Troubleshooting Antennas and Feedlines | K1 mod | Keys | HOME PAGE

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				SKCC # 4973T	NAQCC # 298

W1TF LOG

2006-09 moved to Statham GA. At last QTH Worked 48 states, 47 QSL, now starting WAS all over.
Goal is to make WAS.

Licensed since 1948, built first transmitter from QST, January 1949 plans. 6AG7 xtal osc and a 2E26 amp.

I have held these calls: W1TFS, W9NCF, W5INJ, OX5BT

Antenna is 80 meter horizontal loop fed with 450 Ohm line. BL-2 (switchable 1:1, 4:1)at the rig.

I have no pecuniary interest in the below companies, this is equipment that I enjoy using.

ELECRAFT

K3 arrived 2008-04-17.

Works great. READ ABOUT THE LOOP ANTANNA.

K3 arrived 2008-04-17.

Keys - KK1 from American Morse, Kent single lever, Kent dust cover by W8FGU

Battery bank

Bank of 3 (2shown) 26 AH batteries powers K3 and other equipment. Recharging done with an Alnico DM330MV power supply. Each battery has a 20A fuse to a common buss and then a 25A fuse to the K3.

The K1 is a CW rig for 40, 30, 20 and 17 or 15 meters

K1 built in 2003, my only HF rig until the arrival of the K3. The K1 has the internal ATU. Three choices for xtal filter bandwidths help.
My only HF rig until the K3 arrived. It took me about 20 hours to put the K1 together.
If felt good building equipment again. Built it for 40, 30, 20, 17 M. 2006-12: Modified K1 to have 15 M.

K1 Poly Fuse Mod.

BL-2, 1:1 or 4:1 Balun

Less than an hour's work to finish. Nice to be able to select 1:1 or 4:1 with a switch.

Link: ELECRAFT | GO TO TOP

EZNEC

Some of the Eznec graphs.

I modeled an 80 / 40 M NVIS antenna, two dipoles at right angles to each other, both fed with one feed line. Center height 20'. First panel is a view of the antenna. Red lines show the X,Y and Z axis. With your mouse you can move the view of the antenna to any point on any axis. The curved lines above the wires show relative current in the elements. The short wires are for 40 M. Very little current flows in the longer (80 m) wires. Second panel is the VSWR for the 40 M band. Third panel shows the elevation radiation pattern, most power is raidated at the high angles, Just what you want for state wide communications. Forth panel is a 3D view of the radiation pattern with a 2D elevation plot in red.
Eznec lets you try antenna ideas and see results before you put up the wire. Do you want to have several antennas up? How much interaction will there be? Put the antenns into Eznec and feed only one antenna, record the results. Then remove the other antennas and run the program again.

Link: Eznec | GO TO TOP

HF Projects

Z-Match Tuner

HF Packer Z-Match tuner with tuning chart rubber cemented to lid. Saves a lot of time if you preset to the last good adjustments. Include the settings of the switches also. Wet weather will change dial settings a bit. Notice knife switch to connect the feed line to ground when not in use.

Link: HF PROJECTS | GO TO TOP

Almost All Digital Electronics

With the K1 completed it now has to be calabrated. One of the items was to adjust the frequency display to the correct frequency. On 40 and 20 meters there was the W1AW signal on 7047.5 and 14047.5 KHz. I expected that signal would be very close to the listing in QST. On 30 and 17 meters I had less to go on. So I listened to the signals that were the lowest in frequency and expected that those signals were just inside the lower band edge.

This secondary standard provides outputs at 10 MHz, 1 MHz, 100 KHz and 10 KHz.
Harmonics of these frequencies are heard throught out the HF bands.

This board comes completly assembled. I mounted it in an aluminum box. I found that on all bands the K1 dial was only about 200 Hz off frequency, this made me feel good. Sometimes when I like to use the lower 2-3 Khz of the band.

The unit I have is no longer available, link below take you to his latest frequency standard.

Link: Freq Standard | GO TO TOP

M3 Electronix

In 2004 I did something foolish, tried to load into too low a Z, and the result was I blew a transistor in the transceiver. I was not sure which transistor so I ordered transistors for two stages. Then I replaced parts until the rig worked again. The end reuslt was that I did replace parts that were good, but I got back on the air. I now have a semiconductor analyzer that will save me time and money in the future. The kit took me about two hours to complete. Just connect the three clip leads to a transistor, in any order. The analyzer will make the check, tell you which lead goes to which connection in the transistor and give you the paramaters of the transistor. Is it PNP, NPN, UJT, silicon or germanium? The answers are all there.

Displayed are two of three rotating displays showing the parameters of this NPN silicon transistor.

The M3 Semiconductor Analyzer can detect two different kinds of semiconductors: Germanium or Silicon. The first type are older and are not common. The analyzer can also detect the presence of an internal diode, symbolized by the pictogram as well as a base-emitter shunt resistor. All the parameters are displayed in three different panels. The first panel displays the HFE (static current gain) of the transistor. The M3 can measure current gain in the range of 5 to 999. The current gain varies according to the operating condition of the transistor. The polarization of the transistor under test is not fixed but depends on the actual HFE value. The collector test current is displayed for reference.

Link: M3 Electronix Semiconducdtor Analyzer | GO TO TOP

American Morse Equipment

Back in the old days I used a Vibroplex and a J-38. The J-38 is a great key but seems large for a QRP rig. I bought the KE6RIE key. After adjusting the key and a couple days of practice I was ready to get on the air again.

Keys I have used, discribed from left to right.
•The Palm is a neat design and travels very well, the paddles slid into the case for trave, provides geat protection, I did not care for the feel of this key.
•PortaPaddle has a great feel. It is mounted on optional base and really stays put. For travel I take it off the heavy base and put it on a board that also holds the K1.
•The KE6RIE streight key is 1" x 1" x 3" long. Weight 3.5 oz. It does stay put on the desk because the base of the key extends past the point of downward presssure on the knob. This is a great key to use with the K1 transceiver. With the J-38 you have to put screws into the desk to keep it from tipping when in use. I sure am having fun on the air again.

Link: American Morse Equipment | GO TO TOP

Small Wonder Labs

Another project completed. A frequency counter using the FREQ-Mite board. See QST 1998-12, page 34.

This unit is powered by an internal 9V battery. I use a piece of wire about 30" long to pickup the signal to be measuered. Placing the wire close to the coax out seems to get enough signal for a count. Readout is in morse code (13 or 26 WPM), in KHz. This unit will count to 32 MHz.