January 2014 Wrap-Up

DXCC -- Five new countries in January: S. Korea (DS5), Namibia (V5), Antarctica (DP1), Moldova (ER4), and Ogasawara (JD1). Of these, only DP1POL has QSL'd so far. I logged sixteen new ones on CW and a couple on SSB in January.

• Mixed: 140 confirmed (176 worked)
• CW: 89 (135) -- Marching along to CW DXCC, adding 16 new countries worked (total 135) worked and 16 confirmed (total 89) since the beginning of the month.
• Phone: 101 (130) -- DXCC Phone reached! Just need to get some cards checked by the ARRL to make it official.
• Digital: 58 (82) -- No change. Can barely bring myself to work digital these days. Will try to bring myself to work NAQP RTTY in February...

WAS -- Guess I'll start counting some single-band WAS numbers now, since I'm almost there on a couple of bands. Only counting LOTW for WAS.

• CW: 42 confirmed (45 worked) -- Between NAQP CW and the W1AW/n Centennial special event stations I managed to add CO, MN, NE, NM, RI and SD. Still need GA, IA, KY, MI, ND, OH, WV and WY confirmed on LOTW,
• Phone: 47 (49) -- Picked up AK, DE and VT in the NAQP contest. IA, MI and RI still needed on LOTW. (Delaware was my first ever (and to date only) 12m QSO, with W1AW/3 on phone. Quickly verified on LOTW allowing me to cross DE off my Triple Play list!)
• 40m: 49 (50) -- I have all except RI confirmed on LOTW. I do have a card from RI, though, so if I can't find someone who uses LOTW I may cash it in for credit.
• 20m: 48 (50) -- MS and OK still holding out on me. 
• 15m: 37 (40) -- Thirteen to go (CO, DE, IA, KS, LA, MO, MS, MT, ND, NE, NM, RI and WY)

WPX -- Hadn't even though much about CQ's WPX award until now, but it turns out I'm closing in on the 400 confirmed prefixes I need for the basic Mixed award and nearly two-thirds of the way there for CW. Again, I'm only counting LOTW for WPX; I probably have a bunch more on paper.

• Mixed: 355 confirmed (400 needed)
• CW: 199 (300)
• Phone: 144 (300)
• Digital: 126 (300)

NAQP SSB January 2014

I set a goal for myself to break 20,000 points and I just barely did it -- 20,503 points with 203 QSOs and 101 mults, working the full 10 hours allowed albeit with a ton of short breaks for snacks, smokes, cat herding, phone calls, and the like. The band breakdown went something like this:

• 1800-1930: 15m (45 QSOs)
• 1930-2000: 10m (3 QSOs)
• 2000-2030: 15m (13 QSOs)
• 2030-2100: OFF (30 min)
• 2100-2215: 20m (38 QSOs)
• 2215-2230: 40m (5 QSOs)
• 2230-2300 15m  (11 QSOs)
• 2300-0030: 20m (34 QSOs)
• 0030-0100: 40m (11 QSOs)
• 0100-0130: 20m (8 QSOs)
• 0130-0200: OFF (30 min)
• 0200-0315: 80m: (14 QSOs)
• 0315-0400: 40m (14 QSOs)
• 0400-0500: OFF (60 min)
• 0500-0600: 80m (7 QSOs)

Electrical noise continues to plague me, and it seems like it gets worse on contest weekends, No joke, S9+20dB npose on 40m during the 0030 stint, though it lessened a bit later on. So I was only able to work the strongest signals on the band, and that was only when they could hear me!

Of the six states I need confirmed on LOTW for the Phone portion of Triple play, I only worked AK and VT. Not a trace of the others (DE, IA, MI, or RI). I search-and-pounced the whole ten hours, don't see much point of attempting a run until I get then noise and/or antenna troubles sorted out.

Your humble narrator and big-shot
contester wanabee with his latest
and greatest ham shack layout.

