K3 – NT1K – Welcome

Another year, another contact! Updates at NT1K.

Yes, I am still here. Just not as active compared to 2011. Maybe it’s the solar cycle, maybe it’s complacency, maybe it’s that I have other things going on or maybe it’s a combination of the three. I wish I could blame it on the COVID-19 situation but my involvement declined well before it happened.

Many things happened since my last post so I figured I would give anyone who actually follows this blog a bit of an update. There will be separate blog posts of things that I feel I need to go into details over. Here are the updates.

New Radio!

That’s right, I sold off my K3 and purchased a new radio… 2 years ago! Even though I loved my K3, it had to go. There was some things I didn’t like about the K3 and elecraft in general. I purchased my K3 at a weird time.

Even though I was purchasing a brand new radio, I felt like I purchased something that was already outdated. Soon after my purchase they released a synth upgrade and then the K3S. Elecraft wouldn’t cut me a deal on the synth so I wasn’t really happy.

Don’t get me wrong. The elecraft K3 performs really well and is miles better than my YAESU FT-950. Biggest issue with me that the audio was just horrible. As a primary phone (voice) operator. I struggled when it came to contests.

The ergonomics is sub-par when you compare it to the latest and greatest from the “Big Three”. However, that doesn’t really matter during a contest when it’s all about RX.

Hello Flex 6400!

Since I always use the pan-adapter with the K3, I figure I would be more at home with a Software Defined Radio (SDR). At this point, Flex Radio systems is a leader in amateur radio SDR transceivers. It’s a no-brainer!

I’m torn between the 6400 and the 6600. The 6600 offers so much more but my wallet couldn’t support the purchase. The K3 basically tanked in value with the K3S and the K4 around the corner. With my lack of involvment in the hobby, I thought the 6400 was the right choice.

New 2020 station at NT1K — My new 2020/2021 setup for now

I ended up going with the plain 6400. Not the 6400M. I felt that if I wanted knobs and buttons, I could get the Maestro. It’s basically a remote head unit that you would get on some VHF/UHF mobile radios

I will be going into a 2 year detailed review in another blog post. Stay tuned!

New Tower!

That’s right folks, I got a new tower! Well… it’s not really a NEW tower and it’s not really a stationary tower. It’s technically portable in a military sense. I got my hands on AB-577. A Vietnam area “push up” tower that supports microwave horns or camouflage netting.

It’s sought after by hams as a quick way to deploy an antenna tower that can support various configurations of antennas. I could never find wind and load ratings but I’ve seen some massive antennas perched on these towers.

I’ve fell in love with this tower in the mid 1990’s when I was a teen. Back then they were somewhat plentiful. I always wanted one. However, over time they became very scarce and couldn’t really use it on my property. Whenever one became available, I passed to someone else and always regretted it.

I knew a few people that had them and I always bugged them about letting go of theirs. Either I wore one of them down or they realize they are no longer going to use it and offered it to me. Even though it was a bit out of my price range, I didn’t want to let it go.

Field Day 2020 is on!

With the newly acquired AB-577, I was desperate to use it. I cleaned it as much as possible and applied a bit of grease where needed. It was ready to go. However, my local club already uses multiple AB-577s and the COVID pandemic was in full tilt so I didn’t think I was going to make use of my new tower.

A small group of hams that I regularly hang out with still wanted to have a non-public field day and I immediately offered up my AB-577 with a tri-band beam. They were understandably hesitant because in the prior year they used wires and the AB-577 can be a pain. However, there were issues with the wire antennas and I’m insistent. It was a go!

The AB-577 checked out. There was an issue with 2 of the 8 tubes. But if you were to install them first, it wasn’t an issue. My big issue was the beam. We were using a Mosely CL-33 . I got my hands on 2 of them for field day. I figured I’ll get at least one functioning beam out of it. Like with anything else, I waited to the last second to get it ready.

broken trap — I am starting to really hate traps!

Field Day 2020 Setup

With everything packed into my small utility trailer, it was go time. On Thursday (the day before FD setup) I dropped off everything at the site so I didn’t have to scramble around in the morning. Since it was going to be a hot and rainy weekend, I just wanted it out of my way.

