[Elecraft] K2 Binocular Core

[Brian Mury]

> The K2 should make the full 10 watts on all bands as long as you wind it per
> the instructions, but some K2's just barely make the 10 watts on 10 meters
> and the Elecraft builders are famous for tweaking and prodding for an extra
> few milliwatts! It's sort of part of the genetic makeup of a habitual
> builder/tinkerer <G>.

I've been using a power cord from my PK232 that had a plug that fit my
K2. It was pretty small gauge (the TNC doesn't draw much current), and
was meant to be temporary, but I never got around to replacing it.

Yesterday I finally got around to making a power cord with some larger
gauge wire. The voltage drop when transmitting decreased, decreasing
current draw for a given power level. My transmit current on some bands
was very close to 3.5A, and I would occasionally get the "Hi Cur"
message. My worst current draw is now around 2.8A.

What does this have to do with power? I seem to be getting a bit more
power out of it! My best band is 80M, where I can get 17 to 18 watts!

BTW, the wire I used is 18 gauge. That and 10 gauge are what I happen to
have lying around, and the 10 gauge wouldn't fit through the plastic
shell on the power plug... I will use it for the KPA100.

-- 
73, Brian
VE7NGR