[Elecraft] LP PAN as i see it

[Steve Ellington]

Many people buy the LP-PAN but get bogged down in it's complexity and end up 
selling them. It's not "plug and play". You're dealing with:
1. K3 must have the KXV3 board, $99, installed.
2. BNC coax cable to LP-PAN.
3. LP-PAN $227 assembled.
4. Cables from LP-PAN to sound card.
5. Sound card (special). Not your average Soundblaster! I used the Creative 
EMU 0202 external USB attached "audio interface". $100.
6. USB cable to PC.
7. Drivers installed for sound card.
8. PowerSDR-IF software from WU2X (download).
9. Configure, calibrate and choose from dozens of options and settings in 
software.
"INSTRUCTIONS" for the LP-PAN are found at this link: 
http://www.telepostinc.com/LP-PAN.html
"INSTRUCTIONS for PowerSDR-IF are found at this link: 
http://www.wu2x.com/sdr.html
This is at best, confusing. Paragraph after paragraph of information that 
has slowly evolved over months and months. Useful links, system 
requirements, mods, betas, HRD, SDR-IQ.....It's a world of it's own!
I'm using LP-PAN here. Yes it took me quiet a while to make it all work. The 
software locked up my PC. I had cable problems. I ended up changing PCs and 
the one I have still isn't fast enough to actually use LP-PAN as a radio. 
Too many pops and cracks but the scope is GREAT! I use it constantly.
Yea, you can set there and slowly twiddle the vfo knob across the band 
searching for signals but with the scope you soon learn that you had been 
tuning right past signals and didn't know it! All it takes is a brief pause 
in transmission and you've missed him. Just a few days ago I landed on 6 
meters and sat back and watched the scope. Soon a single blip appeared in 
the cw portion for about 5 seconds. I clicked the mouse in the general area 
and waited for about 30 seconds. Suddenly I heard CQ CQ CQ de W5VYH W5VYH K. 
I snagged him. A distance of 625 miles. The only signal on 6 meters and CW 
at that! It's the first 6 meter QSO I've had in 30 years. The band quickly 
went dead and it was over.
Tell me....What are the odds of me working W5VYH if I had no bandscope? 
ZERO, ZILCH....You could wear out 100 finger dimples and never accomplish 
that!
Did I mention my antenna? A 200' doublet fed with ladder line....The tuner 
in the K3 somehow found a match on 6 meters. BTW: That tuner is astounding. 
It matches things that shouldn't be matched.

Yes I hope Elecraft comes out with a better solution than this cantankerous 
hodgepodge of little black boxes, cables and weird software but until then 
I'll keep on using it.

Steve
N4LQ


N4LQ at carolina.rr.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "N1IX" <n1ix at n1ix.com>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 1:20 AM
Subject: [Elecraft] LP PAN


>I have noticed a lot of LP Panadaapters for sale. I am wondering why.
> Do they work well? I have one but I haven't been able to get it working 
> yet.
>
> Dave N1IX
>
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