[Elecraft] Re: general coverage (was: Sprint Summary)

[Wayne Burdick]

"Mark J. Dulcey" wrote:
> 
> Charles Greene wrote:
> >
> > Being a single conversion superhet helps the K2
> > reduce the number of birdies and may improve the IMD also.
> 
> Yes, it does both of those things. It also, alas, means ....
> no general coverage reception. 


Mark, 

It's not quite accurate to say that the K2 has "no" general coverage. On
each band, you can tune some distance above and below the ham bands--in
some cases well over 1 MHz. It's true that the band-pass filters will
begin to roll off just outside the ham bands, but quite good reception
of most of the popular short-wave band segments is possible. You can
tune in AM signals using LSB or USB.

For example, when set for 20 meters, the K2 can easily tune in WWV at 15
MHz. When set for 30 meters, coverage extends through most of the 9-10
MHz range, where many strong broadcast stations are located. On 40
meters, you can tune in stations both above and below the band. You can
even do some high-AM-band DXing, as the K2 will tune typically to as low
as 1300 kHz when set for 160 meters. I often listen to local AM talk
radio on my K2, just to get my blood circulating better  ;)

One significant missing segment was 5 MHz, but this will be addressed by
the future 60-meter option, which will be usable receive-only even if
the FCC doesn't authorize a ham band here. At that point you'll be able
to copy WWV at 5, 10, 15, and 20 MHz on your K2.

Since a large percentage of the broadcast stations one would like to
hear *can* be heard with a K2, I think a better characterization is that
it has "some" general coverage. So perhaps our choice of
single-conversion to a low I.F. is less of a compromise than some realize.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

-- 

http://www.elecraft.com
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