Subj : Re: K2 question
To   : DAVID PRATT
From : Jim Edmondson
Date : Mon Sep 10 2001 11:00 am

DAVID PRATT,Fidonet writes:

 >I made a K2 about a year ago and it has rekindled my interest in ham 
 >radio.
 >I should not worry about L34 not obviously peaking. Mine didn't 
 >either.
 >Even trying to peak it with Spectrogram does not make much difference.
 > I
 >ended up positioning the core about one turn from the top (as the 
 >manual
 >says), and it works fine.

I got to spend some more time with it connected to a DVM and found, as you 
said, it is a very broad peak indeed.  I ended up changing the 180pF cap to 
150pF and that brought the top of the bandpass off the top of the can.  Once I 
found both skirts it was much easer to try and center the passband.  I also had 
low power output on 20 meeters.  After eliminating all the obvious, padded the 
trimmers with about 10 pF caps and that brought the BPF into range.  Gary at 
elecraft is sure nice to work with on these sort of issues!
 >
 >I am highly delighted with the rig. I have the KAT2 auto-atu, KSB2 
 >SSB
 >module, KNB2 noise limiter, top band module, Battery module and, more
 >recently, the KIO2 I/O module.  My KAF2 AF filter/realtime clock is 
 >on
 >order and expected any day. It loads up a 33 foot end fed wire on all 
 >bands
 >from top band to 10 metres giving a very respectable SWR.   A *very*
 >recommended rig!

I finished the SSB and 160M boards without a problem.  The SSB board was a 
challenge on the old eyes but worked first time. Finishing the KATU tonight, if 
it all works. ;-)  So far I'm very impressed with this little rig.  I hope to 
order the KAF2 and KNB2 soon to keep up the building momentum.  What is your 
impression of the noise blanker?  Is it a worthwhile addition?

Thanks for the feedback on peeking the coil.  I'm glad to know I'm on the right 
track.

73
Jim
WA7KQG


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