A major tactical error probably cost me a half dozen multipliers on 80m -- I took my last break between 0400 and 0500, and by the time I came back on for the final hour nearly all the stations I was monitoring and flagging in N1MM to work at 0500 were either QRT or lost to QSB. C6AEA who was pounding in here at 0445 was starting to fade out by 0500; he could almost hear me but gave up on me, and he was gone altogether a few minutes later. Same for a bunch of mid-west states that I could have used (for the contest Qs and mults as well as 80m WAS). Need to rethink my strategy next time -- or at least have a strategy to rethink!

The new shack layout (rig and amp off the shelf and down on the desk in front of the keyboard) made a huge difference in fatigue reduction, since my arm no longer has to be elevated for tuning. Everything is right at my fingertips now. Wish I had done this sooner.

Next up: ARRL International DX Contest (CW)  on February 15/16. Valentine's Day weekend. Great.

K3 Noise Blanker Magic

So many things to love about the K3, but chief among them is the noise blanker. I have an almost constant S7 to S9 noise level (from the power transformer that is about 30 feet away from my antenna, I suspect) and the K3 takes it pretty much in stride.

This example was recorded earlier this morning (UTC; last night local time) listening to IS0HFE in Sardinia calling CQ on 40m. I worked him a few minutes later before I lost him to QSB. I honestly don't know that I'd have even heard him on most other radios I've used in the past -- certainly not the JST-245 which despite being my second favorite rig ever had a noise blanker that was practically useless.

In hindsight I wish I'd done a side-by-side comparison with the Flex 1500. I've had no luck finding a NB setting with the Flex that removes this level of noise without completely distorting the signal. I'll chalk it up to operator incompetence until I know for sure, but I'm pretty sure I've tried every imaginable setting in PowerSDR and it hasn't come close to the K3 yet.

The more pressing question is, how do I get rid of this noise? There are times it goes away all on its own (when it's raining a lot, it seems... unless that's just a coincidence). It was quiet a few weeks ago until (of course) NAQP CW weekend, and I had to deal with this for the entire contest. I've been meaning to head outside with a portable receiver and a loop antenna to see if I can't get a fix on the noise and confirm that it's the transformer but I've had other pressing matters of late. And if it is the transformer, how do I approach the utility company in order to get results?

But for now, I just push the NB button and the noise drops to a level at which I can at least hear some of the weaker signals, though the noise level remains S5-S6 at the best of times.

The Last Continent

Antarctica has eluded me for years. I'd see cluster spots for various Antarctic operations but never heard anything other than the pileups of stations calling and working them. Blame it on poor propagation or crappy antennas or both, it just never happened for me. Until last night.

I noticed a lot of spots by stateside ops for DP1POL at Neumayer Station on the DXWatch.com web cluster while surfing the web (do people still say that?) in the living room around 0300. He was QRV on 40m CW where I've had a lot of success these past few months working and hearing southern South America in the evenings, so I thought it might be a good idea to check it out.

As soon as I clicked the spot on the shack PC, I heard him 57 to 59. Found where he was listening, tuned the K3's XIT up about 1.4 kHz, got him on my second call, and proceeded to do the happy dance (thank you, Felix!). Eight hours later I woke up to find his QSL in my LOTW account -- DXCC #122 in the books!

ClubLog's Geographic Propagation Wizard suggests I stumbled upon DP1POL at the best possible time:

Neumayer Station II is not quite due south from my QTH, about 155° beam heading (which means little to me as I have no beam). Just interesting that I heard little other DX on the band other than ZS1JX in South Africa after working DP1POL; WWV propagation report for 07-Jan-2014 at 0300 was SFI-204, A=4, K=1,  Minor w/S1 -> Minor w/S1 R1.

