[Elecraft] K4 Field Day report

Mon Jun 24 16:39:47 EDT 2019

Great update Wayne

Well it's all relative.
Saturday, I got to FD, 2.5 hours from home, to a sister Clubs operation,
they invited me to come down and work some cw.
When I arrived, they were running an American rig (not Elecraft) on  CW
station, I operated it for a few hours.

 I asked if they minded if I ran my own radio, which was no problem.

I'm sure  glad I brought my pelican case, with my trusty "old" k3 and p3,
no "s", no updates, no narrow filters, no nuttin!

It was like going from an HW-7 to a K2...

Sorry, but I'm ruined.

Have Elecraft, will travel.

I won't be moving to a k4... No need.

 I'm happy.

73 all
Dean K2WW

On Mon, Jun 24, 2019, 13:32 Nr4c <nr4c at widomaker.com> wrote:

> Hopefully there will be a lot of them in users hands by then (MINE)!!
>
> Thanks for the update.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> ...nr4c. bill
>
>
> > On Jun 24, 2019, at 1:11 PM, Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> >
> > George (KJ6VU), John (KJ6K) and I operated a basic K4 for several hours
> as the 20 meter CW station at the Bay-Net Field Day site east of San Jose.
> This was the K4's first outdoor shake-down. The stakes were high, since the
> K4 has to pick up where the K3S/P3 leave off, fulfilling a dual role as
> both a high-end desktop and field/portable station.
> >
> > Observations:
> >
> > - the light weight (~10 pounds) made it easy to transport and set up
> >
> > - there was virtually no mutual interference between the K4 and a very
> active 40 meter SSB station using an antenna about 40' away
> >
> > - thanks to the low noise at this location we were able to hear many
> weak signals clustered together, and found signal clarity to be excellent
> >
> > - the LCD was clearly visible, without color washout, despite a full
> assault by bright sunlight bleeding through our translucent white tent
> cloth (some other radios at the same location had displays that were almost
> impossible to see)
> >
> > - the ATU did was able to tune a narrow-banded 20 meter yagi on other
> bands, when necessary, including 15, 10, and 6 meters
> >
> > - the radio ran from a very small Li-Ion battery (KXBT2, ~2.5 AH) for
> quite awhile, proving it works at 11 V, which is important for stations
> running from a somewhat depleted car battery or other emergency supply
> >
> > - operators were very complimentary of the internal speaker, though I'm
> partial to stereo audio and was using a pair of 8", 4 ohm (passive)
> external speakers most of the time
> >
> > We had a bit of fun late in the afternoon on Saturday when we switched
> from the Yagi to an AX1, Elecraft's 4 foot 20 meter whip. This may seem
> frivolous, but it's an important test because it shows that the radio's
> shielding is working well. It should handle an end-fed wire with a balun
> right at the antenna jack.
> >
> > Here are some comments we received afterward from KJ6K:
> >
> > "It was a real thrill to play with the K4 while making making CW
> contacts with it during Field Day. It's an amazing technical and usability
> design achievement. The user interface for many modern radios is so complex
> that an operator may need to refer to the manual frequently to figure out
> how to access a desired function, and never be able to do so quickly. The
> display on the K4 is gorgeous, and the use of touch, along with physical
> controls, provides a very intuitive and efficient user interface.
> >
> > "My own interests in ham radio have always been mostly in the science
> and engineering, so my operating is mostly casual, with HF CW my favorite
> mode. The architecture of the K4 is really exciting; the performance and
> endless possibilities for features and connectivity is really cool."
> >
> > Thanks, John!
> >
> > Looking forward to full-contact Field Day battle mode with a couple of
> K4s next year :)
> >
> > Wayne
> > N6KR
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to nr4c at widomaker.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to dean.k2ww at gmail.com
>

On Mon, Jun 24, 2019, 13:32 Nr4c <nr4c at widomaker.com> wrote:

> Hopefully there will be a lot of them in users hands by then (MINE)!!
>
> Thanks for the update.
>
> Sent from my iPhone
> ...nr4c. bill
>
>
> > On Jun 24, 2019, at 1:11 PM, Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> >
> > George (KJ6VU), John (KJ6K) and I operated a basic K4 for several hours
> as the 20 meter CW station at the Bay-Net Field Day site east of San Jose.
> This was the K4's first outdoor shake-down. The stakes were high, since the
> K4 has to pick up where the K3S/P3 leave off, fulfilling a dual role as
> both a high-end desktop and field/portable station.
> >
> > Observations:
> >
> > - the light weight (~10 pounds) made it easy to transport and set up
> >
> > - there was virtually no mutual interference between the K4 and a very
> active 40 meter SSB station using an antenna about 40' away
> >
> > - thanks to the low noise at this location we were able to hear many
> weak signals clustered together, and found signal clarity to be excellent
> >
> > - the LCD was clearly visible, without color washout, despite a full
> assault by bright sunlight bleeding through our translucent white tent
> cloth (some other radios at the same location had displays that were almost
> impossible to see)
> >
> > - the ATU did was able to tune a narrow-banded 20 meter yagi on other
> bands, when necessary, including 15, 10, and 6 meters
> >
> > - the radio ran from a very small Li-Ion battery (KXBT2, ~2.5 AH) for
> quite awhile, proving it works at 11 V, which is important for stations
> running from a somewhat depleted car battery or other emergency supply
> >
> > - operators were very complimentary of the internal speaker, though I'm
> partial to stereo audio and was using a pair of 8", 4 ohm (passive)
> external speakers most of the time
> >
> > We had a bit of fun late in the afternoon on Saturday when we switched
> from the Yagi to an AX1, Elecraft's 4 foot 20 meter whip. This may seem
> frivolous, but it's an important test because it shows that the radio's
> shielding is working well. It should handle an end-fed wire with a balun
> right at the antenna jack.
> >
> > Here are some comments we received afterward from KJ6K:
> >
> > "It was a real thrill to play with the K4 while making making CW
> contacts with it during Field Day. It's an amazing technical and usability
> design achievement. The user interface for many modern radios is so complex
> that an operator may need to refer to the manual frequently to figure out
> how to access a desired function, and never be able to do so quickly. The
> display on the K4 is gorgeous, and the use of touch, along with physical
> controls, provides a very intuitive and efficient user interface.
> >
> > "My own interests in ham radio have always been mostly in the science
> and engineering, so my operating is mostly casual, with HF CW my favorite
> mode. The architecture of the K4 is really exciting; the performance and
> endless possibilities for features and connectivity is really cool."
> >
> > Thanks, John!
> >
> > Looking forward to full-contact Field Day battle mode with a couple of
> K4s next year :)
> >
> > Wayne
> > N6KR
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > Elecraft mailing list
> > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> > Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> >
> > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> > Message delivered to nr4c at widomaker.com
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to dean.k2ww at gmail.com
>