[Elecraft] Re: Amplified Speakers for KX1 (and other rigs)

[Phil Wheeler]

DYARNES@aol.com wrote:

>Another thing I do once in a while is to hook up one of those little FM 
>transmitters (I use the Irock, which is pricey but pretty effective) to the KX1's 
>output, then wear an FM radio headset, or any portable/pocket FM receiver for 
>that matter.  Then you can boost the audio using the FM receiver, and you 
>aren't tethered to the rig.  That way, when you are in "receive" mode, you can 
>stretch a bit.
>

That could really puzzle some nearby FM listeners  :-)

>
>Regarding the wattmeter accuracy thing, I have an OHR WM-1 which I just 
>recalibrated, so hopefully it is close.  I have a couple of other wattmeters that 
>are "supposed" to be 5% plus or minus, and they seem to agree with my readings 
>on the WM-1.  But I don't have anything of truly certifiable accuracy. 
>

My best meter (I think!) is the Steve Weber AD-chip based digital QRP (0 
-10 W) wattmeter.  Presumably reads 3% of reading accuracy (but that 
assumes I built it right!).  It may be significant that that my other 
two qrp wattmeters (WM-2 and a 5 W Diamond with 5% FS accuracy) always 
read higher.  Of course, I'd prefer to believe them ;-)

I don't have a Bird and I did not know there was a Bird option that gave 
good accuracy in the 0-5 W range.  Since a recent post suggested 
otherwise, I will look into that.

I'm not much into attaching my scope to measure power.  So long as I'm 
convinced the rig is working in the right ballpark (I am), getting a 
precise reading of 1.2 vs. 1.5 W or so really does not interest me 
enough to go to the trouble.  I've been more interested in the 
variations builders are getting between the readings on the three bands 
(all pretty uniform in some cases, 30 significantly higher in others, 
etc).  Also surprising is that I get pretty much the same with 9 V 
supply (1.2 W on all bands) but larger variations at 13.8 V.  I suspect 
the gurus have a good explanation for that, too.

73, Phil