[Elecraft] K144XV Option

[Lance Collister, W7GJ]

Hello Joel,

I have the K144XV built-in tranvsverter option for the K3, and I am very pleased with 
it.  Here are some thoughts about it:

On the POSITIVE side, it is very stable in frequency, and allows me to operate  2m 
EME without changing rigs or cables ;-)

However, it only has ONE coaxial connector on the rear of the radio, so you lose the 
ability to have a separate receive input like you can on all the other bands.   The 
option for a 2m transverter set up is ELIMINATED when you install the K144XV.  So, I 
had to add a pair of coaxial relays on the back of the rig to switch the rig to 
connect to my preamp and receive line on RX, or my amplifier on TX.  Since it only 
has 10w output maximum, I had to add a solid state intermediate amp in the TX line to 
drive my 8877.

If all you want to do on 2m is use it barefoot for repeaters, or have it run through 
some sort of RF-SWITCHED solid state amp, you should have not trouble.  Of course, I 
don't have the FM filters in mine anyway, so I couldn't use it on FM repeaters even 
if I wanted to.

The only issue I have with it is that it seems to be a little off frequency on 2m, 
but I am sure there must be some way to tweak just the 2m frequency.  I know when I 
still had the option of using the external 2m transverter ports, there was an option 
for tweaking the K3 frequency to adjust for variations in the frequency of the 
transverter xtals.

Hope this helps!  GL and VY 73, Lance

On 12/7/2013 2:10 PM, Joel Black wrote:
> Sorry if this is a duplicate post. I think I sent it from the wrong email.
>
> I am looking at further downsizing my station and I have a question about the 
> K144XV transverter for the K3.
>
> My current setup is the K3 (160 - 6 m), the P3, and an Icom ID-880H (D-STAR). I am 
> on D-STAR less than once per month. For that matter, I rarely get on 2 m when I'm 
> at home. Two meters is my to-and-from work and my out-and-about driving band. I 
> don't do mobile HF because it's too much to fiddle with and I drive a company work 
> truck (I probably wouldn't do mobile HF unless someone else was driving). Even 
> though I do not get on 2 m from the house very much, I'd still like the capability 
> and I'm in the process of simplifying and minimizing my life. I thought the K144XV 
> would help with that.
>
> What are the opinions of the K144XV? All good and bad are welcome.
>
> Thanks,
> Joel - W4JBB
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-- 
Lance Collister, W7GJ
(ex WA3GPL, WA1JXN, WA1JXN/C6A, ZF2OC/ZF8, E51SIX, 3D2LR, 5W0GJ, E6M, TX5K)
P.O. Box 73
Frenchtown, MT   59834-0073
USA
TEL: (406) 626-5728
QTH: DN27ub
URL: http://www.bigskyspaces.com/w7gj
Windows Messenger: W7GJ at hotmail.com
Skype: lanceW7GJ
2m DXCC #11/6m DXCC #815

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