[Elecraft] RTTY contesting with KX3 and KXPA100

[Chris Tate - N6WM]

All  I got some very good feedback from one KX3 RTTY contester on this...(much appreciated) so I thought I would share with the other KX3 owners so they can be informed.

  It sounds like for taking the KX3 in the pelican case to a remote DXped/contesting location.. some extras need to be added to the kit.  First an enhanced heat sink for the KX3 itself..(doesnt need to be the best one out there if you are driving the amp, but if you decide to go 5w qrp definitely the best one you can find. 

If you are going to use the whole KX line a  muffin fan or computer fan of some type to facilitate better heat dissipation for the KXPA100 in heavy yet not continuous duty cycle.

Thoughts.. 

This is just a bit surprising to me since most of the past Elecraft offerings have been so over engineered in the past  (take the K3 and the KPA500 for example.. basically bulletproof at their specified power levels).  I am reading fairly clearly  that is not the case with the KX Line.  In particular with digital modes.  So I will purchase an aftermarket heat sink for the KX3 and rig up a fan tapped into the powerpoles feeding my KXPA100 to put in as needed.  Shouldn't add to much bulk to the setup.  keeping things frugal, light,  and portable is a great advantage of the platform.. unfortunately the compromise in size seems to have come at the expense of the higher duty cycle modes and departs from the historical bulletproof engineering strategy.  

The KXPA100 manual specifies a 60 second keydown continuous carrier for digital..  But feedback for actual field use indicates that even the KXPA100 in a typical few seconds on few seconds off will eventually trip its heat protection without some help..  Again some enhanced specifics of the actual safe limits of both the KX3 and the KX3/KX3100 combo would be appreciated.  Other than that its such a cool little setup.

Chris
N6WM
________________________________________
From: Elecraft [elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] on behalf of Chris Tate - N6WM [ctate at ewnetinc.com]
Sent: Saturday, May 09, 2015 7:50 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] RTTY contesting with KX3 and KXPA100

Maybe Wayne or Eric could chime in if the greater group doesn't have some feedback for this.   Id rather be up to speed rather than get caught off guard 6000 miles from the home qth :-)

Sent from my iPhone

> On May 9, 2015, at 9:21 AM, Chris Tate - N6WM <ctate at ewnetinc.com> wrote:
>
> On the subject of JT65 and the KX3 heat compensation with high duty cycle dig..I am curious. Has anyone done a contest like NAQP RTTY with a KX3, particularly if you have the newer Elecraft based heat sink mod that was implemented in Dec 14?  I was wondering if the heat protection will kick in with a fairly aggressive cq rate in 2 scenarios:
>
>
> 1.       qrp at 5 w
>
> 2.       with the KXPA100 at higher power
>
> Looking for a general idea of the tolerance of the KX3 itself and also if it can maintain max drive of the KXPA100 with a moderately high duty cycle . (AFSK for now..)
>
> I have put together a KX3/KXPA100 setup for IOTA and to travel with me to CE3, and want to make sure I understand my real world limitations and tolerances.  Appreciate hearing real world experience,  as well as opinions based on the tolerances of the rig/amp if I decide to jump into a contest like NAQP domestically, and internationally from the Santiago CE qth.
>
> Thanks in advance for your feedback.  (oh and yes, I am a contester, and yes, I am very observant of my signal quality : -).   Please let's not go there.)
>
> Thanks
> Chris
> N6WM
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