[Elecraft] K2 #3421 finished

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

To be fair, there aren't any "birdies" produced by the KPA100. It does =
have
a 4 MHz clock oscillator in it just like the QRP K2 does.=20

Some tendency to drift was uncovered by the KPA100 running hard enough =
to
heat up the K2 substantially in normal operation in a shack. The inside =
of
the K2 may rise as much as 15 or 20 degrees C when the amp is running =
"full
tilt" for a while. However, any QRP K2  will experience the same thing =
if
it's exposed to the same temperature extremes, such as being operated in =
the
field where it gets hot or cold. It just hadn't been noticed until some =
ops
took a critical look at their rigs working in a stable hamshack =
environment.


And that drift has been greatly reduced now with the kit Elecraft just
released. I've been running it in my K2 for several months, and I've =
done
extensive testing with it The difference is quite significant.  Kudo's =
to
John Grebenkemper for developing it! .=20

I like the challenge of QRP too. Actually, the challenge I find is in
receiving much more than transmitting. I like to listen for and work =
very
weak signals for fun a lot. Sometimes they are a tuna-tin or rockmite.
Sometimes they are a K2 or a K1. Sometimes they are someone with a
rock-crusher rig and a truly abysmal antenna. And, of course, any signal =
is
weak in bad band conditions. It's fun to dig for those signals and learn =
to
copy CW that is so weak you're sometimes not sure it's really there.=20

Any time I work a station who reports my signal as being very, very =
weak,
whether I'm running 100 MILLIwatts or 100 watts, I send him a QSL saying
"congratulations" on his copying ability.

And, for my purposes, what makes the K2 such a GREAT QRP rig is not how =
much
power it runs, but how well it "hears" those weak signals.

Ron AC7AC
K2 # 1289=20

-----Original Message-----
I It is much more of an achievement=20
working stuff on QRP.  Reading on here, it seems that the 100W PA=20
introduces various snags like frequency instability and birdies which=20
are not present when using the K2 barefoot.

73

David G4DMP
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