I work for an electronics division of Watts Water Technologies,
"Explosion, Danger Lurks!" is an early Watts safety film reel that
highlights the dangers of unprotected water heaters and the critical
need for Temperature and Pressure (T&P) relief valves. According to The Watts Way (a
history of Watts published in 2004), the film was created in the 1930s
as part of an educational campaign to get T&P relief valves
specified in safety codes around the US.
Well today's the day. Earlier this year our little town won the national Kraft Hockeyville Contest. We won money to fix up our aging arena building, we also won an NHL game between the Edmonton Oilers and the LA Kings. Alas our little town was just too small to host the NHL preseason game in our arena so our neighboring city of Vernon BC is lending us their facility to host the Practice and televised Game. There were ticket raffles to both events and Kelly and Molly are in Vernon right now attending the Practice session. Other events occurred throughout this weekend including the Stanley Cup in Lumby yesterday and both NHL teams doing a meet and great with our local minor hockey teams early this morning at our arena.
I would like to thank everyone in Lumby who organized and participated in this event. It's been a huge effort for a small community to organize and I'm so proud of the excitement it's brought to my hometown. Thanks also to Kraft and the NHL for making this contest happen each year. Best of luck to all the town's entering in 2017.
Molly and Michela skipped the massive lineup and took a quick photo from behind the Stanley Cup display table.
I did some testing this morning and once I figured it out I needed to document it for myself (and anyone else that's interested).
Attached to an 80m OCF Dipole antenna I tried the tuning sequence between an Elecraft KX3 QRP Transceiver and the Elecraft T1 pocket QRP Auto Tuner.
NOTE the SWR readings off my 80 OCF dipole are higher than normal and I'm fairly certain I know that some branches and leaves are to blame. Another job on my to-list this fall.
This combination actually works very well together even though most KX3 owners have gone the route of adding the internal KXAT3 tuner option. I was on a budget and ordered the KX3 as a kit with no options other than the hand mic. I intend to add options later as I can afford them. My hope was that my existing T1 tuner that I purchased for another QRP rig would integrate well enough with the KX3 that I could use them together until I purchased an internal KXAT3.
As you can see from the quick video demos they do work well together with a few button presses in the correct sequence.
1) Press and hold the PWR/TUNE button on the T1 until the solid green light appears, then release.
2) Within 3 seconds you must press and hold the XMIT/TUNE button on the KX3 until it switches into tuning mode and starts transmitting a CW tone.
3) The T1 tuner will instantly start working and the KX3 display starts showing you the SWR readings and the power output of the radio.
4) When the T1 stops chattering and the KX3 display shows the final SWR reading press and hold the XMIT/TUNE button again until the radio exits the tuning mode and stops transmitting tone.
On a good antenna the sequence is very quick. On a more challenging scenario like a long wire it can take more than 5 seconds to try various options until it settles on the best result.
I wasn't feeling well this week so I did the work over a few evenings, which was easy to do when you assemble the kit one half at a time. Total it was probably a little over 2 hours from start to finish building it and I would guess I also spent about that much time reading the two manuals (assembly and operations). So all told about 4 hours work between Tuesday and Friday.
I hope if I'm feeling better this weekend I'll get a chance to play with
it for a few hours and test out the aftermarket heat sink while doing
some digital mode QSO's.
So far my first impressions are that it's smaller than I expected but has more features, both of which make me very happy.
There are a few more official accessories that I would like to add, but I'll need to save some money or put a few of them on my Christmas list for Santa.
The KX3 kit and the 3rd party heat sink has arrived. I am very pleased with Elecraft's excellent packaging and documentation.
Special thanks to Fred VE7FMN from Simply Manufacturing for his very well designed and built Cooler KX Plus heat sink. His kit also includes everything needed plus tools.
Over the last two evenings I started the assembly of the KX3, at first I opened and inspected the contents of the kit and got stuff sorted and organized. Elecraft sorts the bits and pieces in the box, but opening and verifying the contents helped when I got started as I knew where everything was and that I had everything needed to complete the build. Elecraft does a great job of sorting the parts into the two halves of the radio so I could unpack the parts needed to complete each half of the build.
Last night I started the build and got the first half of the radio assembled. For me it was a typical assembly where I made a few small errors, found them quickly and then swapped the part for the right one and continued. The display cover was a good OCD moment for me as I tried to remove every bit of dust from between the screen and the clear cover. I knew going forward that would bother me to no end if I could see something in between.
I have started on the back half of the radio and will resume maybe tonight or tomorrow.
You've got to protect your Elecraft KX3 investment, especially if you plan to take it outdoors and camping. When I ordered my KX3 a few weeks ago I spent a lot of time doing research on 3rd party options to protect my new radio.
For mine I ordered the WINDCAMP Workshop side covers and plastic shield, it's a four piece kit with the following;
I also ordered a Cooler KX Plus from Fred VE7FMN at Simply Manufacturing. I think his heat sinks are a cut above the rest and I enjoy supporting a business here in my own province.
I've got a thing for Elecraft... I might as well admit I'm a bit of a fan boy. I've always wanted one and my interest increased when they released the KX3 a few years ago. It was small but rugged, loaded with state of the art features, and I really really wanted one.
This spring Elecraft released the even more compact KX2, but it wasn't just the size that attracted me to the KX3 it was the features, and while the KX2 is smaller and less expensive it just didn't have all the features that I wanted like the KX3.
Elecraft KX2 - Ultra Compact HF Transceiver
About a month ago I started to clean house in the Ham Shack and I was able to sell some extra and duplicate items through Radio Amateur Swap Canada. An older HF radio, a couple tuners, a mobile VHF radio, and a few other odds and ends. I even cleaned up some older PC's under my work bench and sold those as well. Before long the money was adding up and I realized I was getting close to a goal, I finally had made enough to order a KX3.
One of the great things about Elecraft is that they still build radios in kit form. Their kits are really just assembly kits since all the circuit boards and soldering work is already done. But you can save a hundred dollars or more buying their kit versions and doing that final assembly yourself. It also gives you a better understanding of the radios parts and pieces if you ever want to perform some upgrades down the line. And trust me, I will perform some future upgrades as I can afford them. Most notably the Auto Tuner upgrade, the Dual-Band Roofing Filter, and maybe even the 2m Module to add VHF support as well.
Right now I get to play the waiting game while my kit is shipped from California. Fingers crossed it gets here safe, secure, and fast (hi hi). Until then I have the manuals to read.
