[Elecraft] Anyone got their KXB3080?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Jay, W6CJ wrote:

I downloaded the KXB3080 manual and had some questions:

How hard is it to put together for a KX-1 that has already had the KXB30 30M
unit and auto antenna tuner installed?

Has anyone found some universal wire antenna lengths that will work with the
KX-1 and internal antenna tuner - over all four (80, 40, 30, 20) bands?

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As the manual indicates, the first step is to remove the KXB30 module if one
is installed. Then it's the same process as for a KX1 that did not have the
KXB30 module. 

The KXAT1 tuner just unplugs, as described in the manual. The manual shows
how to install a simple jumper that routes RF to the antenna jack for
testing until you're done with the upgrade and ready to replace the KXAT1. 

There's more to the KXB3080 upgrade than for just the KXB30 because for the
KXB3080 installation the whole receiver input circuit is modified. It's
changed from a simple capacitively-coupled input to a transformer-coupled
input.  What you get for the effort is a receiver with slightly improved
performance on all the bands, not just on 80. 

I've seen some posts of people working on combinations of wire lengths for
an 80/40/30/20 meter antenna that the KXAT1 can match easily, but I haven't
followed them closely. I'll leave it to one of those who actually did that
work to answer that question. 

Ron AC7AC