[Elecraft] Elecraft K1 VFO reading

[Don Wilhelm]

Mike,

The K1 must tune a bit below the low end of each band.  That is to 
compensate for the crystals on the band board not being precision 
crystals - so your K1 is behaving as normal.

You CAN tweak it by a small amount on ONE band (the 2nd band will change 
too).

In your case, I would choose 40 meters since it is only low by 20 kHz 
while 20 meters is low by 26 kHz.
You can do this in receive by looking at the frequency display because 
you have already confirmed it is showing the correct frequency.

Tune the VFO to the low end of 40 meters and then spread (or compress) 
the turns of L1 a little at a time until the display shows about 
6995kHz, then check 20 meters to make sure it is a bit below the band 
edge too.
That is the best compromise that you can do without losing a bit of the 
bottom edge of the band.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 11/26/2021 3:17 PM, Mike Smith VE9AA wrote:
> Just bought a K1..an oldie but a goodie, I guess.
>
> NB board and 2 bands board (20/40) No tuner.
>
>   
>
> So, just playing around, getting familiarized with this new-to-me little rig
> before transmitting or hooking it up to a real antenna and I notice:
>
>   
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> on 20m:  it tunes from 13.974MHz - 14.063MHz
>
>   
>
> and on it tunes from 40m from 6.980MHz-7.068MHz
>
>   
>
> When I transmit on a nearby rig or compare frequencies to DX cluster spots,
> just using a chunk of wire for an antenna, and listen for the various
> stations it looks like the VFO is reading pretty much bang on.
>
>   
>
> So, is this a matter of incorrect components installed or a poor alignment
> or the (re)seller messing with the "CAL" in the menu or ??
>
>   
>
> I don't really want to mess with it too much, but I am missing 20-25kHz of
> usable bandwidth on each band. (seems like I have about 88kHz of tuning
> range, but 20-26kHz of it is below the bands---oof !)
>
>   
>
>