Radio W4KAZ Thanks for stopping by the virtual KazShack. Feel free to comment - I often approve them.
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By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.17 at 06:05:02 | last changed on 2008.05.21 at 10:25:22 | Getting set to head out. Yesterday started with a drizzle and ended up clear and sunny.
We got an up-close look at a few gizmo’s. The Tokyo amps look like a really nice set of boxes. We saw into the guts of the K3. Everybody getting off the bus stopped to gawk at the SteppIr with the three trombone elements. Cool. We chatted up Carl about his really cool N4PY rig control software, which I’m thinking about buying for the K2. The FlexRadio folks gave us a run-down on the flex radio.
We social climbed with a stroll through “EGO Alley”, where all of the big gunz shop. Huge Tic ring rotors, etc.
Our all radio geek day ended with a visit to the FDIM QRP groups’s Vendor night. Good stuff there too.
More today!
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.16 at 07:02:43 | last changed on 2008.05.21 at 10:27:04 | Looking a little gray in Dayton. Bleh.
I sure hope there are some clear spots, at least enough to allow the flea market to exist temporarily. Not too sure parking in the mud pit is a good idea either!
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.16 at 06:14:24 | last changed on 2008.05.21 at 10:26:28 | Not getting to Hamvention in Dayton? Not to worry!
For those who can’t get to the Hamvention in person, there is always the WA5KUB Monkey Cam. Tom’s site now has a chat window, so all of us who wish we were there can ask questions and just be general nuisances to one another. Pretty cool.
The Hamvention in Dayton is a great deal of fun. Make the trip with two or three like minded radio geeks and you will have an enjoyable time. There are outside events such as FDIM, the nightly contest super suites, the Saturday contester’s dinner(pre-order for that one!) and various presentations through the days at Hamvention inside the Hara buildings. And the Mother of All Hamfest Fleamarkets. Hourly door prize drawings, plus the big final day prize drawings. And hams from all parts of the world, especially the US, Canada and Mexico. If you get bored, you probably are not a ham….
If you have never been to the Dayton Hamvention, and may never be able to make it, all is not lost. In the internet age, you can still experience Hamvention vicariously. So for a bit of the flavor of Hamvention, check out some of Tom’s photo’s from 2005 here, from 2006, and mixed photos from prior years Hamventions.
Better yet, hitch a ride and see for yourself.
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.15 at 10:15:06 | last changed on 2008.05.21 at 10:27:45 | ROADTRIP!
Well, I won’t get to the Contest College this year, but Hamventioning is officially underway. Expect blackout to be in effect until May 20th. There’s stuff in the pipeline, but not much.
If you are reading this, then my last minute Hamvention adventure is officially begun. I’ll be snapping photos, but they probably won’t be organized and posted before labor day.
An unexpected confluence of events has set me off to Dayton two years earlier than I planned to go again. Many thanks to my wife for her willingness to be rid of me for the better part of a week. (Thanks sweety!)
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.13 at 05:17:31 | last changed on 2010.10.27 at 13:08:19 | Ok. Let me preface this by saying the following is pretty childish in the grand scheme of things. There are many far more positive things about the K2 than negative, but I will vent here, and thereby cleanse my system of the negative vibes once and for all.
Here are the major problems I have with the K2 as of 2day.
- The low speaker audio level. This one is the most obvious.
- The DB9 connector used for the KIO2 or KPA100 computer interface. This one bothers me because the K2 actually requires a specially wired cable for computer interfacing. Using the standard DB9 serial connector is just begging someone to plug in the wrong cable and toast the radio, the computer or both. I don’t really know what connector might have been a better choice, as all 9 pins are used for the computer/KPA100 cable, but there must be a better answer. There is at least one mod that describes altering the radio connector and cable connector to be “keyed”. Its a good idea, if I can figure out how to slot the female side of the cable. Dremel tool?
- I need a cheat sheet for all of the combination functions. The local brain has ceased storing such information in a reliable fashion. (Yeah, yeah – not really a K2 problem.)
