower Q option so I could get the whole 60m band, and back at the operating position, the SWR stays below 1.5:1 across the whole band.  Now I can operate 160, 80, and 60 meters on that antenna without much trouble. Just a few jumpers to move around.  I would love to make it remote switching but that's a job for another day.

Next little project was to do some work on the Gap.  My and I had a little spat regarding the beauty of my antennas (you can guess which side she comes down on) and I made a private promise to help the situation a bit.  The Gap has a wire loop on the bottom part that serves as a counterpoise for 40m as well as part of the 10m element and it happens that the mast I chose for installing it was a hair too short - ok it's about a foot too short if we're being honest - to put the loop above head level.  This means when walking around the pool deck, one has to duck to not hit the loop; a scenario that is less than ideal for obvious reasons.  As it turns out, the shape of the loop isn't really important for operation on 40m, and at least one other ham has modified his antenna to allow for a more conventional radial in place of the loop due to similar constraints.  So to help pad the concerns of the XYL, I set out to do just that.  I removed the spreaders and ran a counterpoise along the top of the fence in the NE direction and pruned for a good match on 40m.  Luckily I was able to find one not unlike the original match without affecting the matches on the other bands!  So now I have a loop-less Gap Titan, and time will tell if it will cause any degradation in performance on 40 (or other bands).

Remember the part about the QRQ CW net in the mornings?  Well that high speed, QSK operation has made it really obvious the most critical limitation of the TS-590: Relay based T/R switching.  You may recall I noted this way back when I did the side by side comparison between these radios and nothing has changed in that regard.  I still think the TS-590S and SG are some of the best deals in radio, especially considering the 2nd hand market for the 590S is down BELOW $700!!!  It makes the value proposition against the K3 very difficult.  However... if silent and smooth QSK is your goal, there is simply no match for an Elecraft radio (well maybe Ten Tec but lets not go there mkay?)....  I think you can see where this is going!  Upon introduction of my W6LVP receive antenna loop, the TS-590 now has TWO relays clacking away and at 50 WPM it can be quite a racket.  I did make a considerable improvement in this by covering both relays with blue-tack putty (the stuff you use to hold up posters from the office supplies), but both are still quite noticeable even when wearing headphones.  Those of you who know me well know I'm a real stickler for noisy stuff like this so it's just hard for me to ignore.  Which has brought me to the conclusion that I have to start my journey back to the Elecraft lineup, and perhaps my timing could not be better.  It just so happens that my friend N5EIL is in the process of upgrading his remote station and reducing the stack of radios he has at home and among them is a K3/10 with the sub-receiver installed.  Neil made me an offer I simply cannot refuse and will let me "hold on" to the K3 for him on the pretense that I buy the 100w PA.  Some time down the road we'll decide if I want to buy the whole radio from him or if he'll buy the PA from me.  The only drawback is if I decide to let him have it back, I'll be stuck with my only radio being my FT-817, and I think we all know that's a non-starter!  So the reality is, I'm going to end up buying the radio from him soon enough and I'll be back in the family!  Someone get the Kool-Aid mix!

I'll keep you all updated as things progress but that's all for now!

Elecraft discontinues the K1 (and KX1?)

I've been out of the QRP loop for a while as my operating has waned in the last year or so but happened to run across an article on the blog of K4SWL, qrper.com.  His post includes a note from Wayne, N6KR, on the fate of the K1:

We should have made a formal announcement here. Yes, we discontinued it because certain parts are hard to come by now, making it no longer cost effective for us to manufacture.
It was a great product for us, and I used mine for years, taking it on many trips. I thought of it as a “Sierra on Steroids” at the time (referring to an earlier design I did for the NorCal QRP Club). But we’ve moved on to more versatile field radios, including the KX2 and KX3.
73,
Wayne
N6KR

This news meets me with mixed feelings.  The K1 is the radio that started Elecraft - well technically it existed before Elecraft even.  To see it go certainly strengthens the signals we've been seeing from Elecraft for several years now, since the introduction of the K3.  I certainly hope that they continue to offer piece-part kits as long as it is possible. 

