[Elecraft] K3 P3 and KAT500

[Walter Underwood]

I’m curious about running a 500 W amp on emergency power.

Expectations for a severe Cascadia earthquake include power outages for at least six months. Batteries and gasoline generators won’t last that long. That is a lot of amp to run off of solar. It needs roughly 1000 VA when transmitting.

I would focus on easy to erect antennas with some gain. For your 10 meter net, a Moxon beam would give 3 to 4 dB gain, about half the the 7 dB gain from a 100 to 500 W increase. And it helps on receive, too, unlike an amp. Even with a mast or tower, it would be much, much cheaper than a KPA500.

http://www.innovantennas.com/our-antennas/view/productdetails/virtuemart_product_id/455/virtuemart_category_id/4.html <http://www.innovantennas.com/our-antennas/view/productdetails/virtuemart_product_id/455/virtuemart_category_id/4.html>
http://www.wb5cxc.com/10mmoxon.html <http://www.wb5cxc.com/10mmoxon.html>

I expect your local emcomm organizations already have frequency plans. From QRZ, it looks like you are in a valley, so you might plan for NVIS antennas. These are usually easy to put up, because they are low wire antennas.

Another option would be a directional wire antenna. For example, if you are primarily communicating with Roseburg, then a 40m wire beam or “ZL special” phased beam might work well. 

One bright spot about widespread power outages—you won’t have much RFI! That could allow working with much lower power than usual.

wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)

> On Apr 27, 2017, at 10:42 AM, Matt Zilmer <mzilmer at roadrunner.com> wrote:
> 
> BND MAP may be set to OFF for 10m on his K3.  See p54 of the Owner's Manual.
> 
> 73,
> 
> matt W6NIA
> 
> 
> On 4/27/2017 9:49 AM, Harry Yingst via Elecraft wrote:
>> 28.400  is within the 10 meter band and your K3 should work just fine there (Mine does)
>> That being said 28.4 may not be your best choice as it tends to be a calling frequency of sorts and even though they may not hear you you may hear them
>> 
>>       From: KG7FYI <stanley at surcp.org>
>>  To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>  Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 12:31 PM
>>  Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 P3 and KAT500
>>    Thanks for all the input.
>> I hope you aren't getting the impression that I am preparing to be a loose
>> cannon. We regularly carry on sets in anticipation of the type of
>> emergencies the State is preparing for. Nonetheless my desire is to have as
>> many options as possible available for our small community. We have been
>> submitting grant proposals to upgrade our 2M equipment to be better
>> integrated into the ARES net system here. On the other hand our ARES usually
>> also does check ins on 28.400 MHZ which is not open on my K3. Not reasonable
>> at all, hence my hope to scale things up. Our ARES group has done ARES/RACES
>> certification to qualify for participation. I'll touch in with our club to
>> see where we are regarding our RACES commitment. In the mean time also I'll
>> make contact on my own. Thanks.
>> 
>> 
>> 
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> 
> -- 
> "A delay is better than a disaster."
> -- unknonwn
> 
> Matt Zilmer, W6NIA
> [Shiraz]
> 
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