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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!

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!

Years ago, that was the title of a song by Buster Poindexter.  That title is very apropos for this coming weekend.  Just to give you a little of our flavor – here it is 10:20 PM and it’s still 82F (28C) outside.  When I got to my car to come home from work, the Jeep’s thermometer read 101F (38C). I thought to myself, “Yeah, that’s because the car was sitting in the sun, it will cool down as I move and I’ll get the real reading in a few minutes”.  Ten minutes later, the temperature did indeed drop, all the way down to 100F. One degree!

This weekend is going to be brutal as this is supposed to last right through Monday. It’s a good thing we had the air conditioning fixed last week. At least we’ll be able to sleep in relative comfort. No matter how bad it gets, though, in my mind this is better than 6 inches of snow and 22F outside.  I’ll deal with this any day of the week!

Two cool (pardon the pun) events took place tonight.  First, yours truly, one of the most inept people on the face of the Earth when it comes to figuring out COM ports and such stuff, managed to download the KX3 utility from Elecraft. Not only that; but I got it to work!  I downloaded from the Elecraft server and then uploaded into my KX3, the latest version of firmware. And I discovered that using the KX3 utility, that you can enter a start up banner. So now, when I turn the rig on, where the secondary VFO display normally is, you see “W2LJ’s KX3” for a few seconds before that changes over to the normal VFO display.

Second cool event:

I completed the K3 inventory. Everything was there! Well, just about everything – I am missing three #6 split ring washers.  But I can pick those up (or an equivalent) at a local hardware store. None of the screws were missing.  In fact, there was OVER the amount needed and that does NOT include the extras that can be found in the Elecraft spare hardware bag. The picture above does not do the situation any justice.  When I opened up that big cardboard box, it was jam packed with bags, envelopes, static bags and other things.  By the time I was done, the entire table was covered with Elecraft goodies – you couldn’t even see the table cloth.

I am hoping to start the build tomorrow night after all Saturday’s chores are done.  I am also hoping for a chance to run over to the park on Sunday with the KX3 a battery and some wire,  If I get the opportunity, I will post myself on QRPSPOTS and maybe we’ll run into each other on the air!

By the way, we’re up to 75 Skeeter numbers given out for the NJQRP Skeeter Hunt to be held on Sunday, August 12th,  I’ll be handing out numbers right up to the day before; but don’t be part of the last minute rush! Get yours today by sending an email to [email protected] 

And no, to answer all of you out there who are concerned about FOBB – I have not heard anything new. I have no inside information; and in fact, there may be more of you out there who have better info than I do!

72 de Larry W2J
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I got confirmation from Elecraft on Monday that my K3 was shipping UPS 3 Day Select. So you have to figure – Tuesday, Wednesday, and delivery on Thursday.  In fact, that’s what the official UPS Tracking Website confirmed for me – delivery by the end of the day on June 28th.  So imagine my surprise when I got home to find a big brown box waiting for me.  Inside was:

Serial number 6625 – just waiting to be built!

Also included inside are the K3 ATU, the 400Hz, 8 Pole Roofing Filter, and the handheld microphone. I also ordered a microphone for the KX3 while I was at it.  And no, before anyone gets all excited, I am not renouncing CW!  I got the microphone(s) for two basic reasons.

1) Doing Ham Radio demos.  I have found that demos go best when you show folks CW and SSB.  There’s nothing like putting a mic into the hands of someone and allowing them to speak with someone halfway around the country, or the globe for that matter.  It’s something that THEY can relate to.  Morse Code is “cool” as I have been told by a lot of kids – but letting them talk to someone in far off Uzbekafgonalakistan is the ultimate “Wow”.  (A note to my lawyer – yes, that is a made up country name).

2) Special Event stations – I really used to like to hunt them.  A lot are not on CW at all these days, a lot are phone only.  Hence, my decision to buy some microphones.  Take for instance the “13 Colonies” Special Event that is held each year around Independence Day.  Last year I was able to find exactly ONE state (MA) on CW.  Maybe I won’t work many; but at least now I can try.

