Hi,
Our Summer Field day is coming up, and the K2 will get it's usual
pounding by various operators again, and I have just completed a small
project that I am sure will help me and the others to (a) hear the CW
better, and (b) net to a calling frequency with some accuracy.
Explaining (a) a bit better; with my failing hearing (and I am not alone
with that problem in our Club) I find the upward facing speaker on the K2
(and indeed most rigs) makes listening to CW somewhat awkward. This is made
even worse in FD situation when under cover of tents, which don't reflect
sound like walls do. The answer to that problem was to make an exterior
speaker enclosure, which I did, using a 5" speaker in a box with 20mm MDF
sides and with a hardboard front and back. ......with of course a suitable
size hole for the speaker.
Problem (b) was a bit different. In my K2 I had a K6XX tuning indicator
that worked on the last LED of the "S" meter display, and it worked fine,
but I also have a IC7000 which is pretty mean not having a "Spot" tone (
you have to go into menu's and remover "BREAK-IN" so the rig will run like
a K2 with the VOX button depressed.....and you have to listen to the tone
and hope you remember it!)
The obvious solution here was to fit the tuning indicator in the speaker
cabinet, so I can use it on both radios, so I removed it from the K2 and
installed it in the speaker case. I put a 12v power jack and a stereo
socket on the back panel.
I was initially worried that the low impedance speaker might cause the unit
not to work properly, but that turned out to be no problem. I have mounted
a small super-bright LED in the top of the speaker face and when tuning,
don't even have to look at the speaker to tune a station in. I can see the
light winking when I tune in on frequency, out of the corner of my eye.
Anyway, it works fine, and as most of our guys seem to use a wide filter on
Field Day so they can hear who is on the side while working another
station, I am hopeful that the indicator will allow us to net more
accurately to those who don't use wide filters and perhaps increase our
score by not missing contacts! ( well....I can dream can't I?) I have
actually heard lost of missed calls by inaccurate netting.
For the record, our Field Day is on the last Sat/Sunday of February....
Cheers......Ron ZL1TW
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