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It was hot here again today with highs in the mid 90’s – I believe the high for the day was 95F (35C); so I stayed inside where it was cool.

That gave me the chance to play radio and get the K3 completed.  Between spurts of kit building, I managed to work my good friend Bob W3BBO on 40 Meters this afternoon.  We had a nice 30 minute rag chew and he was using the 44′ EDZ that he recently put up at his new house.  It worked well.  He started out at 559, but when the QSB kicked out, he was a solid 599 from Erie, PA to South Plainfield, NJ.  We had some QRM come in towards the end of our QSO; but the KX3’s silky smooth filtering knocked the interference right out.

I managed to get the front panel mounted and got to the stage of doing the smoke test.  No smoke!

Another hour or so and I was able to finish everything, do the calibrations and get the radio set in its place on the shack table.

The first QSO was Neal N4HAF on 40 Meters.  We had a nice little rag chew going and it was an enjoyable QSO. I worked John K4BAI on 20 Meters and started gabbing with him – only to realize that he was partaking of the MIQRP 4th of July Sprint. Doh!  I quickly apologized to John and let him get on with this business of making more QSOs.  I also worked AC8W in the same contest on 40 Meters and then switched back to 20 Meters for a short chat with Mike N0ZH, who will be Skeeter #55 in the Hunt in August, by the way.  It was good to hear Mike, it had been a while since we has last QSOed.

Anyway, after becoming acquainted with the KX3, it was nice to see the K3 is just about the same with a few minor differences.  It will still take a while before I feel “at home” behind it like I do with the K2; but that will come.  Some of the things that are a surprise are 1/4″ sockets for phones and paddles.  I am so used to the smaller miniature jacks that are used on the K1, K2 and KX3.  But it was nice to be able to hook both antennas up without having to use PL259 to BNC adapters.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

236 years ago, a group of men from the 13 British Colonies of America gathered in Philadelphia.  It was an unusually hot and humid summer. These men were considered to be the “creme de la creme” of their colonies.  Some were lawyers, some were farmers, some were tradesmen such as cobblers, millers and carpenters.  One was even a minister. They were all held in esteem for their honesty and integrity.

They all had a vision and a dream.

They desired to break away from their Mother country, who they felt had grown to come unresponsive to their needs and wants.  Over time, the monarchy in England had become oppressive, contemptuous, and was on the verge of becoming tyrannical.

These men, 56 of them in all, signed a document known as The Declaration of Independence. It was a document that would become known as the finest expression of the American mind. It was a road map for the concept of “American Exceptional-ism”. By that term, it is not meant that the United States, as the new nation was to be called, was or is better than any other nation on the face of the Earth. What is meant by the term of “American Exceptional-ism” is the new form of government that was to eventually be embodied in the Constitution of the United States. You see, the Declaration and the Constitution are entwined. The seeds planted in the Declaration blossomed into the Constitution.

In those documents was the “exceptional” idea that men (and by that, we mean all people) were endowed by their Creator with certain “unalienable rights” including the rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And that because of these rights, endowed by God, the power of the government was to rest entirely in the hands of the governed. This was a radical new idea! The people would never be threatened again by a despotic power who could give or take away rights as the result of a whim.

This IS a grand and noble vision that has withstood the test of time for 236 years. It is up to US, the descendants (in fact and in spirit) of those original Americans to keep the dream and vision alive and to never let it perish.

Have a Happy 4th of July!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

‘Twas one of those days at work where I felt like I was beaten with a pool cue, run over by a bus and then dragged in by the cat.

Tonight I spent getting the front panel assembly done.  I haven’t attached it to the main chassis yet.  I stopped after completing the panel itself as I’m a bit tired.

Two things that caused beads of sweat to pop out on my forehead.

1) The four screws that hold down the LCD cover bezel.  The first step, before even thinking of securing the bezel is a step that Elecraft calls, “removing the paint from the screw threads in the holes”.  I think that’s Elecraft just being nice and faking us out.  I don’t think there were any threads to get gunked up with paint, to begin with.  You’re cutting these threads by inserting these screws!

