[Elecraft] Is a K2 Realignment Advisable

[Bill Coleman]

On Feb 13, 2006, at 10:33 AM, Jim Harris wrote:

> My K2/100 (S/N 4787) is about 10 months old.  My
> question is at what point, or ever, should all the
> initial alignments be repeated?  There are several
> reasons for asking the question other than electronic
> components simply drifting a bit with age.

Old tube-type rigs required this every year or so, because the heat  
aged the components. Modern components and equipment are much better  
and don't get nearly so hot.

> 1.  Recently I've noticed when it is initially turned
> on the received frequency is about 100 hz high judged
> by the pitch of people's voices that I know.  After
> 20-30 minutes they drift to near exact frequency.

I had this sort of problem before I installed the PLL and BFO  
stability mods. Your K2 may be recent enough to have come with these  
modifications.

> 2.  When initially turned on and transmitting right
> away I've had reports of distortion like I'm crowding
> the mike.

Ditto the above.

> 3.  When doing the initial alignment I had a terrible
> time with zero beating due to bad hearing.  A frequncy
> counter finally helped solve that to some degree.

The K2 is never going to be a precise frequency meter. Due to the  
nature of the tuning mechanism, it could have an error as large as 30  
Hz.  I wouldn't sweat a re-calibration unless you find it to be a kHz  
or two off.

> 4.  I did not use spectrogram as it seemed confusing
> and my radio seemed to play well enough without it.
> It is still equal to or better than my IC746Pro.

Programs like spectrogram can really help to adjust the filters  
accurately.

> I just hate to fix it if it's not broke.  But, I'm
> wondering if I could squeeze a little more performance
> out of it.  I hate to have my K2 on the bench for 2-3
> days and not be able to use it.  Well, what does
> everyone say.  Go for it or not?
>
> Thanks for the help and bandwidth.

Wait until you want to make a mod or some other change. Enjoy it in  
the meantime.


Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr at arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
             -- Wilbur Wright, 1901