December 2013 Wrap-Up

DXCC - Not a lot of time spent at the radio this month, what with the holidays and other family business to take care of, but I still managed to work a few new ones -- Zambia (9J2BO), E. Kiribati (T32RC), Senegal (6V7D), and Greenland (OX3XR). I end the month (and the year) with the following DXCC numbers:

• Mixed: 133 confirmed (171 worked)
• CW: 73 (119)
• Phone: 99 (127)
• Digital: 57 (82)

My first DXCC award for Mixed Mode was applied for and received this month. I've also reached 100 confirmed for 20m Mixed (85 on LOTW, the other 15 on paper). I have not applied for the award, though, because I've not yet had the cards checked. I plan to do that at the HamCon in Plano next June, if not sooner.

WAS - My pursuit of WAS Triple Play is getting close to the end with 129 out of 150 blocks confirmed on LOTW:

• Phone: 44 (need AK, DE, IA, MI, RI and VT)
• CW: 35 (need CO, GA, IA, KY, MI, MN, NE, NM, ND, OH, OK, SD, UT, WV and WY)
• Digital: 50 (worked them all in 2009/2010)

WAS Mixed and Digital awards were applied for and received this month.

2013 in the Rearview - A fairly good year for me, with sporadic operating after getting the station back on the air in June. Foremost, I upgraded to Extra Class after years of procrastinating. I achieved DXCC and started getting serious about CW as I've been promising to do for decades. Some new equipment found its way into the shack -- the Flex 1500 and KPA500; hopefully the former will start to get some use (maybe go for a second Triple Play running QRP?).

Long time coming...

2014 in the Windshield - My main objective in the coming year is to get an antenna on the roof; if nothing else, just my old R-7000 vertical that has been sitting in the garage since 2008. Ideally, though, it would be a hex beam for 20m-6m in addition to the R-7000. Wouldn't mind getting the FT-7800 in the car, either. I'm going to try to work as many of the major contests as time allows. The only equipment I think I need is a auto-tuner that can handle the KPA500. The obvious choice would be the KAT500 if I can gather the scratch. More DXCC awards and endorsements are on the horizon -- I've already enough confirmations for 20m DXCC (once I get the cards checked), I'm one shy of Phone DXCC, I have 73 confirmed on 15m, 67 on 40m, and 76 on CW. WAS Triple Play is close, too. 

A CW milestone for me.

My CW DXCC count on Logbook of the World is now at 67 and equal to my Phone count. Before I got back on the air at the start of June 2013 it was at 6 (three QSOs from 1996, three from 2010). It may have taken me a few years but I've finally made good on my 2010 New Year resolution to work more CW.

Update: Less than an hour after posting this, #68 on CW came through.

2013 ARRL 10M Contest

My first all-CW effort in a contest that was mixed mode. Also the first test in which I used N1MM Logger to generate the CW. This worked swimmingly. No more pushing buttons on the K3 to send my call and exchange from CW memories!

Bad noise the whole weekend -- not just the usual electrical noise (though that was bad enough) but the neighbor's dog would not shut up. And the train... folks, never buy a house across the street from the railroad tracks. Union Pacific is at the top of my shit list this weekend.

QRV a bit under 12 hours total operating time with lots of short breaks. Since the Tarheel only tunes up to 21 MHz, I had to keep the amp off and use the K3's ATU to match the antenna. Consequently, I could only hear and work the loudest signals on the band.

In the end, 22 states (not incl. KL7 and KH6), 9 CanProvs, and 29 DXCC. No new all-time countries for me, but every one of the 29 is new on 10m, a band for which I have exactly three QSOs in the log in 26+ years. Got 8 of the 24 state I need for the CW portion of Triple Play (five already confirmed on LOTW!).

DXCC from Texas!

This week, without even realizing it, I passed the 100 mark for DX entities confirmed from my Texas QTH! I currently sit at 103 countries verified total out of 151 worked, including 101 on Logbook of the World. This was done in approximately 14 months of operation since June 2009.

(By contrast, I had verified just 68 countries in 21 years while in New Jersey, mostly by accident -- I never really chased DX until now, I just worked them when I could and accumulated a bunch of cards via the incoming QSL bureau. I know I have a couple more verified from working the OSCAR 13 satellite, but they don't count...)

Interestingly, the mode breakdown is pretty even: 56 countries each on phone and CW, and 53 countries on digital (PSK31 and RTTY).