The next day we started working. The AB-577 went up okay. The biggest pain in the butt was the guy anchors. Since I didn’t have the pound in stakes that normally come with a AB-577, we used screw-in anchors. They are a pain to install. Tower was plumb and ready for an antenna.

The goal was to install the tower with a tri-band (10/15/20) beam and two inverted V dipoles for 40m and 80m. With a triplexor and single band pass filters, we could technically have 5 stations on at the same time. However we planned for 2A QRP using a couple elecraft KX3 radios.

The main antenna didn’t do so well. It wasn’t looking good on the analyzer and I am not sure why. I swore I double checked everything. Other than installing the driven element on top of the boom, I am not sure what else would cause issues. I also brought two 80m antennas and caught that after installation.

Field Day 2020 antenna setup — The AB-577 finally vertical. Has the CL-33 at the top and two wire antennas below. Pool noodles adds +5db

FD 2020 On The Air!

We didn’t feel like lowering the triband beam and made use of the ATUs inside the KX3 rigs. The goal was to beat last years score and with the tri-bander acting funny, I didn’t think it was going to be possible. We had one station doing CW and the other station doing FT8 and voice. However, I’m not sure if there was ANY SSB contacts.

I wanted to do the night shift, I went home shortly after FD hoping that I would catch a nap and return at 10pm to make contacts on 40/80 throughout the night. However, home life took over and didn’t make it. I felt bad for the one op that operated throughout most of the night.

NE1C Field Day On The Air — Kx1x doing FT-8 and N1FJ doing CW at Field Day

The on and off rain that we had throughout the weekend was both a blessing and a pain. It broke the 90f+ heat but getting soaked wasn’t fun either.

We ended up making 433 contacts and got 5,190 points as NE1C in WMA for the Hampden County Amateur Radio Association (HCRA) which isn’t that bad. We beat last years score and out of al the submissions from the locals, we had the most contacts and points. I consider that a success even though we could have done better with a functioning antenna on 20, 15 and 10.

Remote Exams

Due to COVID-19 situation, there are many restrictions put into place and I have been unable to host any examinations for new amateur radio licenses and upgrades. It’s a bit of a bummer because I do enjoy hosting examination. I knew the FCC allows remote exams and was hoping that Laurel VEC would allow it but it appears they had no interest. I figured I would help out in any way I could. Thankfully there were a few VECs that stepped up.

I found the Greater LA Amateur Radio Group (GLAARG). They were hosting remote exams and they seem to be doing very well. I was able to get accredited with GLAARG and help out as much as possible at first. The two/three people running the show (Norm, Naomi) were the nicest people and was proud to do exams with them. I was hoping that I could host my own remote exams so that locals could get license.

I ended up stepping back (but not away!) from it as my situation at home and work took over. As much as I love amateur radio and helping others get their license, home and work come first.

No More Free Licenses

When I found out that the FCC was implementing fees for amateur radio applications, it made me angry.

With the combination of free study resources such as “KB6NU No Non-sense Study Guide” and Hamstudy.org along with my free exams, there was absolutely no cost barrier to obtain an amateur radio license.

However due to the RAY-BAUM act, the FCC has to implement FEEs. I am bit annoyed that the ARRL didn’t see this coming and more annoyed that they didn’t do anything until AFTER the FCC suggested the rule change. At first it was $50 application fee. After many letters from hams, the FCC lowered it to $35 but they are still implementing fees.

Even though exams through laurel is still “FREE”, the candidate will have to go to the FCC’s website and pay them directly in order to obtain an amateur radio license. This also goes with any renewals and vanity applications. Admin updates such as address/name changes are free as the FCC wants a current address.

The FCC is also making it so you have to provide a valid e-mail address and you can no longer use a Social Security Number (SSN) on the NCVEC form 605. The candidate will need to create an account on the ULS and obtain an FRN prior to any exam. This can be an issue from anyone underage or for those who don’t really use the internet and/or a computer.

I Did Some Contests!

Not counting Field Day, I did some contests from the QTH. During the summer I installed a remote antenna relay and a 160m inverted L antenna but I didn’t get the vertical part as high as I wanted it. I used it to play in one of the 160m contests. I didn’t get much DX but I had lots of fun.