Elecraft recommends wetting the screw’s threads with “a drop of water” (oil can leave marks that can be difficult to clean up).  I didn’t feel like getting up to get a cup of water, so I did the next best thing.  I stuck the screws in my mouth.  Not the most sanitary, I suppose, but oddly effective.  Only one screw hole gave me trouble where I was worried about rounding off the screw; but firm pressure while very slowly torquing the screw did the trick in the end.

2) Mounting the mated Front Panel circuit and DSP circuit to the front chassis panel.  In the manual, Elecraft states that it’s a tight fit for the phones socket through the hole in the front panel.  Wow! I’ll say!  I finally got it through with some firm pressure but when the socket hit the back of the front panel, I got a loud “snap” from metal hitting metal.  For a second I thought I broke the circuit board, but a careful inspection revealed that all was well.

Other than those two panic moments, all went well.  Tomorrow, I will continue mounting the front panel to the chassis, and I may even get to the point where I get to do an initial power up.

Six man hours into this, so far.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I started the afternoon by working K2I, the 13 Colonies Special Event station for New Jersey, who turned out to be located in Greenbrook, New Jersey – all of about two towns over. Go figure!

The I turned the radio off and concentrated on the K3 build.  Not known for my prowess in being able to walk and chew gum at the same time, I figured it was better if I avoided any HF distractions.

The KX3 and K3 builds are amazingly similar in some ways.  The manuals are well thought out as always – this has become an Elecraft “standard”.  The build starts off by attaching 2D fasteners to the main or RF Circuit Board.  The chassis and housing are literally built up around this all important circuit.

From there, things get added, like the filters.  I have the standard 2.7Khz 5 pole filter and the 8 pole 400 Hz roofing filter.

These just go onto their edge connectors and then are secured by a screw and lock washer.  For the various modes and bands, there’s space for up to five filters. I only have the two installed.

Next came the low power Power Amplifier board.  This occupies the big hole you see in the upper center of the first photo.

As far as this K3 goes, that’s it.  This will be a QRP version, so whatever I get out of this circuit is what I will be sending out to the world.

The next step is to start adding sides, and now this is beginning to look more like what you’d expect a radio to look like.

Installing the Auto Tuner came next.  That in itself was easy. it just plugs into the main RF Circuit and is secured by hardware.

The hard part was getting the SO239 connectors plugged in.  As you can see in the close up below, there are wires that get plugged into two brass sockets on the auto tuner board.  The one wire slid into the socket on the left as smooth as butter.  The one on the right was way more picky. I had to make sure the alignment of pin with socket was perfect.  Then, and only then, did it go in – and even that took some effort.

It is looking more and more like a real radio.  And at this point, this is where I chose to stop for the night. I have put in about four hours worth of work so far.  Tomorrow night, if I am not exhausted after work, I will begin work on the front panel.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

Read all about it and apply for your FOBB number here:

http://www.ARSqrp.blogspot.com

Thanks to Rich Fisher KI6SN and the Adventure Radio Society for keeping this fun Summertime QRP tradition going!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

but definitely not quite as bad as yesterday.  The high for today was only around 94F – about 5 degrees cooler than yesterday.

Looks like we might get some thunderstorms tonight – I’ve got some chicken, potatoes and corn-on-th-cob on the grill.  Hope it waits until AFTER dinner is cooked!

Tonight’s plan is to start working on the K3.  I’m really torn between using the KX3 and having some operating fun and the build of the new radio.  Another determining factor is that I am beginning to pack away the KX3 in preparation for vacation soon.  I need to finalize the logistics of my new Lowepro “portable ops” pack.  I’ll try and shoot some photos or perhaps a video once I get the final configuration down.

Radio, key, battery and accessories aren’t the problem.  The problem is figuring out which antennas to bring along.  This year the Buddistick and the magmount will ride along in the Jeep. But for hiking purposes, I think I will end up taking only the EFHW wires that I have pre-cut.  They take the least amount of space and are quick to set up – AND, they are proven, I have gotten decent results with them before, including some European DX last year.

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!