However, I will admit, I am no raving fan of the K1 as a radio - I have built one and I did not find it to perform very well with a fairly drifty VFO and weak filtering.  For the price, it is too much toy and not enough radio.  Still, it was one of the first kits many hams have had the pleasure of putting on the air so I can see the draw. 

Now Tom's blog noted that the KX1 was also on the chopping block but I did not see any evidence of this on Elecraft's site, as they are still selling the KX1 from stock, but I have not gone in and researched if there was further discussion in the thread Wayne posted on.  In my opinion, the KX1 is far superior in performance and operation to the K1 and it would be a shame to see it go from the list of offerings. 

Elecraft KX2: The end of kits for Elecraft? UPDATE: WITH VIDEO!

Elecraft has always offered kit versions of just about everything they make, until now.  The newly announced KX2 (not a successor to the KX3 or the K2 interestingly) is their first offering to come in factory built ONLY.

Expected to be priced at about $750, it seems they will be targeting the more mainstream ham market.

I'm sure they'll get a lot of gruff for leaving out 6m or 160m but I think those are reasonable to leave out.  The idea of a rechargeable lithium option sure sounds nice too.  Maybe this is the secondary radio I would want from Elecraft - something I won't ever use on my desk but is destined to be carried in the field.  At the $750 price tag, that option seems far more likely than it did with the KX3 at nearly 2x the cost.  We will see how it compares from a performance standpoint though if you're comparing it to just about any other radio (save KX3) it doesn't need to be a stunner in the RX department to be a winner.

I'm going to be keeping my eyes out for more details, so be sure to check back!

UPDATE: WG0AT posted this video to YouTube:

And another:

Secrets Revealed! Welcome the new Elecraft K3S Transceiver

Today at Four Days In May (FDIM) Elecraft's Eric Swartz unveiled their new transceiver, the K3S.  They also released details on the P3 TX monitor upgrade which has been rumored to be in the works for some time now.

The K3S Transceiver features a new USB interface (which includes audio) as well as Ethernet connectivity (sorry the RJ45 connector is for RS232 only) the recently upgraded Synthesizer for best in class receive. See the data and FAQ sheets here:

http://www.elecraft.com/manual/K3S%20Data%20Sheet%20rev%20A1.pdf

http://www.elecraft.com/manual/K3S-FAQ%20rev%20C5%20customer.pdf


Prices start at $2,099 for the 10w kit version and go up to $2,899 for the 100w factory build version.

New: the price increase is about $500 over the previous base K3 model! We'll see how the numbers work out when Sherwood gets one but hopefully the numbers justify the price hike.  Luckily many of the options are available for existing K3s (little S).

What a great way to start the Dayton weekend!  Keep your eyes here for more exciting stuff from the Hamvention!

K3 vs. TS-590: Choosing a Victor

A victor has been chosen. 

I arrived at the Radio Farm, N0MA, around 7PM local time, an hour after the big ARRL DX contest started. W7II, Bill, had the K3 position set up on 20m, ready to start runnin' 'em. Unfortunately, he didn't have the time to get the TS-590 set up at the other operating position, so I was stuck (if you can call it that!) on the K3. The band was good and once things slowed down a bit, I moved down to 40m on the 4 Square. With 900w at the coax, we were smoking into EU. Wanting some rest, before we hit it hard on the high bands on Saturday, I went home at about 10PM. The 590 would have to wait until tomorrow.

