Elecraft K3 on 500
Brendan Minish
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The K3 is capable of generating around 1mW of Rf at 500KHz when in
Transverter test mode
Prerequisites
1/ For transmit use the K3 must have the transverter module installed
KXV3 or KXV3A
2/ for receive use the K3 must be fitted with the General coverage RX
bandpass filter module KBF3 and the KXV3(A)
the main antenna inputs on the K3 are subject to high pass filtering
designed to attenuate very strong MW broadcast signals to prevent issues
with the TX/RX pin diode switching. This filtering significantly affects
sensitivity @ 500KHz. you can bypass this filtering by using the RX
antenna input (or the Transverter In input) The K3 will provide ample
sensitivity and excellent performance at 500KHz, you can tune below
500KHz (down to 490 KHz by means of the RIT/XIT )
The K3 can be used as a low level drive at 500Khz by placing the K3 in
Transverter Test mode. When in this mode the K3 sees 500KHz as an 'IF'
band for a transverter. the display will read the frequency directly and
all the transceiver feature operate normally. Receive is via the
transverter IN port. and TX out is via the transverter OUT port
The Transverter ports are not protected from harm by strong signals in
the same way that the RX antenna input port is so it is important to use
adequate protection to prevent strong signals from entering these
ports.
The PTT out functions and can be used to drive TX/RX changeover relays
as well as operating an external protection circuit to prevent damage
from strong signals on the RX antenna . Elecraft recommended 1N4148s in
antiparallel, two in each string. as a protective measure on the Xverter
IN port
It is hoped that elecraft will soon include the possibility of using 1.8
MHz as a transverter IF band, the K3 'sees' 500Khz as below the 160m
band this will then allow the normal transverter switching outputs to be
used to handle 500KHz
I am using an old NDB (which uses low level SSB + carrier modulation )
as a linear amplifier to achieve up to 100W into the antenna.
I hope some of you find this useful and I look forwards to seeing you on
500
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73
Brendan EI6IZ