[Elecraft] K1 Kit

[Rod Adams]

Hi All,
        I began Alignment and Test, Part 1 yesterday. It was reassuring =
that on powering up that there was no smoke or funny smells. I must =
admit I had sweaty palms until the led test worked, from then on every =
thing happened exactly as described in the manual. The Dot Dash was not =
tried as I don't have any paddles, being a straight key man.
        VFO Alignment, range test and adjustment were achieved with a =
minimum of fiddling with L1.
Band Assignment caused a few problems, but I think this was more due to =
my unfamiliarity with the control system.=20
        Receiver Alignment started very well (signal source was my FT817 =
on 300mW) When peaking 7MHZ I could hear signals on the band, this was =
with 18 inches of hook-up wire for an antenna! When I got to 14MHZ I =
could not hear a thing, even with the 817 cranked up to 4W. Panic time! =
I gave the caps a bit of a twirl and things seem to come good after =
that, further testing will reveal whether I've fixed it or maybe I have =
an intermittent fault.
        With receiver alignment finished I relaxed a bit and spent the =
next two hours tuning around the bands geting used to the tuning rate =
and the filter widths. This rig seems to hear well. I think I will do =
some actual operating before I decide to modify filter widths I also =
need more practice on how to drive the control system. I will make a =
start on the transmitter section today.
        Can anyone on this list recommend some inexpensive paddles, =
they'll only be used for programming the message memories.
                                                                         =
       73
                                                                         =
       Rod  VK3CBO



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