[Elecraft] XV144 calibration

[Matt Osborn]

On Tue, 21 Feb 2006 10:58:58 +0100, <mj at the-jensen-dk.net> wrote:

>     Hi
>
>     A question on the XV calibration.
>
>     I  am  trying  to  align  the XV144 using K2 with XV60 to drive the
>     transverter. It is the QRP K2.
>
>     When  doing  the alignment, there are several times need to key the
>     K2 at the same time to tune on the transvert= er. For that reason I
>     decided  to use the tune on K2<= /st1:place> to transmit as it will
>     TX until I press the key again. All tune= d up and the 20 W out was
>     aligned.
>
>     Now when I have connected a microphone to the K= 2 and try a little
>     USB  I  seem to drive the XV144 power in the r= ed area. And I need
>     turn down the power more then half to not have the red = led on the
>     XV144  on.  So when= KPA100 is installed the power transmitted from
>     K2  can  be  less  then  the  wanted power my the Power setting. Is
>     somet= hing similar the case using the LOW power output of XV60
>
>     If  so  what signal should I then use to tune the XV144 cw or a USB
>     wher= e I talk to the microphone?

The XV144  has a wider bandpass (2MHz) than the K2 10 meter band
(800KHz).  The assembly manual suggests using 145.5MHz to adjust the
XV144 power out.

At 145.5MHz, the K2 is actually at 29.5MHz, well outside its optimal
range.  Check your power out on the K2 front panel to see what the
actual power out is.  If it is less than 1.0, you will be overdriving
the XV144 at lower frequencies where the K2 does produce 1.0.

Try adjusting setting the power out at a lower frequency. 144.8MHz is
a good compromise.  In any case, ensure that the K2 actually produces
1.0 power at the frequency you use to adjust XV144 power out.

If you have an accurate RF Meter (I use the M3 FPM-1 from M Cubed
Electronix) you can measure the actual power at the XV60 output jack.
It should read 0 DBM (1mw) at whatever frequency you choose to adjust
the XV144 power.