- and….well….That’s IT so far. Shoot, there are more things than that that I don’t like about the FT-920.
Did I mention the K2 is a really good CW radio?
– more – at the K2 Impressions series
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.09 at 05:57:23 | last changed on 2008.05.10 at 19:38:14 | I was really hopped up when I ran across the web site of G3TXQ. I was particularly hopped up by his documentation on his hexbeam experimentation, particularly the modified geometry broadband version.
I played around with my own experimental hexbeam for 17m/15m/10m, back in 2000-2001, right after I had re-licensed. There’s no magic to the antenna, but it does give one the performance of a 2 element yagi in a much smaller physical space. The hex design is right at the top of my “really interesting stuff” list. Its one of the things I corresponded with W4RNL over. ‘RNL was not a great fan of the design, but agreed that it did have its place. I’m not sure of the reason for my own illogical interest – just one of those things.
But back to G3TXQ. He has taken the step of modifying the geometry of the reflector. He indicates that this change will improve the f/b ratio and also gives a broad match that is closer to 50 ohms. The classic Hexbeam design has an impedence in the 20 to 25 ohm range. The G3TXQ version has a flat SWR across the 20m through 15m bands, and most of 10m. Way Cool. Even better, the modeling shows the best SWR and best f/b ratio seem to happen at approximately the same frequency.
I’m thinking about a 15m monoband version now. I guess its also time to go back and surf the hexbeam yahoo group again.
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.05 at 09:02:01 | last changed on 2008.05.23 at 16:39:54 | The Shelby Hamfest will be moving to a new location for 2008, and will be held on the same Labor Day schedule as it has been in the past. In 2008, it will be at Biggerstaff Park in Dallas, NC(aka Gaston County Park). That is closer to Charlotte, very close to Gastonia. Apparently the Gaston county officials were much more amenable to receiving the sales taxes from our purchases than were the officials in Cleveland county.
Go Figure. Continue reading 2008 Shelby Hamfest – New Location – Same Dates
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.04 at 20:15:14 | last changed on 2010.10.27 at 13:04:14 | Did I mention the K2 is a really nice CW radio? Well, it is.
While the performance aspects of the K2 are probably of the most interest to the average operator, I’d like to digress for a moment to a less visited topic – The K2 is really an engineering design marvel.
I’m admittedly not qualified to judge the circuit design, although the radio certainly does the job. What I find amazing is the high quality of the design of the physical assembly. This seems most impressive because it is in the form of a kit. That the kit can be assembled and calibrated with a soldering iron and a VOM is really an achievement. The designers of this radio have really created something special. Given the widespread popularity of all of the Elecraft products I think that is a widely held opinion. That it is really something special would be obvious, were folks to stop and think about it. Continue reading K2 Impressions – Part 2
By w4kaz, created on 2008.05.03 at 22:19:10 | last changed on 2010.10.27 at 13:02:09 | I’ve had the K2 on the desk for a couple of weeks now. After months of drought, we are now in a wetter pattern of weather, so quite naturally the T-storms have mostly coincided with the times I’ve had available to play with the radio. Go Figure. But a few things are immediately obvious.
Now, even though this particular radio was not built here by my own hand, I did take it apart. And after I re-assembled it, it still sounds good! Whoever built it did a nice job with the soldering and parts placement. Continue reading K2 Impressions
By w4kaz, created on 2008.04.29 at 10:12:38 | last changed on 2008.04.29 at 10:14:12 | Here is a before and after of the N1LN/N1YXU antenna farm:
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The photo on the left was taken in the spring of 2007, the one on the right on April 23 this year. The 40m tower is still incomplete in this photo, and it is the tower on the right of the shot. To finish it off, the top antenna was raised to make room for a Tennadyne T-10 on the mast. A 4 element 10m monobander was also installed by N1LN above the 40m antenna on the tic ring.
This is what the finished 40m tower looks like:
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