QRP outdoor portable with Elecraft KX2 and random wire antenna
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Today I went to the "Veldensteiner Forst". A forrest at Plech (close to Nuremberg). It is a well known area for collecting mushrooms. I tried some QSOs with my new Elecraft KX2 and a random wire antenna (7.5m radiator and 5.5m counterpoise). See one OSQ on 40m (sorry German language). The receiver of the KX2 is realy awesome. "No" noise and very fine and clean signals. But I found a bug/failure on my KX2. What is your expierience with the KX2?
Location: www.google.de/...
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Nice video. It always amazes me what two random lengths of wire, connected to the KX2, can do. That little radio has a great matching network built in....that is.... as long as you order that option.
Thanks for posting,
Barry, KU3X/QRP
No need to apologize for QSO in German language. It’s fun to hear it with antenna descriptions in English! I use Emtech Z-match tuner or resonant antenna with IC705 @ 10 W and having great time mobile. I especially liked seeing this short random wire antenna set up and its effectiveness. Thanks for video DE KY9I
My KX2/internal tuner acts in the same manner. I can only change 15-25kHz (depending on the band) before having to re-tune. This occurs when using 15ft/4.5m of feedline and a 9:1 unun in addition to the 29ft/8.8m "random length" wire. I have not tested it using only a random wire and bnc banana jack as you have shown in your video. I will give it a try on my next portable outing or POTA activation.
There is a solution for that problem. Reset the tuner memory. It is described in the manual. If the tuner remembers "strange" values than it acts like that. After I reset mine, it works fine and the problem is gone. Vy 73
One possibility for the tuner failure is this: The tuner relays hold their state while their coils are not energized. This of course is essential to conserve the battery. A slight movement could be enough to cause them to flip from their correct state.
It happens also if the KX2 wasn't moved at all. You begin to send CW and SWR is perfect. after switch back to RX the tuner change values (you hear the relais clicking. So it is controlled active from the radio). After this the SWR is bad.
Very nice outing! I've lived in Germany many years ago and I miss much about it. Thanks for sharing! The KX2 is a great radio and I think I'll own it some day. 73-
Very nice video. Thanks for sharing this. 73 from Missouri, USA.
Björn,
Heartiest congratulations with new RIG. Probably the best one from compact, all modes and lightweight ones!
I also sold my Xiegu G90 due to very high noise level (floor) even comparing with my DIY mini sw2017 (there is video on my youtube chan).
KX2 in all videos sounds awesome.
That is right. I don't like the chassis of the Elecraft transceivers. It feels very cheap. But the RX is perfect. (TX as well...)
@@echopapaqrp8166 It looks like an amazing radio. Good luck with the tuner issue. Are there any user forums for the KX? I just wish they would make a case like the Discovery. Too bad the Discovery doesn’t have a tuner and battery built in. 73’s
@@techguy9023 I think there are a lots of formums for the KX2. You are right. the case is realy sh*t. The Discovery is the new reference. I think I read about an tuner to attach to the backside. I keep an eye on this nice transceiver 😃
@@MrVertigo1971 Some parts of the electronics are bad too. e.g. the internal battery of the KX2. Why it cannot be charged inside the KX2? Every cheap china gadget can do that. The battey lies directly on the main board and touches very small RF components.. this is realy a bad design. But... it seems to work. The receiver quality is awesome good...
I saw the same effect and it went away by using ferrites on a coax. I think it is RF power altering the tuner operation.
Well at least you got your Kx2. I just placed an order for one and ELECRAFT is saying 8-12wks. So, it looks like February 22’. But I wanted one and I wanted to order it before the Nov 15 price increase. And, thanks for the vid.
Many congrats Björn. I'm expecting my kx2 this week 🤞That's a sweet minimal setup. I will add a tuner and battery in the coming months when cash permits. 73s Steve MW0SAW
I ordered it incl. tuner. But the battery I build with an better LiPo Cell. It has the same formfactor and cost 1/4 incl. charger.
@@echopapaqrp8166 great, can you share a link or model of the battery you used? 73 Steve MW0SAW
@@stevewheatstone1856 Hello Steve, I bought the battery at ebay. But they have an own store: www.eremit.de. It is an 18550x3 LiPo battery with BMS. Rating 11,1V 2,8Ah.
@@echopapaqrp8166 many thanks, don't think they ship to UK but I will take a look on Ebay now you have given me the idea. Kx2 arrived yesterday! Very happy with it so far.