DXCC from Texas -- Yee-Haw!

T32RC Eastern Kiribati

I was checking the 40m CW band around 1230 UTC this morning before work looking for V63XG in Micronesia -- I just barely heard them above the noise yesterday morning, not strong enough for me to feel confident about dropping my call. I doubt I would have heard them come back to me. No sign of them today, however. The hunt goes on.

What I did find, however, was a pileup on 7011. Tuned down 1  to 7010, and there was the T32RC DXpedition on Kiritimati Island (the erstwhile "Christmas Island"), part of the Line Islands in the Republic of Kiribati (better known to WW2 buffs as the Gilbert Islands where the Battle of Tarawa was fought, about 2,000 miles due west along the Equator) and the DXCC entity amateurs know as Eastern Kiribati.

Still half-awake and not yet fully caffeinated, I flipped on the amp and found a clear spot in the pile. Dropped my call once and got him. I think. Lots of electrical QRN this morning. I went about my morning business and came back into the shack about 15 minutes later, when I decided an insurance QSO might not be a bad idea. I generally avoid doing this but I'm not sure I'll have another chance before they go QRT on 10-Dec. Got him on the first call again (how is this even possible, with a screwdriver antenna on 40m? But I digress...). With two QSO's in the log I started to shut down and head to work... but first, I thought, I should check ClubLog just for the hell of it. And there, no more than 30 minutes of my first QSO, T32RC had uploaded their log and I was in it. This is an unbelievably awesome operation.

Did I mention this is another all Elecraft DXpedition? :-)

November 2013 Wrap-Up

Good stuff in November!

DXCC - My Worked count jumped from 143 to 167 countries, I finally got my 100th LOTW confirmation for DXCC Mixed (including cards, the total confirmed is now 121), DXCC Phone is just 3 QSLs away, and I'm almost halfway toward DXCC CW with 49 confirmed. What is truly mind-boggling (to me, anyway) is that I've worked 103 countries on CW since firing up the rig again in June (mind-boggling because I only worked 15 countries on CW between 1987 and 2012). See my previous post for more thoughts on this.

CQ WWDX CW - I played in the contest over the weekend of 23/24-Nov to see if I could snag a few new countries on CW. I surprised myself by working 84 countries with 210 QSOs on 40m, 20m and 15m, twelve of them all-time new ones. Total score: 89,562 all-band, but I submitted my score as a single-band 40m Single Op Assisted entry after noting last year's W5 winner won with less than 5,000 points; my 40m score was over 24,000, so I rolled the dice hoping that I might place well in the 5th call district.

DXpeditions - I managed to work all the big DXpeditions this month. At least all the ones I could hear.

• XR0YY - Easter Island (20m Phone)
• K9W - Wake Island (40m & 20m CW)
• T33A - Banaba Island (40m CW)
• XR0ZR - Juan Fernandez Island (40m CW)
• N8A - American Samoa (15m CW)

Google+ -- There are several active ham radio communities on Google+. I encourage people to check them out, lots of good people the G. These are a few of the best:

• Amateur Radio
• Amateur Radio (different group, same name...)
• Amateur Radio DXing
• Ham Radio Digital Modes
• QRP Amateur Radio
• Minimalist QRP Group
• Elecraft
• Flex Radio SDR
• R.L. Drake Ham Radio
• Amateur Radio Flea Market Gone Wild
• Shortwave Radio
• Amateur Radio Operators
• Vintage Amateur Radio
• Ham Radio Equipment For Sale
• Ham Radio Homebrewing
• Homebrew Nation
• Mobile Amateur Radio

Random QRM:

