[Elecraft] K3 P3 and KAT500

Thu Apr 27 19:53:43 EDT 2017

I agree. I live probably 100 miles north of Harry, near Newport on the Oregon Coast. I have participated in a number of simulated emergency tests (SETs) anticipating the eventual Cascadia event with big earthquake and tsunami. 

First, I anticipate that everyone would be living in an RV/Trailer or out of a car because not many homes (or other structures) will survive a 9+ earthquake without serious damage, if they are left standing at all.

So my SET operations are based on the assumption that energy will be precious. I have yet to run more than 100 watts into an end-fed wire strung between two trees. Often I ran only 20 watts with my K2. I have always been able to work over ranges of 50 to 1,000 miles using the best band for the time of day and sun cdx, especially if I revert to a digital mode. IMX voice traffic is tedious, slow and inefficient compared to just about any digital messaging system from CW to any of the more exotic modes now popular. I can sit at a table with various various incident commanders or team leaders using my keyboard to send traffic without interrupting their conversations. 

The one "frill" I like is a battery powered printer so that incoming traffic can be printed and handed over to the others there immediately. 

73, Ron AC7AC 

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Walter Underwood
Sent: Thursday, April 27, 2017 1:09 PM
To: Elecraft List
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 P3 and KAT500

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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