Guys (and the few YLs),
I have had a short discussion with elecraft and we quickly determined that I
have made an operational error in the setup of my K2 when running these
tests.
I corrected that and briefly rechecked the K2 on 40m - it's about the same
time of night that I ran the tests yesterday.
The results improve the K2's performance significantly.
Please see my corrected results below:
What Parameter Changed?
There is a menu selectable parameter on the K2 called "OPT". It has two
settings: one called "batt" and the other called "perf". My K2 was set to
"batt" which reduces the current drain of the I.F. post mixer amplifier by
about 40 ma. For battery work, like my multitude of Field Day contest
operations run off of my motorcycle battery, this is a blessing. For
performance on a good antenna, 40m at night, it's a curse. I switched it to
"Perf" (for Performance) and briefly checked the K2's performance on the
vertical.
Corrected K2 Results:
* Yesterday, the K2 had 59+20 dB carriers (ghosts) all across the band
when running on the vertical with the preamp "on".
* Today, with OPT=Perf and preamp "on", the strength of the ghost
signals has dropped by 20dB
* With preamp "on", this is still pretty useless, unless I use my
external preselector.
* With the preamp "off", the K2 is "clean" across the entire band,
whereas yesterday it was still producing a multitude of ghosts with S5
signal strength. There is no need for the preselector when OPT=perf.
* The K2 is perfectly usable with the vertical, as long as I leave the
preamp off - and this is how I will operate the radio in the future at this
time of day. It now receives better than when using the horizontal antenna
(for most of the signals on the band at this time of day).
Comments:
* It is my gut feeling that the preamp is not required for 40m with
either the Orion or the K2.
* Indeed, the only time I ever have it on when working low bands with
the Orion is when I have QSYd from higher bands and forgotten to turn it off
* Although the switch from batt to perf only reduced the ghosts by 20
dB with the preamp on, it completely eliminated them with the preamp off -
I'll leave it to the engineers to explain this - I'm just a contest operator
* Owning a Ten-Tec ORION and an elecraft K2 is, in my opinion, as good
as it gets
I apologize to the members of the reflector for my operator error yesterday
and especially to elecraft for misrepresenting their fine radio.
On the bright side, I have been assured by elecraft that future
documentation will HIGHLIGHT this adjustment so that others don't repeat my
mistake.
(Perhaps my mistake was beneficial after all)
73
Rick
DJ0IP / NJ0IP
Munich, Germany
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