• The K3/KPA500 combination continues to amaze me. I don't know that I pull off half the contacts I make without the afterburner. 
• Still find the Tarheel screwdriver to be limiting me but for what it is, it's performing as well as I can expect. My DXCC Mixed application has been submitted. 
• The JRC KY-3 straight key has finally been getting some use; I'm learning that my fist is a whole lot better with the KY-3 than it is with the paddles. 
• I replaced a single audio cable a few weeks ago and eliminated 90% of the RFI I was getting into my speaker system during transmit. 
• Priced out a hex beam with rotor, cables, roof tower, and everything else I would need. Looking at around $2,500. So it's safe to say that's not going to happen anytime soon. Looks like it will be Plan B for now: getting the R7000 vertical up on the roof. Maybe an inverted V for 12/10/6m, too, before it's too late for those bands.
• Where the hell did I put my Yaesu World Map??? I haven't seen it since the move to West and have run out of boxes to look in.

Is it possible that I've become a CW op???

Up until this year I worked exactly fifteen countries on CW; ten of these were worked in 1996 during a single day when I got brave enough to make a few contacts in a CW contest. Despite managing to pass the 13 WPM test for my General license, I lived my first 26 years as an amateur in fear of Morse Code. I just never came easy to me as it does to so many others.

I always suffered from CW Envy, though -- a secret wish that I could copy code easily so I could start playing around in CW contests and have a shot at working the big DXpeditions, all of which seemed unable to hear my puny SSB signals in the pileups. I was determined to make it happen -- I bought a Bencher BY-1 at Dayton in 1993; it was merely a shack decoration for years. I used to keep ARRL code practice MP3s loaded on my iPod and listened to them while driving 3 hours a day while commuting from Sussex to Bergenfield when we were still living in Jersey. I installed optional narrow CW filters in every radio I bought. But it just never took hold.

Fast-forward to June 2008. I got back on the air after being inactive since 1999. I had purchased and assembled the K3 in 2007 while still in New Jersey but was SWL due to a lack of antenna. After moving to TX I got the Tarheel screwdriver that remains my only HF antenna and began chasing WAS and what little DX I could manage on phone and digital modes. At the end of 2009, I resolved to work CW in 2010, but within a few months I was QRT for over three years after another move. I did work 3 countries on CW in January 2010, but my CW resolution was clearly as binding as my perennial resolutions to quit smoking.

Along comes 2013. After missing the meaty part of Cycle 24, I pulled the antenna out of the garage in June, fired up the K3, and slowly started working a wee bit of CW. Then a fair amount of CW. Now, it's almost 99% CW. Not joking -- of over 270 contacts in November, only 5 were on phone, 1 on PSK31.

The Mic: Still good for something.

Not sure exactly what clicked but I'm copying better than I ever have in the past, even though I'm still shaky whenever a QSO strays from a simple 5NN exchange. I'm relying less and less on cluster spots to ID stations, too. Just since getting back on the air this past June I've worked (as of now) 101 countries on CW and have 40 of them confirmed on LOTW. Nineteen of these are all-time new ones for me. My mic has become simply a place to hang my headphones. These aren't impressive numbers for most people, but knowing that I've done this after being in mortal terror of CW for two and a half decades gives me no small amount of satisfaction.

As I write this, I'm sitting on 43 DXCC CW countries confirmed on LOTW (plus one Ukrainian station that I got a card from in 1988) out of 106 worked. And the day ain't over yet. Having just reached my goal of DXCC Mixed on LOTW, I am now setting my sights on DXCC CW, something that I never thought possible until now. Dit dit.

XR0ZR Juan Fernandez Island - 40m CW

XR0ZR working Europe on 40m CW (2013-11-17 @0700 UTC)

Weekend Haul

A fairly productive weekend at WW2PT...

It Came From The Interwebz...

OK, so where was I?

The station had been shut down since the end of NAQP Phone on 18-Aug due to work and family considerations, but I found some time to fire up the Flex 1500 and K3 and tune around a bit Sunday afternoon (3-Nov).

Got around to configuring the Flex using some recommended settings I found on the Flexradio email reflector, and it seems to help a lot with the latency and raspy CW audio issues I was experiencing. So I tuned around a bit with that but made no contacts.

