Thom LaCosta,Fidonet writes:

If anyone is using Drake equipment---

http://www.zerobeat.net/drakelist/

Does my TR-22C 2mtr rig count? Geeze I think that is the number, have not looked at the manual in a while. Rock bound "lugable" FM rig that just keeps working. Perhaps the weirdest looking microphone I have ever seen with a ham rig. Looks like something out of a GI-Joe toy. ;-)


--- Aeolus v1.2.2b3 (#96101098)
* Origin: The ChatterBox, Justin Texas (1:393/3)

Do you happen to remember your experiences in tuning L34 in the IF

alignment?

It never really peaked. It got louder near the top of the can but I

never

noticed the other down side so I can't be sure of a peak. I have some information of the Elecraft archives and will use a DVM or Spectrogram

to try

and see the down side at the top of the can. (After I finish assembly

of the

K2!) However I'm curious how you peaked L34 and if you found both

shoulders of

the range.

Hi Jim -
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 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!

73

David G4DMP
Calling from Leeds, England.
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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


--- Aeolus v1.2.2b3 (#96101098)
* Origin: The ChatterBox, Justin Texas (1:393/3)

Hello Jim -
I also had a bit of trouble on 20m as one of the ceramic trimmers was just
a tad small on capacity. I ended up buying another 50pF trimmer that
measured 60pf on the bridge and that enabled me to get a definite peak.

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 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?

The ATU is magic, Jim, but I am not sure about the Noise Blanker. It all depends on the type of noise you want to blank! We are told it works fine
on pulsating noise like car ignition, etc, but on the sort of noise I get
in the shack, it's useless ;-( Perhaps, if there was something in the K2
that I would miss out, it would be the noise blanker.

73

David G4DMP
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