Elecraft K4 NG7M Chasing D60AE Comoros 10 meters CW

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  • เผยแพร่เมื่อ 16 พ.ย. 2024

ความคิดเห็น • 31

  • @kf7bws
    @kf7bws ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Thank you. I have a K3 (loaded) & P3 which I love. Some day I hope to have a K4. Last field day (2022) I got to work with a K4, what a joy, it is one hell of a Rig. Wes Larson - KF7BWS

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว

      Hi Wes, well the K4 is really getting better over time. The last firmware update (free always) was a big improvement. I really appreciated the incremental updates. Have fun! Max NG7M

  • @Jimbo10250
    @Jimbo10250 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Thanks for posting.

  • @RogerWilco486
    @RogerWilco486 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    Masterfully done! This also shows the advantage of having dual receivers. I sold my IC-7610 in favor of a TS-890 (an outstanding superhet) and have been thrilled with my decision except for the lack of 2nd receiver. I'm still learning to copy CW but progressing pretty quickly. Hopefully adding a TS-590 as a sub-receiver will make using this method possible for my station as well. I've already got the 270Hz roofing filter sitting in the box and I'm waiting to install it as a celebration for my first CW contact.

  • @alvarogaitan2529
    @alvarogaitan2529 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Wow fantastic transceiver the best thanks for sharing this gold radio 73 from kb2uew

  • @erikaostlund5229
    @erikaostlund5229 2 ปีที่แล้ว +3

    I like the way the K4 sounds on CW, my flex 6500 rings so badly when narrowing the filters up past 400 cycles. You went right to 150... The flex is A LOT prettier to look at, where the K4 looks like "electronic displays by Dave..." But while pleasant to sit behind my 4 monitors with pretty graphics, it's the radio's performance that really matters. I'd like to spend a week on a K4 and really get a feel for it. I've got the D60 on a couple bands and a couple modes... So much good dx on right now. Too good to watch videos but I wanted to see the K4 in action. Bravo MAX. Erika K0DD

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hi Erika, thanks for the thoughtful comments. Yes, the K4 does sound good. Having been a K3/K3S owner for years it really was nice to hear the sound on CW with the direct sampling SDR. I'm sure the flex is pretty good too, but I have never operated a Flex radio. The later K4 software does have a setting to change to more narrow skirts on the filtering and it does have a tiny bit of ringing, but nothing like the superhet K3 with the roofing filters. The K3 is still a great rig of course.
      I hear you when you mention the multi monitor support and flexibility of the flex radios (pun intended!). They have that part of it figured out. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of the look of the location of the knobs on the 6400 for example, but that's all subjective where I haven't operated one. We'll see how things play out on the K4 with the remote app which we are still waiting on. They (Elecraft) still have work to do. I do love the free updates on the firmware and how Elecraft continues to refine things.
      I see we worked a few times over the last couple of years. FT8 and SSB. So glad to have you in my log. Looking forward to hearing your call on CW! Thanks again, and glad you enjoyed the video. 73, Max NG7M

    • @erikaostlund5229
      @erikaostlund5229 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@ng7m-ham-shack The video was great, I've followed your stuff for a few years. I watched this one to see if I liked the radio. My Opinion Flex is best without a Maestro bolted to the front, I'm computer based totally, so the radio sits off to the side... I have a flex control knob and a mouse, and my radio dial is a 22" monitor... FT8 on one monitor, the radio, cluster and audio interface on another and HRD on another monitor with the log, and rotor control map etc... I am on CW but am not much of a cw op anymore... Had a bit of a stroke in March 2012 and relearned the code as part of my therapy, and I actually have trouble sending on my keyer paddle... But the CWX module in flex allows me to have a memory keyer and live keyboard to radio keying. I do copy code by ear and pencil... Good enough to copy my call and if I listen to dx calls I can get them, and do signal reports. Ceeya down the log, Erika DD.

