[Elecraft] [KX3] KX3 with Alex Loop

[Chip Stratton]

Hi Gary -

I've been using the AlexLoop with my KX3 on SOTA, and it has worked
extremely well for me. The only real downside to it is expense, but if you
can get past that you should be very happy with it.

I usually activate with W5ODS who uses an EARCHI end fed with a 32 foot
telescoping pole. He seems to get slightly better signal reports (very
uncontrolled observation), but it does take a little bit longer for him to
set up, and of course he has to carry the pole - though it hasn't seemed to
be a problem even when bushwhacking.

Of course when doing SOTA, CW at least, there is never a dearth of
contacts, so even if a wire solution were more efficient in the end, it
doesn't really matter much when activating.

It isn't too hard to find the area of the sweet spot when tuning on
receive. I find I usually want to have the preamp on +20dB and the filter
wide on 20m and above to be able to easily hear the increase in atmospheric
noise while tuning the loop since it is usually so RF quiet on peaks. Once
you are tuned, you can turn the preamp off - the signals come booming in.
During the final tune with transmit, I do fine using some dits and the bar
graph on the KX3, others like to use the numerical indication that shows
when pushing the TUNE button (with the ATU disabled of course).

Chip
AE5KA


On Sun, Nov 3, 2013 at 10:00 AM, Gary Hawkins <gary at hawkins-zhu.com> wrote:

> First thanks to all those that responded to my request to see a KX3 - that
> was achieved this weekend.
>
> I'm looking to setup a light weight SOTA setup.  In addition to the KX3, I
> also saw a mini-buddipole and while it seems to be well manufactured and
> comes in a nice case it weighs about 2.5lbs, plus mast with either guys or
> tripod.  An end-fez sloper would be extremely light but here in southern CA
> our peaks are short on trees, thus requiring at least one telescoping pole.
>  This has led me to consider the Alex Loop - appears very light, fast to
> setup, no need to get it more than 5ft of the ground.  Being a mag loop
> should help with QRM at local urban QTH as well.
>
> I'd love to hear from anyone using the Alex Loop with a KX3, and if you
> tried other SOTA type antennas as well all the better.
>
> Gary
> KK6GXD
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