I really have to tip my hat to you SSB QRP guys.  You guys have supernatural patience!  Except for the rare instance, I will stick with CW for a 99% majority of my operating time.  I don’t have your kind of patience.

Tonight was preoccupied with other matters. Tomorrow night, God willing and the creek don’t rise, I will begin by doing a complete inventory.  I don’t expect anything to be missing as K3s are not rushing out the door as the same rate as KX3s.

Oh, and by the way, in case I didn’t mention it ….. the K2 is going NOWHERE!  I am NEVER giving that radio up!

Even though the sunspot number is a paltry 28, I had a good night on 20 and 30 Meters.  Germany, Lithuania, Ecuador and The Ukraine were all easily reached with 5 Watts. I even managed to bust a mini-pileup to work the Lithuanian on 30 Meters.  That felt really good!

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

This past weekend was terribly busy, busier than even I thought it would be.  As a result, I didn’t make it to ANY Field Day activities. Friday (I took the day off), Saturday and Sunday were all spent clearing out my Mom’s apartment, which has to be vacated by this coming Friday.  Thanks to our efforts (my sister, her husband, and myself) we are at the point where only relatively minor things have to be done.  We will make the deadline with no sweat. Well, actually we sweat a lot this past weekend!

My sister and I got into a discussion about the small amount of money that my Mom was able to leave each of us.  My sister suggested that my Mom really wanted her and I to use a small portion of that on ourselves.

With that in mind, I took a deep breath, and placed an order for a K3 last night.  The K3/10, the ATU (have to be able to hook up both antennas), the 400 Hz roofing filter, and (get this!) the hand microphone.

I am excited by this; but have mixed emotions.  I am not used to splurging on myself like this.  Usually, when I get a new piece of gear like my PFR3A or the KX3, I have to sell something or somehow otherwise earn or save up the money (birthday and Christmas money gifts, etc). This is truly bittersweet as it is the last temporal gift  that I will ever get from my Mom.

 But she always approved of my hobby and was glad for the enjoyment it gave and continues to give me. 

Thanks, Mom – for everything!

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

Yesterday the Medion computer speakers that I used with my Elecraft K3, failed. I was WSPRing on 10m and had the speakers switched off at the time but I saw some unusual interference on the waterfall and switched them on to listen. Nothing happened. No audio, nor did the blue power LED light up.

I checked the obvious things such as the cables and that the power supply was delivering 14V DC. It was. I took the speaker containing the audio amp over to the workbench and tried it on the bench power supply. Although the speaker was behaving as if no power was being applied, 20mA was being consumed when the switch was on. I have no idea where it was going.

Without a schematic there isn’t much I can do but I doubt that the speakers are repairable anyway. There are no active components on the circuit board apart from one integrated module attached to a small aluminium heatsink. This has presumably let its smoke out. There are a number of capacitors on the board and the cable connections are extremely well filtered against RFI. I have never seen such attention paid to preventing RFI. I guess that this is because Medion is a German company and Germany seems to be the only country that takes compliance with EMC standards seriously. The speakers were almost completely immune even when I ran 100W. Having a tone control they produced very rich-sounding audio from the K3, unlike its internal speaker which is shrill to listen to and has very little bass response.

I’ve now replaced the Medions with a pair of passive speakers that I originally got for this task but with those the audio sounds boxy no matter how I fiddle with the K3’s RX EQ settings. The only benefit of them is that I’m using one less wall wart!

These Genius speakers look like they might be a good replacement but ordering a pair would be a lottery as I have no way of knowing if they are RF-proof enough. One pair of Logitech speakers I bought were a dead loss. They were handed to the local Oxfam shop within an hour of the postman delivering them as they were so sensitive to RF they were beyond hope.