| Base Station
Equipment W2LJ QSL's 100% !!! Transceiver - Elecraft K2 (QRP & CW only) with built in KAT2 autotuner, KNB2 noise blanker and KAF2 audio filter. Keys - Elecraft Hex Key Vibroplex Standard Original Bug SKCC Straight Key Computer - Dell laptop running Windows 2000. Logging Software - Win-EQF VHF Rig - Alinco DR-1200 There's also an external speaker and a JPS Nir 10 DSP filter. |
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A few years ago,
I successfully auctioned off my Icom IC-751A QRO rig. It
wasn't getting much use since I finished the K2. I don't regret
the decision for a second. For now, I am quite happy being 100% precent
devoted to QRP. I don't miss having 100 Watt capability in the
least. I do have a 160 Meter module unbuilt and sitting on the
side that I hope to get working on soon.
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| Me and my equipment. |
The K2 and the Elecraft Hex Key -
Sweet! |
Tip
This is something that doesn't show up in the picture above; but is something I read about on the SKCC e-mail reflector. I took my Radio Shack amplified speaker and laid it on its back. I then bought a 4" PVC elbow at the local hardware store and laid it on the speaker's face and pointed it towards my operating position. It's not quite a resonant speaker; but it does sound really, really good and the directivity is a good thing, too. The PVC elbow ran me all of about 5 bucks if I recall; and it made a big difference in the way the external speaker performs. CW is even more pleasant to listen to than before!
Antennas are always a problem for us modest living suburbanites. Small lots prevent putting out long, but truly effective wires. So we make compromises. We bend, twist and wrap however we can to make things work. My two antennas are a G5RV (my primary antenna) and a Butternut HF9V ground mounted vertical. Pictures are below. The Butternut is the best vertical I have ever owned; but I have to re-do the radial attachment this coming Spring. The physical connection had suffered from a couple of severe winters. The G5RV is a good antenna; but I lost some height. We had to have the tree that supports the center insulator topped. The trunk of the Maple that supports it has had some squirrel and carpenter ant damage. The tree is still pretty healthy; but was a bit too weak to support the heavy top branches. The antenna was at a height of 40 feet and is now at about 25 feet.
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To the left is a diagram of how I have my Butternut HF9V installed in the backyard. The chain link fence is part of the radial system. In addition, I have sixteen 25 foot radials emanating from the base of the antenna in sort of a semi-circle. I used 12 guage insulated wire. Every three feet along the length of the radial, I wrapped a bit of it around a gutter nail, which I then pounded into the ground. By the time summer was over, the grass had grown over the radials and now you can't see them anymore! It must be working, because in February 2004, my K1 at 5 watts reached Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands! Only about 1400 miles per watt! |
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