ARRL 10-Meter Contest
Call: K1LT
Operator(s): K1LT
Station: K1LT
Class: SO CW Unlimited HP
QTH: Ohio EM89ps
Operating Time (hrs): 4
Summary:
Band QSOs Mults
-------------------
CW: 159 47
SSB:
-------------------
Total: 159 47 Total Score = 29,892
Club: Mad River Radio Club
Comments:
I operated the ARRL 10 Meter Contest in "when I'm near the radio, I'll
check" mode while working on my "new and improved" phased array
receiver project.
I made another stab at repairing the brand new K3S while Elecraft
technical support works through all of the steps of their "did you
plug it in" script via email. Everything in the circuit that performs
diode-switched receive / transmit signal routing in the KPA3A 100 watt
power amp module seems to be good. One component that I could not
check is the transistor that sinks current that activates the diodes
that conduct received signals. This high-voltage FET endures the 100
volts or so that is applied to reverse bias the receive diodes while
transmitting. I suppose the high voltage thoroughly depletes the
diode junctions which minimizes the capacitance of the turned-off diode
and thus minimizes the amount of transmit RF leaking into the receiver
input. Since the FET has to tolerate high voltage, it becomes a good
candidate for a failure. I'll probably order a few from Mouser and
replace it myself since it is readily accessible and costs only about
$1.
Since the K3S has a separate circuit to bypass the amplifier when the
power is turned down to 12 watts or below, I made most of my contacts
at 500 watts which is the amount of power the Alpha produces with 12
watts of drive. For the occasional stubborn contact, I could flick
the power know up a bunch, call, and then swipe the knob the other way
to turn it back down. Manual, rotary transmit / receive switching for
the 21st century!
I got lucky and found activity Friday night when I checked. I was
able to work about 50 stations in Florida and nearby states the first
evening. Saturday I got lucky and found the band open to the
Caribbean and South America. A little later Saturday I got luck again
and found the band very open to California with scattered shorter skip
here and there. I even managed to work Hawaii. By 6pm I had 142
QSOs.
After that, I would occasionally find a loud station and work them,
but there were no more runs, even with the band somewhat open to South
America on Sunday. From Saturday evening to the end I made 17 more
QSOs.
I tried operating FT8 while CQing on 10 but either the activity has
declined markedly, or I am picking bad times. So the Stew Perry test
at the very end of the year will likely conclude my Grid Chase.
Hopefully I'll hang on to my #32 spot.
Equipment: Elecraft K3S, P3, Alpha 8410. Cushcraft X7 at 100 feet for
one ear, and an X7 at 60 feet for the other ear.
Interestingly, there were often marked differences between the 2 beams
for very weak signals. The higher beam usually heard better if the
signal was whisper quiet. For anything stronger, the 2 beams were
essentially identical.
Posted using 3830 Score Submittal Forms at: http://www.3830scores.com/
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