[Elecraft] KX3: How much space inside?

Thu May 26 02:24:44 EDT 2011

There was once some hope the K3 would be able to this, using 
transverters.  Sigh.

But with something like the Funcube dongle, it's just a matter of 
software to support the combination.

73, doug

On 25-May-11 18:44, Lew Phelps K6LMP wrote:
> yes, the FT-736R, not the number I originally typed. Thanks for catching that.
>
> and yes, full duplex cross band would be essential for satellite work.
>
>
> Lew
>
> On May 25, 2011, at 11:36 AM, Alan Bloom wrote:
>
>>> I'm thinking of an up-to-date version of the Yaesu FT-936R
>>
>> 736, right?
>>
>> One feature the FT736 has is full duplex cross-band, to support
>> satellite operation.  Is that something the VHF/UHF K3 should have also?
>>
>> Al N1AL
>>
>>
>> On Wed, 2011-05-25 at 11:05 -0700, Lew Phelps K6LMP wrote:
>>> Here's another member of the group offering unsolicited product design
>>> ideas to Elecraft...which they surely don't need, but I know they
>>> welcome.
>>>
>>> My "big wish" product for Elecraft would be an adaptation of the K3
>>> with multiple slots for small-ish transverters to make a pure VHF/UHF
>>> rig.
>>>
>>> I'm thinking of an up-to-date version of the Yaesu FT-936R, which was
>>> and still is very popular with the weak signal VHF/UHF crowd. It has
>>> four slots for band-specific modules. The rig came standard with
>>> modules for 6 meters and 2 meters installed, and two open slots that
>>> you could fill with 220, 440, and/or 1296 mHz modules. One could also
>>> remove the 6 meter module and use all four slots for vhf/uhf bands.
>>> Hams could buy the bare rig and as many or as few of the band modules
>>> as they wished (sort of a precursor of the K3 modularity, but more
>>> limited than Elecraft's offerings). Even today, with all the whiskers
>>> the 736 has grown over the years (and its mediocre sensitivity), the
>>> "scarce" 222 mHz and 1296 mHz modules fetch $400 to $800 on eBay.
>>>
>>> That, I think, indicates how much demand there is for a rig tailored
>>> specifically for the VHF/UHF contesting crowd, EME and satellite
>>> work.
>>>
>>> The 736 modules put out 25 watts except for 6 meters. Each band had
>>> its own antenna jack, facilitating attachment of amplifiers as desired
>>> with less band-switching complexity.
>>>
>>> I can envision a "K-4" line based on the K3, but with the inside
>>> reconfigured to accept transverter boards plugged into a mother board.
>>> If they could be engineered to output 16 watts, you could get 500
>>> watts out from a dedicated one-band amp with 15 dB gain. With 25 watts
>>> out, you could reach 800 with an amp.  The band-specific amps could go
>>> into a separate box or boxes, "plug and play" with the K-4.  That
>>> would create a great weak signal VHF/UHF setup! The K3 is a marvelous
>>> IF strip as it stands. This would make a more compact and
>>> purpose-specific rig than the K3 plus separate transverters, since you
>>> need a K3 plus a transverter plus a separate amp for each band to
>>> output 500 watts on any UHF band.
>>>
>>> To achieve this, you'd have to take over the space inside the existing
>>> K3 that's used by the internal HF amp and ATU, and maybe the space
>>> allocated for a second receiver (although a second receiver would be
>>> quite valuable for contesting purposes).I don't know how much
>>> re-engineering it would take to reduce the current line of
>>> transverters to a form factor that would fit inside the "K4".  You
>>> could also pick up space by making the "motherboard" a single-band 28
>>> mHz IF strip, plus capability for 6 meters and maybe 2 meters,
>>> depending on available space.
>>>
>>> The circuit board for the current Elecraft transverters has about 65
>>> square inches.  One could fit a "daughter board" into the K3 that
>>> would have about 25 or 30 square inches, so I think the existing
>>> transverter circuit design could be laid out on two  "back to back"
>>> circuit boards that would comprise a one-band module that would be
>>> about 2 inches thick; you could install at least four of such modules
>>> in the K3 form factor.
>>>
>>> That's my 2 cents worth on the "next big idea" coming out of
>>> Watsonville.
>>>
>>> 73
>>>
>>> Lew K6LMP
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On May 25, 2011, at 9:29 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
>>>
>>>> We're leaving "hooks" in place for either a 2 m or 4 m transverter (or
>>>> possibly both) in the KX3. It would be in the ~5W range, and would
>>>> substitute for the optional ATU. If you needed both the transverter
>>>> and an ATU, you'd need to use an external ATU such as the Elecraft T1,
>>>> which can be band-switched and remotely tuned directly from the KX3.
>>>>
>>>> 73,
>>>> Wayne
>>>> N6KR
>>>>
>>>> On May 25, 2011, at 8:36 AM, Jens Petersen wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Tue, 24 May 2011 14:24:00 -0700 (PDT), you wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>> The other thing that would be a huge selling point in Europe if it
>>>>>> could be
>>>>>> designed in is support for the 4m band. There is no radio that
>>>>>> covers 4m
>>>>>> apart from a couple of cheap Chinese FM handies.
>>>>>
>>>>> Oh yes - Hilberling does:
>>>>> http://www.hilberling.de/bo/bo_pdf/pt-8k-2010_folder_a4a3.pdf
>>>>>
>>>>> --
>>>>> OV1A Jens
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my desktop PC with a nice big screen and a real keyboard.
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>
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