Switched over to the K3 and came across the Wake Island DXpedition on 20m phone. Didn't actually hear K9W, only the lunatics and lids making fools of themselves calling on the DX frequency rather than up 5-10 as indicated in EVERY. SINGLE. CLUSTER. SPOT. Shook my head, moved on.

Soon found the Easter Island DXpedition (XR0YY) on 17m phone. The band was going in and out, I could barely hear him and even with the KPA500 kicked in he clearly wasn't hearing me, either. So I figured I'd missed my chance on this one since they're scheduled to close down operations before next weekend. Oh well.

Back on 20m I found ZD8O (Ascension Island) fairly strong on CW. Got him on first call (did I mention how much I love the KPA500?), new one (#144) in the log .

Had a little time Monday morning (04-Nov) around 1230 UTC before getting ready for work and saw in a post on Google+ that XR0YY was on 20m phone, so I took my coffee into the shack and dialed it up. There he was, fairly clear with not too many people calling. I dropped my call a few times and got him. #145 in the log!

This evening (05-Nov UTC) I found and worked ZF2KG (Cayman Islands) on 40 CW. Not a new one for me, but needed on both 40m and CW.

Back up to 20m, I got 9L1BTB (Sierra Leone) on CW and FR5HA (Reunion Is.) on PSK for #146 and #147 -- the latter had been evading me all summer, kept seeing him on PSK Reporter but never while I was at the radio. Nice to finally get that one in the log.

So five QSOs, four new DXCC notches on the belt, and I'm wondering why I stayed away from the rig for almost 3 months.

NAQP Phone August 2013

About 8 hours spent in this contest. Band conditions were horrible at the start (A index up around 30) but got a little better as the evening progressed. Still, not a great time for me.

Propagation Hell

Some of the states needed for Triple Play and 20m/40m WAS on LOTW that I worked were WV, MI, OH and TN (20m); OK, NE, and MT (40m); 15m was awful -- other than ME, NB and Mexico all I heard were CA stations.

I threw in the towel just after 0300 by which time the local RFI noise became unbearable. Haven't they outlawed plasma TVs yet?

QRV: Approx. 8 hours for 137 QSOs

• 1800-1900: Off
• 1900-1945: 20m (11 QSOs)
• 1945-2020: 15m (6 QSOs)
• 2020-0030: 20m (69 QSOs)
• 0030-0100: 15m (8 QSOs)
• 0100-0110: 20m (3 QSOs)
• 0110-0305: 40m (40 QSOs)
• 0305-0600: Off

Station: Elecraft K3 @100w, Tarheel screwdriver vertical.

Final Claimed Score: 7,124
33 states; 2 Canadian provinces (ON & NB); 2 DX (XE & KP2).

NAQP CW August 2013

First CW contest I've worked since 1996, I think. Just over 4 hours operating time (2330-0445), logged 68 QSOs, 28 States, 3 CanProvs.

K3 Receiver Sensitivity Loss With KPA500

Ever since adding the KPA500 to my station, the bands have been dead. Perfect timing as always, or so I thought at first. After a week and all propagation indices suggesting the ionosphere had not in fact packed up and left, it slowly began to dawn on me that perhaps there was something wrong in the signal chain.

I went as far as bypassing my Delta 4 antenna switch and connecting the antenna feedline directly to the amp -- a drop in signal strength being one of the signs that the gas cartridge might have gone bad --  but no change. I did not, however, bypass the amp and connect the antenna directly to the K3.

Finally, I saw a thread entitled K3 Receive Attenuation with KPA500 in Operate while perusing the Elecraft email reflector and it all clicked. Brian W3BW wrote:

I am running a newly assembled "K-Line" --- K3/100, KPA500 and KAT500.  The K3 is pretty "loaded" with KRX3, KAT3, KXV3A, etc.

I just noticed that received signals are down 4 S-units when the KPA500 is in Operate.  In Standby, signals pop right up. 

Reading past reflector emails on the topic, I found one thread that suggested this may have to do with the state of the KPA500 PTT.  I found that pulling the PTT RCA plug out ended the problem. 