I have the Xiegu x5105 which is pretty sweet with similar features of the KX2 but dang I love the look of the KX2 and its decode feature is way better than I can get the Xiegu to do on CW.
lovely!
it woudl be great to see more of that antenna!
I liked what what I saw. It is nice to subscribe to a German ham. 73 👍
Thanks 👍
I like the nice shiny KX2.
Hello! Nice video! I am not an expert but I have noticed that with my Xiegu G90, short antennas have narrower bandwidth than longer antennas. The 20m band is quite wide, so a short antenna will most likely not be able to be tuned up for the entire 20m band at once. So, if you have tuned in to the CW side of 20m, you might need to tune up again for the SSB portion or other areas of the band. To test this, cut yourself a significantly longer wire and see how your radio tuner copes at different parts of the band. I have to mention that the KX2 is an awesome little rig (I'm super jealous!) , and I also love the freedom and portability offered by end-fed random wire antennas! :-D
73, Jan (M7HNK)
Hi Jan, short antennas (with loading coils) normaly shows a wide bandwitdh. Mono band dipoles are small. But it depends on the antenna. I used the internal tuner of the KX2. The vertical antenna is a little bit strange. To gain SWR 1:1 I have to shorten the antenna about one telescopic segment. So I loose a lot of radiation lenght. If I use the KX2 I expand the antenna fully and tune the antenna. So I use the maximum lenght possible. Interesting is a comparison between this both modes. Maybe one mode has less losses. 73
@@echopapaqrp8166 One thing is for sure, playing with radio is fascinating! :-)
Thank you for documenting your experiences, I hope to start doing so myself. There is so much to learn!
Wow! Thanks for the demonstration.
I know the fist at 1:30 🤗 great setup and video 🤗
Enjoyed the video! What is the sinkhole?
Oh, I love the QSO auf Deutsche. Vielen Dank
Danke 👍
Great video..Was the random wire vertical up the tree or horizontal between them pls?
You can see it in the video. It was horizontal between two trees. Hight only 2m or so.
@@echopapaqrp8166 That's all you need.
hallo mit welchem kabel hast du die 7,5 mt random und contraprise gemacht? vielen dank für die antwort Marco in3ufw jn55mv
Great 😊 video
Thanks for sharing
73 de KK7GiJ!!!
thanks
Good video, my KX2 internal tuner has had the same issue once in awhile, I believe it's the wire changing conditions? I also use the Elecraft T1 ATU with a Yaesu FT-818. Tschuess de AI5DD
I had a talk with the German Elecraft support. It was the memory of the tuner. You can delete this memory. For me this works very fine. After resetting the memory the problem never came back. Vy 73 de Björn
Wish I could drop $1400 on a radio right now but I just bought nods
I think you are expecting too much from the tuner to lose tune if you shift frequency. I have used a 16m radiator and 4m counter poise as a random wire set up and worked from vk5 to eu during my afternoon on SOTA. vk5cz..
The tuning range is much bigger. The shown problem also occurs if you tune a perfect 50 ohms dummy load. Tune, shift 20kHz down, TX. Than it happens.
@@echopapaqrp8166 I have had my kx2 only a few weeks, I see the same behaviour. If I listen carefully on TX I hear a relay click as the radio loses its match. I'm using almost identical antenna, Im using 2x25ft pieces of wire as per the kx2 manual. I might email Elecraft, did you get any further with understanding this behaviour? 73 Steve MW0SAW
@@stevewheatstone1856 I was in touch with my elecraft distributor at Germany. You have to delete the LC memory of the tuner. Go into MENU:ATU MD on the affected band and do a CLR (hold of the OFS knob). That solved the problem. Now it is like expected. I deleted the memories on all bands.
@@echopapaqrp8166 Thank you so much for the feedback from your dealer. Will give it a try in the next few days. Cheers and 73. Steve MW0SAW
Was that a bomb crater from the war you were operating by? I do the same minimalist operating with my x5105......fun stuff. 73
At this area there are a lot of caves. So you can see a lot of this "holes". It is a broken cave roof. 73
👍
Nice what was the length of the random wire??
7.5m for the radiator and 4.5m for the counterpoise.
Oh boy I got to practice my German with this video. Northern German people pronounce their words more slowly. Easier to understand.
Very nice de HL1KKC
Thank you very much. DL2NEP
Awesome! AWDH de R3TKT.