Scotty... I need more power!
My ISP seems to have an issue for some reason.
Icom 208H - Skip Channel
Among the many amateur radios that I have in shack is an Icom 208H. It has been sitting
here largely unused. With winter approaching I figure that will be in my shack or
near my work bench quite a bit more. I decided to spend the money and get the proper
software to be able to program my radio via my PC. I ended uploading in repeaters
and simplex frequencies for the Twin Cities metro, central Minnesota, and as far north
a Brainerd and Pequot Lakes. I also loaded in the railroad frequencies.
I have been pretty impressed the receive coverage so far.
One issue that I have run into when the radio is scanning is an occasional repeater
that is hung up. I can never remember how to configure the memory to skip the
channel.
Now it the note is posted in my blog where I can find it. :-)
K2 - Day TwentyThree
I am trying to track down why my power output is low. I have a couple of hours into
this today... my vacation day (use it or lose it)
----Snip from the email that I sent to the
Elecraft Reflector----
K2 gurus:
I got a note from Gary (support) and Don (w3fpr) with some ideas.
--I checked the low pass filters and the number of turns.
--I validated that T4 is oriented the right direction --No burnt relays
--8R/8T are ~8vdc (R-7.87/T-7.815)
--8R on transmit goes to 0.245vdc
--I clipped W1 to test for PA feedback (no change)
--I removed the bottom panels and cleaned up a couple of joints as a CYA
--Removed and rewound LP for 80m
--Checked & resolder the connections of toroids for 20/30, 15/17, & 40
--Repeaked (on receive) all of the band pass filters with a signal generator
--Repeaked (on transmit) all of the band pass filters
I made some progress: (Original Test... and after some rework)
--Freq-----1 Test----1 Msg----2 Test----2 Msg
3.750mhz 2.5w
Hi Cur 2.3w Hi Cur
7.100mhz 6.1w
Hi Cur 6.6w Hi Cur
10.100mhz 0.3w
Hi Cur 4.9w Hi Cur
14.100mhz 0.3w
Hi Cur 5.7w
18.100mhz 9.5w
7.3w
21.100mhz 4.1w
5.0w
24.900mhz 0.5w
4.9w
28.200mhz 6.0w
6.3w
As you can see I am now getting ~5w on all bands except for 80m. I suspect
that the toroid cleanup might have been part of the answer for 20/30 and tweaking
the band pass brought 10/12 into better alignment.
On the three bands that I get a high current message it appears at the
peak power out and does go away if the power is reduced. Any chance that I am only
seeing power out of Q7 or Q8 instead of both of them?
>
K2 - Day Twenty One & Twenty Two
Thursday was day 21. I spent the afternoon trying to trouble shoot
an RF issue. I built the RF probe and poked around the radio while I was on the phone
with Scott @ Elecraft HQ. It is hard to poke around some of the RF amp sections because
the bottom cover/heat-sink is in the way.
-------------
Saturday was day 22. I went over to N0FP's QTH. He has an O-Scope.
Between two of us we went thru the schematic and compared notes with the O-scope readings.
We were seeing RF thru the entire chain where we were expecting it.... just not enough
RF.
Using the scope we able to measure the DC and the RF. His scope was fast enough that
we were able to see a lot of detail in the RF. Even though T3 tested out properly
it looked like the likely problem. I rewound it and put it back into the circuit.
I also borrowed some small heat-sinks that would fit on the PA transistors so that
we could test the radio without the rear cover.
I am now seeing the proper amount of RF coming out of the rig. I need to take one
more pass thru tuning up the Band Pass Filters. Once that is done I need to test the
output of each band to make sure that all looks good.
At this point it looks like the circuits are playing as expected. Next phase is to
hook up the speaker and close up the case then the basic build is complete.
I have the SSB and ATU option kits to put together next.
Too big to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
I think that it
is clear that I have become a cranky old curmudgeon.
is clear that I have become a cranky old curmudgeon.
-------
cur-mudg-eon
–noun
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
a bad-tempered, difficult, cantankerous person.
Origin:
1570–80; unexplained; perh. cur- repr.
1570–80; unexplained; perh. cur- repr.