I came out at around 7:30AM on Saturday and W0GXA, Bob, was already running on 10m with the K3 when I arrived. Bill was getting thing set up for the 590 position. He was skeptical it would be as easy to set up as I told him, but sure enough, the 590 was communicating with the logger and spitting out a mighty KW of CW without too much effort. I donned the headphones and went for it on 15m, with our twin stack pointed at EU. The bands were wild, and I whipped up a big pileup in no time flat. I had 5+ stations calling at every "QRZ?" for about 2 hours. Our Multi-2 station had sustained rates over 200 QSOs per hour the whole morning! Never once did I feel like the 590 was inferior to what I expect out of a contest radio. There was no receiver overload and signals outside of the roofing filter passband were silent, as expected. Bill's K3 does have the 300 Hz crystal filter so when running, things were a little quieter, but that is to be expected. Yet, the 590 was no slouch. Combined with my impressions from Thursday, I was happy to be considering the proposition to acquire one of these fine pieces of engineering.

So what is the verdict you ask?  The 590 is a real contest radio.  The roofing filters are no match for the choices you have with the K3, but remember, they come free-of-charge, and when comparing at the same bandwidths, there is little difference in operation.  I have to say, in my opinion (whatever that is worth to you) the TS-590 is a no brainer if you cannot afford a K3, especially if customizable, top of the line performance is not a hard and fast requirement.

Surely though, the real question is, "TJ, ARE YOU BUYING ONE?!"

Well....









Yes.

K3 vs. TS-590 - Initial Impressions

As you recall from the last post, this contest was going to be the testing grounds for a head-to-head comparison of a loaded K3 versus a stock TS-590.  These are the results of that test.

Thursday pre-contest
I picked up the 590 from Dan, WB0LJK, and ran home to really see how she worked.  First impressions on the fit and finish of the radio were positive.  The buttons and knobs feel good, a certain elegance to the look of the radio.  In comparison to Elecraft's offerings, the TS-590 has a less utilitarian feel, and I still think the K3 is a more rugged radio, when you consider the all-metal chassis and lighter overall weight.  Yes, Elecraft's knobs are cheap, but that means when you break one out on some God forsaken island, it won't break the bank to repair either.

I personally find Elecraft's displays to be very good - they're very easy to read and all the stuff you want to see is available without asking a menu item, and the VFO B display is a nice addition that shows the time, power supply voltage etc.  The 590 display is largely uncluttered, but almost too empty.  There's a lot of unused space when operating in simplex mode.  In split, the 2nd VFO shows in the empty space but there's no reason for it to not show in simplex mode.  There may be a menu setting to modify.  On this topic, the nod easily goes to the Elecraft rigs.  

Moving to the operation of the radio.  I went at this without really looking at the manual, and found the operation to be pretty straightforward.  Changing modes is by direct entry, which is definitely preferred to Elecraft's method of cycling through modes.  Dan is primarily a voice operator, so I had to set up all the CW options on my own.  Changing the break-in delay and keyer speed are pretty straightforward, although I wish there were dedicated controls for keyer speed like I have on the KX3.  When working weak stations, changing keyer speed is nice to have at hand.  Not a deal breaker though.  Finally, I was ready to put some RF out and low and behold, those T/R relays are loud!  I knew I'd have a different QSK experience than I was used to, but this was loud.  A few quick tweets and it became clear there was a setting out of order.  It turns out when you have the amp keying relay enabled, the T/R switch goes from a nice quiet one to a big loud one!  Once we got that straightened out, the QSK was actually fairly pleasant, for relay switched T/R anyway.  Certainly not objectionable, just something I'd have to get used to.

The menu system on the 590 is just as extensive as the K3 and equally challenging to navigate.  The menu options are grouped by "topic" which helps navigation somewhat.  For instance, you'll find all the CW keyer options together, and all the USB options together, and so on.  The menu items are numbered as well, which makes referencing the menu items quick too.  On Elecraft radios, the menu items are in alphabetical order.  I think I prefer the 590's method better but realistically, you don't have to access the menus for much.  Like the K3, the 590 has 2 programmable function keys which I think can do just about anything.  I know Dan has one set up to transmit a 30w carrier to tune his remote auto tuner.  Unfortunately the 590 places the settings for sidetone volume and pitch in the menus, rather than the front panel.  Varying sidetone volume is not something I do a lot, but it is still far more convenient to have it on the front panel.  It should be shared with the TX monitor option which is on the front panel of the 590.  Again, not a deal breaker.

