Kit Building Revisited - the Elecraft Way QCWA Chapter 70 September 18, 2007 Bob MacKenzie VA3RKM Mike Babineau VE3WMB Martin Gillen VA3SIE

Eric, WA6HHQ Wayne, N6KR

Who Are We? Both hams since ‘71 Wayne (N6KR, ex WN6HQH) –QRP Design Fanatic (Sierra, NorCal40, SST…) –B.S. Cognitive Science, UCSD –Silicon Valley Guy (Firmware / EE / UI) Eric (WA6HHQ) –Kamikaze QRP DX’er (NorCal40 DXCC) –B. S. Electronics, Yale –Startup Addict: Mountain Comp., Verisys, Elecraft

Goals….. Re-birth of the ‘Heathkit’ Experience Building and using your rig is Fun! (‘Mojo’) Create a worldwide community of Elecraft builders to share their experiences. Encourage portable HF operation. Bring back the excitement of building, modifying, (breaking), fixing and operating with equipment you have built yourself!

Comprehensive Assembly Manual You'll find the manual easy to follow, with step-by-step assembly, clear illustrations and photos, and modular checkout of each major section. There's also a detailed theory of operation section, as well as a complete troubleshooting guide. Strong Customer Support Our technical support via telephone and the Internet will get your Elecraft up and running quickly. On-line manuals, frequently asked questions (FAQ), application notes and our user group list make building a great experience.

(14mHz, 500kHz filter) Blocking Dynamic Range 5kHz (de-sense) Inter- modulation Distortion 5kHz (IMD) Phase noiseReceive Current Draw Elecraft K2 135 dB ma Yaesu IC V TenTec Orion A Yaesu FT1000MP A Yaesu FT ma Icom IC 706 II A Good or excellent score 120 to 130 dB

K1 Four or Two-Band HF Transceiver

K1 – Cover Off

K1 – Side View (Panels Removed)

KAT1 ATU Mounted above K1 Filter Board

The K2 CW/SSB HF Transceiver

K2 Advanced Features CW Full Break-in; Diode Switched TX/RX Programmable Memory Keyer (9 memories) ‘Hunt and Pounce’ Band Search Mode 120ma Low Current RX Mode Built in Test: Freq. Counter, Volt/Amp Meters Self Calibration Firmware

The K2 Transceiver Key Fundamentals: –Good RX Performance –No wires construction; Modular, upgradeable Down conversion to low IF (4.915MHz) –Best trade-off of cost / complexity –IF derived AGC, Variable B/W CW crystal filter

K2 SSB Option 160M / 2nd Ant Option Audio Filter/ Real time Clock

K2 Block Diagram

Aims: Portability Economy Low current drain Pride High performance

Performance features and trade-offs Where does noise come from? - many parts, many circuits (artefacts, birdies, etc.) - reduce parts and circuits and reduce noise, current drain (1)Single-band design using latching relays - ham-bands only, SSB, RTTY and CW (160-10m) (2)Single-conversion - tuning direction reversed above 17m (3)Sleep-mode when possible, periodic table updating - not as responsive (4) Simplified circuitry: No IF shift

Builder and owner assistance Built-in test equipment RF probe, DC voltage probe, frequency counter Alignment and calibration features Self-calibrating PLL, calibrate oscillator by WWV, align by ear, measure power by DMM voltage, align SSB balance by S-meter, align filters by Spectrogram audio software Owner Support Loyal, large and savvy User’s Group Builders for hire Advice and service from factory

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