  • @badahab
    @badahab 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice catch. Cool hearing the stereo chase with headphones on.

  • @PerB_M
    @PerB_M ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Congratulations Max :-) your videos with CW operations made me 2 hours ago order an Elecraft K4 with KAT4. I run 99% CW and my previous favorite stations were Ten-Tec (I have owned most of their models) So now I'm excited to see if the K4's pin diode switching is as good as in the TT Orion. 73 HB9GIM (OZ1EQC & OV2V)

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Thanks for the nice comments. I'm sure you will really enjoy the K4. The pin diode switch works really well and has been refined throughout the production of the K3 series too. Thanks for taking time to comment. 73, Max NG7M

  • @darrinpearce9780
    @darrinpearce9780 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Hard work but worth it in the end, nice catch on 10m. Thanks for posting.

  • @donr2670
    @donr2670 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Excellent++ video!

  • @propagating-radio
    @propagating-radio 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    Nice!!! I was trying to work him in that same pileup. Well done. I like your method.

  • @gm0elp
    @gm0elp ปีที่แล้ว

    Tuned in to hear the K4 cw rx. Sounded clean and crisp with excellent intelligibility at 150Hz. I'm an old Elecraft fan having built a K2 and also joining the K3 continual improvement train to K3s, but got lured away to Flexradio in 2016. Your video demonstrates the importance of timing when trying to burst a cw pile-up, low rx latency at tight filter settings helps immensely. This was impossible with Flex's rx latency (>200ms rx latency unless you sacrificed selectivity) meaning it was more luck than technique if you got through. I'm now using an FTDX101, with similar architecture to a K4HD, which is excellent for cw, but Yaesu doesn't provide rx AGC tailoring and also only provides PTT with break-in rather than directly from RS232 RTS (I miss those Elecraft features badly!).

  • @markvanwijk5553
    @markvanwijk5553 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Very relaxed 👌

  • @wa4aos
    @wa4aos ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Sorry but it sounds like the received CW is kind of pinched and tinny sounding. Maybe it was overloading your mic. How does it sound compared to other equipment you may have. I am considering buying one to replace my very nice Ten Tec Omni 6+ units with Inrad roofing filters and Inrad filters through out but as much as I like them, it would be nice to have some more modern options like band scope etc., I hope the audio is better in person than what I am, hearing. Any thoughts appreciated..Tnx ex 73, WA4AOS

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว +2

      Take into account this was Comoros from Utah. It's a long haul to east/southeast Africa from Utah. So, you will get that watery sound depending on conditions (rx aside). I'm not on the east coast at all! Utah... west coast. I was recording off the actual line out of the K4 audio codec, however in this video I think I had the record drive doing into OSB studio a bit too high and it was clipping I think. The audio on the K4 is very, very good... much better than the K3/K3S (I own both of them, well all 3 now). The Ten Tec is a great rig of course. The K4 superhet module is not out yet, so you don't have roofing filters as a hybrid, so the K4 won't be great in a multi multi environment until they release the superhet module. Anyway, don't take the audio in my video as how the actual K4 sounds. Watch some of my other live operating videos where I think I had the drive level better. I did hear a little clipping in the audio on the strong signals. So I could have dropped the drive level. Max NG7M

    • @wa4aos
      @wa4aos ปีที่แล้ว +2

      @@ng7m-ham-shack Thanks for your report, It is interesting that on Sherwood's list, he ranks the K3 and K3S slightly better than the K4 but still, they are very close. I hope Sherwood will do a review of the K4 HD with the superhet front end as you mentioned. Again, thanks for your input. Its a shame Ten Tec was sold off when an employee purchase option may have saved the company. The present owner is trying but is now a decade behind compared to everyone else including the JA's, Flex and Elecraft. 73 de WA4AOS

  • @FFdo.
    @FFdo. 2 ปีที่แล้ว +2

    very interesting hunting…. curious how do you get that screen up there? do you connect via IP to the K4?