This 4 S-unit drop was exactly what I was experiencing. A response from Don W3FPR confirmed it to be the PTT cable used in parallel with the KPAK3AUX control cable:

I have heard this before, and as I recall it has to do with the DB15 cable and the PTT cable when used together. 

Are you using the PTT cable in addition to the cable from the K3 ACC cable?  If so, pin 10 of the cable should not be included.  See the note on page 8 of the KAT500 manual. 

Normally you would not have to use the PTT cable with the K3.

The KPA500 manual does not mention this, at least not clearly, in the Cabling instructions:

1. Connect your station ground to the GND thumbscrew {10}. A good station ground is important for safety and to minimize local radio frequency interference (RFI).
   
2. Attach the RF INPUT {11} to the output of your driving transceiver or transmitter using a 50 ohm coaxial cable with a PL-259 male connector on the KPA500 end. The driving transmitter must supply up to 40 watts for full output from the KPA500.
   
3. Attach the RF OUTPUT {1} to a suitable load with an SWR of less than 1.5:1. A dummy load is strongly recommended for initial testing.
   
4. Connect the PA KEY {6} to the driving transmitter Key Output. A suitable cable is supplied with your KPA500. The transmitter must ground this circuit during transmit while sinking up to 1 mA from the PA KEY line. If the transmitter Key Output is not a contact closure or equivalent, it must be at a level between +4 and +16 VDC during receive. (Compatible with all known transmitters. No key line buffer required.)
   
5. Optional: An auxiliary (AUX) connector is provided that permits more closely integrating the operation of the KPA500 with many transceivers, including the Elecraft K3. A suitable cable for use with the K3 is available from Elecraft. See AUX Connector Interface on pg 18.
   
6. Optional: RS232 (PC) {9} connects the KPA500 to your personal computer with a standard 9-pin serial cable. Required for updating the KPA500 firmware.
   
7. Optional: RS232 (XVCR) {8} connects the KPA500 to a Kenwood transceiver using a standard 9-pin serial cable. This connector cannot be used to update KPA500 firmware (see pg 14).
   
8. Optional: ALC OUT {7} provides level information to control the driving transmitter RF level. The output is negative-going from 0 VDC to -12VDC. 
   

I read the above as, "You need to connect the PTT cable, and the AUX cable if you want additional control of the amp with the K3." And what receiver sensitivity might have to do with the PTT key line is beyond my understanding. But at least I had a clue.

Removing the PTT cable seems to have done the trick for me. Now both signals and background noise are back to normal levels.

July 2013 Wrap-Up

DXCC - Worked 57 DXCC entities in July, 20 of them new for Texas, 13 all-time new ones for me. I'm getting braver with the paddles, five of the new ones were worked on CW (SV5 Dodecanese, FO/M Marqueseas Is, V7 Marshall Is., 3B8 Mauritius, 5W Samoa). Ended the month with 142 worked/112 confirmed all-time (112/80 from TX).

WAS - Closing in on 50 for 20m and 40m WAS. Still only two states on CW (NJ & MD), but that will change in August after NAQP CW. Still need AK, DE, IA, MI, NE, OK, RI & VT for Triple Play Phone.

 Triple Play 

Digital: 50

Phone: 42

CW: 2

2013 RSGB IOTA Contest

I didn't really give this any serious effort, did not even get on the air until after 0200, so I'm not even going to send in a log. But it gave me a chance to give the KPA500 a good shakedown and she performed as well as I could have expected. The screwdriver antenna is still the limiting factor for me -- no amplifier is going to help me work DX that I can't hear. And it was slim pickings for a while. But when 20m opened up to the Pacific after 0330, I cracked a small pile and worked South Cook Is. (E51GC) on the first call.

In all, I only made 20 contacts (16 DXCC, 10 WAZ), picked up a new one (E51), worked Corsica (TK) and Ireland (EI) for the first time since moving to Texas, and the usual assortment of VK, ZL, KH6, and South America/Caribbean stations.