[Elecraft] A couple items of possible interest...

[Tom Hammond NØSS]

Here are a couple items I'm tossing out in case someone might be
interested.
_______

Additional Cooling for the KPA100

   Over the past month or so, several folks have posted messages
   about providing auxiliary cooling for their KPA100 heatsinks.
   And I believe a few web pages have shown some efforts as well.

   While the KPA100 heatsink probably only might require
   additional cooling if the KPA100 was fairly heavily used (e.g.
   long-winded exchanges or in a heavy-duty contest setting),
   there is no getting around the fact that heat from the KPA100
   will eventually work its way into the K2 case and cause some
   warming of components, thus adding to any heat-related drift in
   the PLL.

   I too have built a cooling system for my KPA100. It is NOT
   pretty (in fact, Wayne took great glee in telling me how 'ugly'
   it was <G>), but the fact is that it does help to reduce the
   length of time the built-in KPA100 cooling fan must run, and it
   does seem to keep the interior of the K2 a bit cooler.

   If anyone is the least bit interested, I have a few pictures of
   my cooling enclosure available for viewing at:

      http://www.qsl.net/n0ss

   As I said, the enclosure it pretty ugly. In my defense, I built
   it a couple hours before last year's ARRL CW Sweepstakes and my
   intent was to get it built, and not to make it a work of art...
   that goal was realized... heheh.

   And I'm NOT trying to imply that my design is THE correct one.
   It's a design I've used for a number of years with decent
   success. If you have a better design, please post info about it
   here, on the reflector, so we all can benefit.
_______

The Infamous "Phantom" LED on Some Pictures of the K2 Front Panel

   About a week ago, I responded to a note asking about the
   "Phantom" LED which appeared on a few pictures of K2 front
   panels, just above the LOCK button.

   Some of the original K2 pictures posted to the web by Elecraft
   did include an LED at this location, but it was a prototype
   front panel design which never made it into production.

   HOWEVER...

   About a month or so ago, Wayne asked me to look into
   implementing a circuit design and code change he had made to
   the K2 firmware with the intent of providing a better indicator
   of those times when you have your SPLIT, RIT, or XIT modes
   enabled and might need a little more 'visible' indication than
   merely the blinking chevron on the LCD display. I can recall
   numerous times when, as the result of a previous SPLIT QSO,
   I've called a station in vain, only to find that my (SPLIT) TX
   frequency was still several tens of kHz below where the station
   was listening.
   The firmware change which Wayne has provided, if I understand
   it correctly, holds the SRDOUT (CTRL U3-3) line low when either
   the SPLIT, RIT or XIT modes have been enabled and there is no
   AUXBUS traffic. This allows the user to connect a Hi-Efficiency
   (e.g. low current) LED between this line and the line which
   controls the brightness of the LCD display and will illuminate
   an auxiliary LED any time any of the three 'split' modes have
   been enabled. Additionally, the brightness of this LED will
   change, depending upon whether you have selected DISP DAY or
   DISP NITE. Finally, any data being passed via the SRDOUT line
   will cause the LED to flicker, another 'attention getter' to
   remind you that you are in a 'split frequency' operating mode.

   With Wayne's assistance, I was able to get this option added to
   my K2, with a (yellow) LED located on a line directly above the
   LOCK button and horizontally centered on the RIT/PF1 button.

   The mod uses three (3) components (LED, 1 resistor, and a small
   electrolytic cap), and it requires only two wires to be
   connected to pads on the BACK side of the K2 FP PC board. It
   requires NO cutting on the PC board itself. The PC board mounts
   using the right hand screw used to attach the FC board to the
   CTRL board. There is however one 0.075" (1.9 mm) to 0.1" (2.5
   mm) diameter hole which must be drilled into the Front Panel to
   allow viewing of the LED.

   This mod is NOT currently in production. And its final
   implementation may depend upon user demand.

   In order that you might see what the mod looks like, I have
   placed some information on my web site at:

      http://www.qsl.net/n0ss

  If you are interested, you might want to take a look.

73,

Tom Hammond   N0SS