    • @FFdo.
      @FFdo. 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      I think its the hdmi output as source video input on the PC. smart!

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@FFdo. Hi Fernando, yes I use a low cost hdmi capture. I have a full video on the capture device I'm using: th-cam.com/video/78hCqjG4BIY/w-d-xo.html
      Thanks for watching, glad you enjoyed the video. Max NG7M

  • @nj5wrick156
    @nj5wrick156 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Max what programs are you using external to the K4? I really like CW Skimmer and Digital Master 780 for CW.

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว

      I don't use CW skimmer directly, because I use a telnet connection to get the CW skimmer server spots. For example, depending on conditions in a contest or the contest type, I might set a dx cluster filter for the telnet connection to only show skimmer server spots originating in the west and mid-west part of the US.
      However, I actually run a multi band skimmer server locally. Any spots you see coming from NC7J are from my QTH. It runs 24x7. And I run a dx cluster telnet server, dxc.nc7j.com on port 7373. So I can actually get spots from my skimmer server. What when I'm operating, my local skimmer server isn't skimming when I'm transmitting, so it will miss some spots, so I always get skimmer server spots from other stations that surround me.
      Some stations do like to use the user version of skimmer server, but I never have. It's common actually for stations to use the standard version and not the skimmer server version.
      For general DX, I use the DXLab suite. It's free and has a massive feature set to help you chase and track your progress. It's free and supported really well by the author and community. Some might say it has too many features! So for general operating, I use the SpotCollector application in DXLab and it has telnet connects to get human spots and cw, rtty and ft mode spots. I then limit the originating stations where the spots come from and I exclude all spots for K and VE prefixes so I see all the domestic local spots.
      For contesting I use N1MM Logger+. Which has an amazing feature set and is also free. It has excellent support, documentation and a very active team of developers usually make changes on a weekly basis. Again, N1MM has a telnet interface to get the real-time spots from the human and skimmer server spotting network.
      For rotor control I use PstRotator, which does have a cost, but it's reasonable and is supported well by the community and author.
      For rig control, I use Win4K4Suite to multi plex and serial connections that I have which need CAT control. The serial port use requirements are much less with the K4 and it's CAT and spectrum data over TCP/IP. Win4K4Suite also has a nice natively supported spectrum display for the K4. I usually use this spectrum when chasing DX. It's easy to see the pile up and use the mouse to change the TX frequency based on the pattern of the DX station and or the station that the DX last worked (assuming I can hear the station working the DX station).
      For antenna switching on my simple station, I use the 4O3A antenna genius. Not inexpensive, but it supports SO2R and has probably the best port RF issolation for an antenna switch. It has software that I use on the desktop which knows that antenna to switch to based on the band I'm on, getting cat data from my rig.
      For 160 meters I use a Palstar HF-AUTO tuner and there is software which lets you automate the tuning in real-time as you tune around the band. My 160 antenna is a comprimise like most have so it's very narrow banded and I always need to use the tunner.
      For amplifier control, I use VNC to see the visual display on my RF-2K+ amplifier. And for my SPE 2K-FA amplifier, I use the SPE software to turn it on and off and go between operate and standby etc.. The VNC to the RF-2K+ gives me the same capability.
      I also have a Telepost Inc. LP-700 station monitor that has software to visualize the screen output on my computer screens if needed, but I usually just look at the nice big display on the LP-700. It's very nice and is a very accurate coupler based power monitor and station monitor with muti coupler support for two transmitters if have that kind of a setup.
      Wow, I think that covers most of it! Ther certainly are other ways to do what I do and I'm sure I could even optimize things more!
      Max NG7M

  • @nj5wrick156
    @nj5wrick156 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    Max are you using delay times for PTT with the winkeyer when using the RF-Kit amp?

