Greetings from a new member; n1one
Submitted by n1one on February 23, 2008 - 13:41.
NEQRPr's,
My name is Bill Hahn and I am a new member as of this morning. I recently became interested in QRP and also CW. I am a no-code General and have had my ticket since 1992. I have been working very hard to improve my CW skills, unfortunately my sending is improving faster than my recieving abilities, but I intend to keep at it.
I love to build stuff and noticed some of the great kits this club offers. I have built other kit radios from TenTec and others. I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of an Elecraft K1 that I ordered for use at a recently aquired summer camp in mid-state NH. I decided that CW + QRP was the right combination for the summer camp. I am dreaming of sitting on the front deck at dusk with my K1 and a pair of headphones...sounds like heaven!
I hope to learn a little something from everyone here on this website. Any advice about QRP operation would be greatly appreciated!
Hope to catch you on the air!
72 de n1one
Enjoy your K1
Submitted by N1AIA on February 24, 2008 - 21:35.
Welcome to the club, Bill!
The K1 is my primary HF rig and I love it. It operates and looks great, takes little space or current, and is a very manageable box to tinker in.
I hope your camp deck isn't humming with mosquitoes at dusk, but if so the K1 has plenty of audio to drown them out.
73, Scott N1AIA
Elecraft K1
Submitted by n1one on March 1, 2008 - 10:09.
Scott,
Thanks for the reply, I am really looking forward to building the K1. I have heard so many good things about this little radio. I have ordered the 4 band radio 40,30,20, 17 or 15. The auto tuner, the back light mod and the tilt stand. Should be a good set-up.
I have (3) quick questions....
1. Which tuning range did you select..80khz or 150khz and why?
2. Do you have the 4 band filter board and which band 17 or 15 did you choose?
3. Did you notice the AGC being a little slow as others have posted and did you change the C31 cap from 2.2uF to 1 or .47uF. I am wondering if I should do this right from the beginning.
This will be a blast to operate up at my camp. There is very little man made noise up there...very quite. Should be perfect for operating QRP.
Thanks for any personal thoughts you may have about the K1.
72 de N1ONE
Bill
K1 preferences
Submitted by N1AIA on March 1, 2008 - 21:05.
The nice thing about the 80 or 150 question is that it's easy to change afterward if you decide you don't like your first choice! I went with 150 kHz and never looked back. Gives me lots of room to explore plus WWV on 30. It makes the tuning pretty sensitive, but the "felt washer mod" takes care of that for most folks (I haven't needed that mod myself).
I'm set up for 40/30/20/15. As a contester I elected against 17, though I do wish I had a rig on that band!
I did the AGC mod (don't remember which value offhand) and it's definitely worthwhile. Usually people recommend building the rig "stock" then making changes, but I don't think you'd have to worry about making this improvement as you build.
I was very happy when Elecraft put out the backlit LCD. The dark display was one of only two gripes I had about the rig. Now I'm down to only one.
I wish the RIT range was broader, like +/- 6 kHz, so I could work split more easily. I tinkered with it for a while but never got to what I was looking for. Maybe someday I'll try again.
Are you monitoring the Elecraft list? Lately it's been lots of chaff and not much wheat, particularly from a K1 owner's perspective. Search the archives, though, and you'll probably find an answer to any questions that come up.
just keep on keeping on
Submitted by WI6I on April 5, 2008 - 00:49.
Get on the air and talk to everybody on CW. Just work 'em all. Your code brain will develop and parties will never be the same. Any rig, any time!
Someday maybe you will put up a 40-meter delta loop fed for vertical polarization and be annoyed by QRM from South Africa while exchanging weather reports with Gary, Indiana. This cannot be beat.
Welcome
Welcome aboard Bill!
Congratulations on your decision to delve into QRP and CW operation. You will find them to be rewarding pursuits.
The K1 is an excellent radio, and a fun kit to build. I personally love all the Elecraft radios. I have built and use the K1, KX1, and K2. I have a K3 kit on order, and hope to take delivery sometime in March. The K1 from the deck of the camp will be a winning combo. All the more rewarding because you built it yourself.
Have fun, and feel free to jump in with a question anytime. You might also want to join the New England QRP Club email listserver, if you haven't already. The link with instructions is on the lower-left side of the Club's webpage.
72/73, and welcome aboard!
-Bruce N1RX