SmartSDR 160m contest — 160 meter contest. Lots of signals. Mostly regional/local.

Also played around in the ARRL 10M contest. I was more focused on recording the contest than trying to make contacts. I use N1MM for contest logging and QSOrder is a popular plugin. Thankfully it supports multiple inputs. However, I am having trouble recording my end of CW contacts as flex doesn’t really import the CW Sidetone as there is a delay.

Other Personal Projects.

After field day that was it. I haven’t really done much involving amateur radio. I gave some presentations to local clubs over zoom about my experiences with the flex radio and obtained the material I needed to make some current chokes, rid some local RFI.

Type 31 Toroids — Some of the iron donuts I got for chokes and RFI suppression.

I plan on make a new set of bandpass filters for the field day crew to replace the ones that I am not sure about.

Since the lockdown and restrictions put in place due to the COVID-19 situation. I haven’t been able to host any free radio examinations and haven’t really turned on the radio at my QTH. There is just no interest on my end.

The Future Of NT1K

I haven’t and I don’t think I’ll ever give up with the hobby. It’s been a part of me ever since I got my hands on a Radio Shack catalog. I’m not giving it up that easily. My 2021 goals is to hopefully get my 160M antenna higher and also get antennas up for 80m and 40m. I’m hoping to get 5 band DXCC using LoTW.

As for this blog, I still attract visitors and I still get e-mails from people showing off things they built from prints that I made or projects that I went into detail about. It puts a smile on my face and hope to update a lot of articles.

I let the domain associated with my old callsign lapse thinking it would just go away. Well, I guess it was popular enough to where someone purchased it and then tried offering it back to me at an exaggerated price. Since I had no interest, it now forwards to a very graphic adult site. So if you ended up there by mistake, my apologies.

That’s it for now. Please stay tuned!

More Kool-Aid Please! New Rig In The Shack

Along with recent antenna improvements I felt I needed to improve my rig. I had the Yaesu FT-950 that provided me thousands of contacts, countless hours of entertainment and awards such as DXCC and WAS. It was an excellent radio but it also had its issues. The most annoying thing for me was the menu driven system that Yaesu loves to use. In order to adjust some of the DSP settings or even the power level, you had to dive into the menu system. To make things worse, Yaesu decided to abbreviate the menu items which makes it almost impossible to adjust without memorization or referring to the manual. However the FT-950 was a good radio, I never had a problem with it and received many reports about how good and clean my audio is. It just worked. The IF output option from RF-Space was a big plus. I could have kept using it but I felt I just need a new radio and sell the FT-950 while it still has value.

What to get?

I wanted a new radio but I wasn’t sure what to get. My budget was a little over $2,000USD. I had to sell most of my station off to obtain the funds needed for a new radio. This left me with a decent amount of choices. I can choose either the Yaesu FTdx-3000, Kenwood TS-590SG (The new version), Flex 6300, ICOM IC-7600 or the Elecraft K3.

FTdx-3000 – Didn’t want to get another Yaesu rig. Looked more menu driven than ever and wanted to stay away from having to constantly dive into menus. Not saying it’s a bad rig, I just want something other than Yaesu.

TS-590SG – Great radio and really great price. Obtaining IF output is very difficult. If they were able to have an IF output, I would have purchased the TS-590SG

Flex 6300 – Very tempting. I love SDR and love being able to scan an entire band in one shot. Point and click tuner with one heck of a receiver and filtering is a plus. However it’s not a proven contest rig, it’s dependent on a computer for operating and I am not a fan of having to pay for software upgrades. Still very tempting.

Icom IC-7600 – Excellent radio but the price is too much for me. I also think for the price they would have a better receiver compared to my other choices. I’ve used the 7700 multiple times and really love the radio. It’s more fitting for 756-Pro users

Elecraft K3 – Even though I am not a fan of the ergonomics and the cheap looking aesthetics, it’s a proven contest and DXpedition radio. People often compare their radios to the K3 which means a lot. It has a very excellent receiver and you can basically make the radio work for what you need it for. It can be a $1700 radio or a $7000 radio depending on what you’re willing to spend.