-------
This bail out crap
is idiotic. Companies should strive to have viable business models, provide
leadership, and be able to pick themselves up on their own. Since when did we start
rewarding failure? Maybe some of these companies with poor leadership and/or business
practices should go out of business... let evolution play out instead of creating
another bubble.
is idiotic. Companies should strive to have viable business models, provide
leadership, and be able to pick themselves up on their own. Since when did we start
rewarding failure? Maybe some of these companies with poor leadership and/or business
practices should go out of business... let evolution play out instead of creating
another bubble.
I never thought
that I would start quoting Ronald Reagan... but I am starting think that he was right.
Look at the bail-out and then consider: "Government
is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."
that I would start quoting Ronald Reagan... but I am starting think that he was right.
Look at the bail-out and then consider: "Government
is not a solution to our problem, government is the problem."
Too big
to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
to fail is a sign that they are too damn big!
Argghhhhhh!
GM - WTF
WTF
Ok.... this pushes me over the edge. GM is now spamming my
inbox with their attempt to get some of the bail-out cash. What a bunch of free-loaders.
They think that they should be bailed out just because they have run their company
into the ground.
I don't see anyone handing me bail-out money or offering me an easy way out.
GM here are a couple of common sense ideas for running your business:
Provide some real leadership, vision, and consider innovating again.
Maybe come up with a couple of vehicles that people are interested in buying.
Dump some of the crap from your product line that is no longer viable.
Stop comparing yourself to your competition.
Lead by example and stop looking in the damn mirror.
What a lame attempt to skim for money. Now they are trying to put the spin on their
crappy business model.
K2 - Day Twenty
Our weather has become cool and rainy, snowy, and ice covered rather early this fall.
It appears that I am already visiting in the inside work bench a little more and a
little earlier than usual. (Not that inside projects are bad.)
I took today as a PTO day at work (burning up time before the end of the year.) I
decided to spend the majority of the day working my Elecraft K2 project. Looking
at my blog it appears that last time that I worked on the kit was June 20 which is
about 5 months ago... wow that is a long time.
I spent about 6 hours today working on the project. Today's focus was installing the
last batch of capacitors, resistors, and then winding cores and transformers. Tonight
at 8:30 I got the PA transistors installed and the case put back on the radio. The
next big step is the Phase 3 alignment.
This next chunk of testing and alignment will validate that I installed all of the
proper pieces in the proper spots. So far I have had minor issues with each phase
largely due to dumb things on my part. Each of them was resolved with some troubleshooting,
emails, and the occasional phone call to the support folks.
I am not sure if I will get back to the project this week as the calendar is looking
pretty full. Worst case... I have another day of PTO planned for next week. 
I
would like to get the basic QRP CW rig finished and checked out. I still have the
Tuner and SSB option kits to install to finish out the basic rig.
My goal is to be able to finish the radio with the above options and then be able
to order, build, and validate the transverter option kit prior to the January VHF
contest. (Ok... my first goal was to have the radio ready for the 2008 Field Day weekend...
I kind of missed that goal... life got in the way again.)
BNSF pictures
Ben, Joe, and I spent a couple of hours Saturday afternoon cruising around west of
Willmar, MN taking pictures of trains.
2008 ARRL September VHF Contest
Summary:
I was scrambling to swap out my Kenwood TR-751 as the IF rig for the transverters
with an older Kenwood TR-9130. I was messing with getting the power levels tweaked,
the 6 pin mic connector, and the discovery that it has a PTT-High interface. Once
the TR-9130 was in place I had to adjust the TX & RX levels within the transverter.
It appears that my 1296 transverter may only be putting out 4-5watts instead of the
15-18watts that it is rated for.
The weather was poor with rain & drizzle pretty much all weekend. I could hear
the rain approaching 10 minutes before it hit as the noise level on 6m & 2m would
increase from S0 to S6.
The activity level was extremely low. I was surprised at how quiet it was for the
contest. The voice & CW keyer ran un-answered for large portions of the contest.
Finally Sunday evening around 7:00pm I pulled the plug on the contest and decide to
work on homework with my kids, clean my office/shack, and watch part of a movie.
My log is about 60% lighter than I would have expected for this contest.
Highlights:
I worked N0UY in EN18, N0PB in EM39 and then briefly into EN50, EN51, and EN52
Thanks to KC0IYT/R and W0ZQ/R for their efforts to put on a limited rove this weekend.
Without you it have been a really quiet event.
Grids Worked on 50MHz
Grids Worked on 144MHz
Grids Worked on 222MHz
Grids Worked on 432MHz
Grids Worked on 902MHz
Grids Worked on 1296MHz
