KX1 Upgrades

I have been adding to my Elecraft KX1 rig. Added the 30 meter mod and as of tonight, have built and installed the ATU mod. I plan on using the KX1 while we are in the RV and having the ATU is a definite plus with a non-resonant antenna. I received the Ten Tec Rebel rig last week. Checked it out and all seems fine, but have to wait till Christmas morning before Santa will let me play with it. But, this will be a big part of what I plan on doing this winter…ARDUINO learning!

I do have some Arduino projects I might start now that all the outside work/chores are done. I do want to try to use an Arduino for a CW decoding project. Have seen a couple of blogs that have done some work in this area, so I won’t have to start from scratch.

The weather in November was quite an eye-opener for most of the northern part of Michigan…but December has proven to be quite tame and I hope it stays that way. I might even try to get some antenna projects launched if the current temperature trend continues.

That’s it for now…stay tuned.

FDIM, Hamvention, KX1

Well, as they say, FDIM/Hamvention is in the history books. We camped at the KOA with about 200+ hams and had a very enjoyable time. I think I go now to Dayton for the social aspects of FDIM and Hamvention, whereas years ago it was to find bargains and new kits. I did buy the new 40 xcvr from the 4SQRP gang…it is called a Cyclone and uses a neat version of a PTO VFO. The case is made of the same material as the PCB, so that will be a new one for me. I also bought the RF Section (8554B) for the HP spectrum analyzer that I had but without a working RF Section. Also found a blue LCD shield for the arduino microprocessor board. All in all, the trip was very good even though there were a few days of cool weather while we were camping just north of Dayton and then some rainy weather at Shipshewanne.

I made my first contact using my KX1. Was on 40 meters and worked Bill, W9VC down in Richmond. IN. Bill has a very good first and it was fun to chat with him.

I tried operating the first part of the week while at Dayton, but some X-Class flares on Monday and Tuesday (prior to FDIM/Hamvention) made band conditions unworkable. I had to want to give my new end-fed antenna a work out, but that did not pan out. We are going to NY next month for some fishing and visit the XYL’s family, so will try again then.

I am listening the the CQ WW WPX CW contest right now with the KX1 and have found that the variable receive filter is worth its weight in gold. I really like being able to adjust the bandwidth on the fly when conditions get crowded. I can adjust from 0.3 to 2.0 KHz and it makes copying so enjoyable! Guess the KX1 and K1 will both be in my camping box for the summer…hi hi.

That is about it for now. Trying to get some yard work done this weekend before I doing some bass fishing next week, so solder fumes and dit/dahs are on hold for the moment.

Stay tuned for how my antenna experiments go this summer with the RV…