As you may have already guessed, I’ve decided on getting a K3. It seems to be the best for what I’m willing to spend. Even though I wanted something that was new on the market, The K3 still met my requirements even though it’s already a 7 year old radio. The amount of available options and excellent receiver is what won me over. The K3 also allows me to build up the radio over time. When one of the big 3 discontinues a radio, they often discontinue options/upgrades for that particular radio making it much harder to upgrade the older it gets. By going to Elecraft’s website, you’ll see they’re still offering previous radios as well as their options/upgrades. That means I won’t have to worry about the K4 (if there is a K4) coming out and losing out on possible upgrades for the K3 over time.

You already have a KX3. Why not purchase the KXPA100?

I purchased the KX3 as a portable rig to use for things like Summits on the Air (SOTA), Parks on the air (POTA), camping and other portable operations. Even though the KX3 has an excellent receiver, It couldn’t compete with the possible options the K3 has to offer and I honestly didn’t want a mess of cables on my desk in plain sight.

If someone from elecraft reads this, I would suggest to add a docking port on the KX4.

Have a slide cover on the rear that would expose an MCX connector and a pin header that could be used to plug into a dock or cradle that is attached to the KX4PA100 to make it look like a base rig. That would avoid having a bunch of cables coming out the side of the KX4 when it’s “at home”. Maybe put a better speaker into the docking bay. If this was available then I would have got the docking amp over a K3. Having a Dual purpose radio without the mess would be nice.

Okay, out of fantasy land.

Getting The Radio

Being the cheap Ham I am, I had to come up with the funds to purchase the K3. I sold my FT-950, FT-736R and almost everything that I didn’t need in my shack that I’ve purchased over time. I was able to get enough saved up for just a basic K3 in kit form with no options other than the 100 watt PA. I ordered it Christmas week and figured it would be awhile before it would show. Elecraft did a really good job getting me the radio quick. I’ve learned USPS from CA to MA is much faster than UPS.

A Little Overwhelming

I was very excited when the packaged arrived and I wanted to tear into it. However I knew I should carefully read everything to avoid having a $2000 brick on my table. I opened up each box and was overwhelmed by the amount of bags and envelopes containing just nuts and bolts. I couldn’t imagine if this were to be full-on solder kit.

The first hour was spent making sure every single nut, knob, board and panel was accounted for. Thankfully everything was accounted for and even had extra parts. I didn’t have to jump into the “Spare Parts” bag.

My only suggestion is to keep the parts and fasteners in their respective bags and envelopes. Don’t dump everything into one big sorting case because you will be working in stages and some require special sized screws.

I also had an organizer box with little post-it notes stating what is in each slot. That helped quite a bit

It’s Assembly Time

Now that everything is there and counted for. It’s time to assemble. I decided to stream my assembly which gave people some insight as to how one is assembled. I managed to record 1/3 of the build.

You could watch the video but I admit it’s real boring. I was even bored. There are a ton of assembly videos and there are a ton of website/blog postings about the assembly of the K3 so I won’t bother going into great detail.

The build went quite smoothly and only had two moments of stupidity. The first was that I missed some masking left on from their metal fabricator/powder coater on the front panel and noticed After the front panel was sub assembled. A razor type blade and a pair of needle nose pliers took care of it. My other moment was that I plugged the synth board into the wrong spot. However I caught that before it could cause any trouble.

Overall it took around 5 hours to build. I don’t know how long it normally takes but I wasn’t trying to win any time trial. I wanted a working radio and I didn’t want to hear screws bouncing around the case a month or two down the road.

Is it worth getting the kit version over the assembled version? That depends on how much you value your time. I value my time but knowing I could apply the savings to options, I’d much prefer the kit. Plus I get to get hands on with my radio and see what part does what.

It’s alive… It’s alive… IT’S ALIVE!!!

Once the radio was on and calibrated I wanted to get on the air. Thankfully a couple of people were watching my stream and hopped on the air willing to make contact with me. I scrambled to get on the air but had much trouble because I installed the filter in a different spot. I’ve read the assembly manual over and over but failed to read the operation manual which made getting on the air a little tricky. For some reason the speaker wasn’t working and couldn’t get the filters to default to the spot I put them in. After a couple minutes I was on the air and made my first contact with a local. It’s was really nice to know it actually works. After making a couple contacts, I went back to work and installed the 100W PA.

