[Elecraft] Newbie needs frequency counter advice, please...

Thu Apr 17 14:01:00 2003

If I recall (it's been a while since I built my K1), you can get a little
off in your displayed frequency, but not much.  Probably not an issue unless
you get close to the band edges.  You can validate your frequency by
listening to W1AW, tuning it to the correct pitch you have selected for your
sidetone, and reading the frequency.  Quite probably you won't be able to
get closer than about 50 or 100 Hz with this technique, but that's pretty
close.

You can build a frequency counter for under twenty bucks, and you can buy
one for not much more.  It's nice to have a 1 Hz resolution, but really not
necessary.  If you build one you are still faced with calibrating it in the
first place.

A more useful tool is a calibrated general purpose receiver. With this you
can validate the receiver's calibration against WWV then check out, not only
your transmit frequency, but also the frequencies of the various oscillators
in the K1 that make up the transmit frequency.  With a counter you can do
this too, but you can't make judgements on the purity of the signal.

Hope this helps.

72/73 de WB8RCR    http://www.qsl.net/wb8rcr
didileydadidah     QRP-L #1446 Code Warriors #35

----- Original Message -----
From: "David Steere" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, April 17, 2003 1:10 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Newbie needs frequency counter advice, please...

> Elecrafters,
>
> I'm a brand new ham with a brand new K1, about to fill the air with
> beautifully handcrafted 5 wpm CW (I wish...).  But, before I transmit
> anything, I would dearly love to assure myself that all my careful
alignment
> has indeed resulted in an accurate transmit frequency for each of the K1's
4
> bands.  It's probably safe to assume that a properly built and aligned K1
> will be accurate, but I would like to make sure.  And, it only seems
> reasonable that an accurate instrument for transmit frequency measurement
> might also be useful in further amateur radio work.  To that end, I have t
he
> following questions:
>
> - What other procedures besides transmit frequency measurement
>    might a frequency counter be useful for?
> - What accuracy/stability/resolution/sensitivity should I look for?
> - What additonal features, if any, should I look for?
> - Will I need to refinance my house to afford a useful instrument?
> - Can anyone offer specific brand/model recommendations?
>
> I've read through the Elecraft archives and found one encouraging
> recommendation for the handheld Elenco F-2800, together with some helpful
> techniques for using it, but this seems to be all I can find.  With such a
> dearth of frequency counter discussion, I wonder if I'm about to buy an
> instrument that I might not really ever use enough to justify its cost.
>
> Thanks for any advice.
>
>
>   - Dave Steere, KG6OSK
>
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