05.19.11
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Elecraft K1

Here’s my newly constructed Elecraft K1 for 40, 30, 20, and 15 meters.  It’s a remarkable little package!  The K1 puts out as much as 7 watts or as little as 100 mw – operator’s choice!  The receiver is impressively quiet and sensitive.  It could hear the same weak signals as my K2 and K3.  The K1 has a very extensive menu of features yet remains among the most user-friendly rigs on the market.  It is different from the KX-1 in that the receiver is more sensitive with a lower noise level, the transmitter is twice as powerful, the internal ATU matches a much wider range of impedances, and it has a very effective noise blanker which the KX-1 does not even have as an option.  Although the K1 is  marketed as a “portable” transceiver, it could very easily be the one and only fixed station rig for the ham with a limited budget but a discriminating taste.  Putting it together was straightforward.  It is a densely populated package once built but since the top, bottom, sides, and front come off there is actually plenty of room for fat fingers during actual construction.  My first contact was with Gene, UA1CE, in St. Petersburg, Russia at the 5 watt power level with a RST 559 on 20 meters.  Later that evening, the K1 proved its mettle as I used it for the 2 hour NAQCC Sprint.  Overall, a very high quality transceiver for the money and cute to boot!  Here are a couple of pictures showing the layers of circuitry and the size relative to my hand.  Anyone interested can visit www.elecraft.com  .

05.16.11
by

From the SKCC Yahoo group

This is an interesting topic on the SKCC yahoo group …  I would like to see some of your comments on this…

Scott W2NTV

*******************************************************************************************

Hi,

In addition to CW, I occasionally do PSK31. I tend to find PSK31 a bit boring
sometimes because of how easy it propagates and how it lacks the “challenge”
aspect of copying Morse.

But there’s something I notice, and was wondering if anyone else had seen this.
PSK31 seems to be about exchanging QSL-card-type info, and your computer setup,
usually through presets in the software, and then you’re done. I don’t use
presets (except for calling CQ and responding to a call) and try to converse and
ragchew instead. They’re already calling CQ someone else by that point.

In my experience at least CW always started out with the exchange of
QSL-card-type info, but there is the tendency to chat about other things, such
as how long you’ve been a ham and stuff like that.

Does anyone else notice these things or is it just my luck?

—

73, Dan K3DRQ

FISTS #13110, SKCC #4493

05.16.11
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Contesting Webinars from Dayton

Topic: CTU Opening Comments – K3LR & Contesting The Right Way – Doug
Grant K1DG
Date: Thursday, May 19
Time: 12:00 UTC
Duration: 1 hour
Registration link (free):
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/659104515

Topic: Contest Radio Performance – Rob Sherwood NC0B & CTU Closing
Comments K3LR
Date: Thursday, May 19
Time: 20:00 UTC
Duration: 1 hour
Registration link (free):
https://www2.gotomeeting.com/register/968164195

Both registration links are also available at www.pvrc.org under the
Upcoming Webinars link. The sessions will be recorded and posted on
www.pvrc.org under the Recorded Webinars link.