Speaking of the auto tuner - it is very quick to tune, and seems to do a fine job so far.  On 40m, my dipole has a fairly high SWR (its a little long I guess) and the tuner snapped to a 1:1 SWR in less than a second.  Much faster than the KX3's tuner.  I don't have any high impedance loads so I don't know how well it does with high SWR.  The dual antenna ports are nice though, and the radio remembers what port each band is on so you don't have to worry about going from 12m to 40m and transmitting into your beam on 40m.  The K3 with the ATU option does this too of course, but remember this is standard on the 590!

Front panel controls are well thought out and the layout is good.  One of the nicest features is the 3 memories for each band.  Just hit the band button multiple times to quickly jump around the band.  For example, you can have the first one set at 14.060 for QRP work, hit the "14" again, and the radio will jump to 14.200, and another tap can put you at 14.300.  Makes it really nice for moving around the band quickly.  I believe these are user set values, but I'd have to look at the manual to find out how.  The 590 makes a lot of use of its "MULTI" knob for many of the front panel adjustments, including power, keyer speed, and break-in delay.  Unfortunately it cannot be used to control VFO B when operating split.  This makes split operation essentially a 2 hand operation since you have to hold a button and spin the VFO to tune VFO B.  It doesn't take much work to figure out a one-handed position to do it, but I would still prefer having a separate control.  This is just another nuisance.

Passband tuning and filter width are concentric knobs as they are on most radios.  Being used to a single knob like on my KX3, I often found myself changing the passband tuning, rather than adjusting the filter width like I wanted.  I found a S9+60dB signal on 40m and with the filter set at 500 Hz, tuned away until I could not hear him.  At 500 Hz away, he was silent, with no phase noise present at all.  Even at reduced bandwidths, when moving closer, phase noise was audible, at about an S4-5 level.  Still the DSP was working quite well.  Hundreds of S9+ signals during the contest will really test this aspect of the receiver performance.

Initial impressions of receiver performance are certainly favorable.  The weekly 80m QRP Foxhunt was going on which always offers plenty of weak signals which I could use to test the weak signal performance.  I quickly found the first fox in Wisconsin, who was 10 over 9, and quickly worked him.  I then found the second fox, who was in NH.  This is a long haul for my antenna which is only at 30 feet.  He was very weak but certainly readable with QSB.  The noise reduction settings were very effective and I found NR2 to be the best for weak CW signals.  There was little degradation of the desired signal while maintaining a noticeable reduction in band noise.  Running with the AGC off helped pull the signal from the noise.  Unfortunately I was unable to work him but I would say the 590 at least matched the weak signal performance of the KX3 in this brief test.

Next I set up the USB audio card to run some JT-65.  As I mentioned earlier, all of the USB settings are in the same part of the menu, but I still had to consult the manual to figure out exactly what each setting did.  Using the latest version of WSJT-X, you simply select the USB audio card in the preferences and adjust the computer and rig's audio levels for optimum operation.  It takes some time to get things working correctly but once you have it set up, you won't have to touch it again, which is nice.  For some reason I couldn't get the audio from my Mac to output to the radio but using the Win version of the app (running in Parallels) worked fine.  I'm sure I have something set incorrectly.  The 590 keys on VOX on digital which means you can keep the rig control set up on your logger without having to switch between the apps controlling your radio.  This isn't a big problem if you use HRD on Windows since it has its own control output, but on OS X, there's no way to duplicate COM ports.  I still have not figured out how to do the dual receive of JT-65 and JT-9, but that is a low priority thing for me anyway.  I understand it can be done with the 590 though.

I spent the rest of the evening playing around and chasing DX.  I even worked an all time new one, bringing my DXCC count to 191 worked.

Stay tuned for a post-contest update!

tl;dr Some ergonomic drawbacks, but performance admirable so far