[Elecraft] Questions on battery, pots, chargers, and paddles

[W3FPR - Don Wilhelm]

Scott,

Answers to 1 and 3 -- the internal battery is quite tightly mounted, so you 
should have no worries about it shaking loose.
I use the A&A Smartcharger on my K2 internal battery, and I have implememted 
a direct (fused) battery connection for it.  See my website 
www.qsl.net/w3fpr for all the relevant details.

73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message ----- 

> Fellow Elecrafters:
>
> K2 #4649 is alive! Actually, it has been alive for about a week
> but I didn't want to declare victory until both CW & SSB were
> fully tested. (OK, 12m is still not working... but I'm getting
> there!) I did have a few questions which I hope the
> collective expertise of the list might help me with.
>
> 1. Travel with the internal battery.
> I've ordered the internal battery which should arrive today.
> Is this thing sufficiently mounted to travel well
> (shake-and-bump-wise)? It will be in a carry-on sized Pelican
> case with all the nice padding but I'm wondering if most folks
> remove the battery for travel (carry-on) or if it rides well
> inside. Opinions?
>
> 2. My audio potentiometer is flakey. Who knows why. While I
> tried to be careful during assembly, perhaps I pushed on the
> shaft. Anyway, it is now "loose" and from about the 40% point
> to the 80% point in its rotation it is clear the wiper is not
> making good contact. Is this common? Are these potentiometers
> especially vulnerable to such things? I'm also guessing that
> ordering the replacement from Elecraft is the best idea
> (instead of trying to match something in Digikey, or elsewhere).
>
> 3. Has anybody used the A&A Engineering smart SLA charger with
> the internal battery? What mods, if any, did you make to the
> battery system to achieve this?
>
> 4. I'm drooling over the hex paddles now advertised on the
> Elecraft web site. It looks JUICEY! But, I would want it to
> be the key that travels with the radio. Does anybody have this
> item? If so, could you render an opinion about how well it
> might travel in the aforementioned case?
>
> =-=-=
>
> Thanks for everybody's help. The little K2 is quite a radio!
> First QSO was with Columbia on 20m from Massachusetts. Got a
> great signal report on SSB 9 watts with a random wire antenna.
> Pretty good!
>
> I'm trying to get all this assembled, tested, and ready to
> travel for Feb. I'll be QRV from KH6 mid-Feb for a week.
> Lots to do before then!
>
> -- Scott (NE1RD)
>
>