Author Archives: robert

K1 Passes Voltage Tests

Posted on December 22, 2015 by robert

Assembly of the K1 RF Board continues.  Today, I added 49 more components in 115 minutes.  This means the RF Board assembly time so far is 7.5 hours after 193 components, and the total K1 assembly time now stands at 19.5 hours.  There are … Continue reading →

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XMT2XMT: WA1ABI<->WB4SON Success!

Posted on December 21, 2015 by robert

At 1903Z, Dec 21, 2015, I had a CW QSO with John, WA1ABI, on 7.020.00 MHz.  I had reconfigured the Christmas Tree Antenna so that the “hot” side of my feedline was tied to one side of the lights string, … Continue reading →

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Christmas Tree Antenna

Posted on December 21, 2015 by robert

WA1ABI, John, in Portsmouth invented a new mode a couple of years back — Christmas Tree to Christmas Tree QRP.  Today I had my outside tree wired up to a remote antenna tuner and gave the XMT2XMT mode a try. … Continue reading →

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K1 Assembly Burp #3

Posted on December 18, 2015 by robert

I spent 65 minutes fabricating three SMT replacement for a SA612AN chip that is no longer available in through-hole.  The process involved in stripping 24 1″ wires, somehow holding them in place while soldering them to an adapter that is … Continue reading →

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Another Surprise From the ARRL

Posted on December 17, 2015 by robert

I guess the January 2016 QST is hot off the press.  I received an express envelope with three pristine copies today as a courtesy for a brief piece in Technical Correspondence [pages 72 & 73]. My father was a journalist, … Continue reading →

Posted in From the OM, Gear, History | 1 Comment

K1 Assembly Continuing

Posted on December 17, 2015 by robert

The K1 RF Board assembly continues to move forward.  Today, 24 components were installed in 70 minutes.  Only a third of the RF board remains, with a bit under 16 hours spent so far.

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K1 Assembly Burp #2

Posted on December 15, 2015 by robert

I had a chance to install a dozen components today, but it took about 50 minutes.  This was because the two adjustable caps (C13 & C20) as supplied do not match the manual description or silkscreen outline.  Elecraft specifies a particular … Continue reading →

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K1 RF Assembly Continuing

Posted on December 13, 2015 by robert

After 2 hours 20 minutes of assembly time, there are 81 components on the RF board (a rate of about 1.75 minutes a component).  With 251 total components on the RF board, I’m about a third of the way away. … Continue reading →

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K1 RF Board Assembly Underway

Posted on December 10, 2015 by robert

It’s been about 5 days since I did any work on the K1.  This time of year it’s important to keep the family happy, and that means lots and lots of Christmas decorations.  I hate the thought of landfilling the … Continue reading →

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SCS DR-7400 Modem and the Icom IC-9100

Posted on December 6, 2015 by robert

I haven’t been able to get my Icom IC-9100 and SCS DR-7400 P4 modem to play nicely together.  No matter what I’ve tried, the modulation level was too high, showing substantial ALC action, which would lead to a distorted transmit … Continue reading →

Posted in Digital Mode, From the OM, Gear | 4 Comments