Initial Thoughts

After messing around with it for a couple hours I started to get buyers remorse. It felt small and it felt cheap. The main VFO didn’t have that smooth action that I am used to. It felt like I was turning a sanding disk. Nothing was impressing me which started to make my stomach turn as if I just wasted all the time, effort any money for something that was less than what I had before. It felt like my dream rig was being crushed right in front of my eyes.

But then I tried making a voice contact with someone in the noise on 80M with a strong signal nearby. I narrowed the filter and shifted the IF and that took a lot of the nearby signal out. Not bad considering all I have is a 2.7Khz stock roofing filter. I then applied noise reduction and that weak station that I could barely catch a couple words is now coming in much clearer. I can now fully understand the DX and managed to make contact. The adjustment took just a couple seconds and that knot in my stomach started to fade away the more I dived into the K3. I am now satisfied and I now feel I’ve made a wise purchase.

Let’s Compare the K3 to the FT-950

After playing around with the K3, I started comparing the mental notes I had about the FT-950 against the K3. The K3 pretty much beat my FT-950 in almost every aspect… almost. The FT-950 looked better and felt better than the K3 but that doesn’t really matter in a contest on an extremely packed band. The FT-950 has an excellent receiver but it shadows in comparison to the K3 with even just the stock 2.7Khz 5-pole filter installed. I guess I traded an aesthetically pleasing radio for one with better performance.

The K3 even does things right out of the box that I wish the FT-950 could do. With the K3 I am able to switch from a desktop microphone to a pair of headsets quite easily because the headsets could be plugged into the back. I could get away without using an soundcard interface since there is audio line in/out ports. I could use the headphones and have the internal speaker working at the same time which is good for field day. I have two custom buttons that I could program macros in that would allow me to do many things.

What makes the K3 really stick out in comparison is that I rarely have to dive into the menu system to make adjusts to the DSP or even the RF power level. When I do have to dive into the K3 menus. It’s much easier to navigate. I flat out hated having to dive into the FT-950’s menu system. It wasn’t in really any order and it was abbreviated or numbered. If I haven’t been in the menu for awhile, I would have a real hard time trying to adjust simple things like DNR/DNF and even my TX bandwidth. It’s much easier in the K3

What’s next with the K3?

I purchased the bare minimum when it comes to the K3 with the exception of the 100W PA. Now that I’ve played with the K3, there are some much needed options that I am starting to save for. Of course I would like a completley decked out K3 with EVERYTHING but that isn’t going to happen. So here is my list of options I would like in order of importance starting with what I feel is the most needed with a short reason why

KXV3A – RX Ant, IF out, Xverter Interface – I love SDR and want a Panadapter
KFL3A – 1.8K – 1.8 kHz, 8-pole filer – For SSB contesting and packed bands
KDVR3 – Digital Voice Recorder – For SSB contesting, Can control with N1MM. No more WAV files
KFL3A-250 – 250 Hz, 8-pole CW Filter – For when I get into CW.
KFL3A-6K – 6 kHz AM / ESSB, 8-pole Filter – I like ESSB at times and would need this
KBPF3 – General Coverage RX Bandpass Module – I listen to more than just hams. I have SDR rig for now
K3EXREF – External Reference Input – I am bit of a time nut. I would love to use either a GPSDO or Rb Atomic Clock.

That is my “wanted” list. Of course I won’t be purchasing it all at once but I would like to have at least the 1.8Khz filter and DVR options before field day. You won’t see the 2nd receiver option unless I win the lottery. I am interested in SO2V and even SO2R operation but I would rather go all out on SO2R. I never felt a need for a sun receiver so I’ll save my pennies for something else.

Overall thoughts

It was a fun build, dealing with elecraft was great (because i didn’t), assembly went great and I don’t have buyers remorse (anymore). It’s an “American” radio and it’s a damn good one. Hopefully I don’t drown in the kool-aid

Thanks for reading!
– Jeff (NT1K)