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว

      Hi Rick, I key with VOX and don't use the PTT input jack on the back of the K4 with a WinKeyer. I just set the K4 menu delay before RF out (not the DLY setting on the knob on the front of the radio) to 8ms. N6TV tested and claims the delay before RF is 3ms slow, so 8ms is 11ms. But I still just set it to 8ms. I also replaced my low power relay early in the RF-KIT (for a little faster switching).
      There are pros and cons with WinKey using the PTT out of the WinKey into the PTT in on the K4. What I love with the WinKeyer, is the dynamic hangtime based on your keying speed so that you always have semi breaking regardless of the keying speed. The hand time on the PTT dynamically adjusts. This is a point of confussion on how that feature works. You must you PTT out on the WinKeyer for that to work.
      Honestly with my K4 I haven't used PPT output from my WinKeyer. Longest time, I just used the internal keyer in the K4 and used vox. For software keying like N1MM, I used the DTR line on one of the K4 usb serial ports. The caveat here is the internal keyer isn't synched up with the N1MM keyer.
      It's funny you ask about WinKery, because I just switched back to the WinKeyer a few weeks back, so the keying speed is the same in N1MM and the WinKeyer being controlled by N1MM. Plus, I like the separate knob on the WinKeyer. However! since I'm keying with VOX on the K4, I still have to tune the DLY knob on the K4 to keep things at semi breaking when I change keying speeds. I may, go back to the PTT input from the PTT output on the WinKeyer just to get the auto magical hang time handled by the WinKeyer.
      A long answer! But if you are keying with VOX I would se the TX delay on the WinKeyer to zero (in N1MM for example) when not using the PTT output of the WinKeyer. The K4 setting for delay to RF will take care of the delay to the PTT output on the K4 to your amp. Set the delay in this case. Honestly, I think for VOX keying from the WinKeyer I can't tell a difference if I leave the default at 5ms in N1MM for example when it's controlling the WinKeyer. The TX delay to RF in the K4 is really the controlling factor here and I think it's still in play when you are using external PTT with the WinKeyer. This is a long time gripe from many of us on the K3/S and it's carried over to the K4. The delay to RF menu setting applies to all CW code elements. So if you set the menu delay to RF too high, your CW will start to sound choppy because all the elements are shorted due to that delay happening before every single element.
      Hope that helps. you might want to post to the groups.io K4 group. However, plan on N6TV / Bob, jumping in and telling you to use USB serial port keying. He is obsessed about that. He isn't a WinKeyer fan and he makes it clear.
      I still like the features of a WinKeyer as long as you know how everything works. That auto hang time using PTT out on the Winkeyer is so nice if you are doing semi break-in. Max NG7M

    • @nj5wrick156
      @nj5wrick156 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      @@ng7m-ham-shack I've followed your mods over the last few years. If you need another amp to upgrade let me know. I would love to bring my 2k+ up to the 2k-s configuration. LOL
      Appreciate the info. I've set the K4 delay to 10ms and will try that for a while. So far love the k4, just got to get over the learning curve. Getting there! Rick NJ5W

  • @AJSTOCKTON
    @AJSTOCKTON 2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

    I have D60AE on 4 bands now. Looking forward to your J28MD operation - will you also be operating SSB for the WWDX contest or strictly CW? - AJ / NK4O

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  2 ปีที่แล้ว +1

      Hi AJ, nice work on D60AE. We will be operating the CQWW SSB that first weekend we are there. I suspect I'll get a chance to operate in the contest, but for the DX part of the time we are there I'm on the CW team. Hope to work you when I'm on a station, that would be fun. Thanks for the comment, Max NG7M

  • @andrey_r1fw
    @andrey_r1fw 2 ปีที่แล้ว

    I wonder if there is a possibility for skimmers to work?

    • @ng7m-ham-shack
      @ng7m-ham-shack  ปีที่แล้ว

      Local skimmers when you are chasing the DX station? Yes, operators that have a difficult time copying CW often use a skimmer to try and figure out the last frequency that the DX station was listening on. The best DX'ers and operators will copy the CW by ear. They have no need to use a skimmer.