[Elecraft] Changes from 100 watts to 10 watts

[Julian (G4ILO)]

I don't want to add flames to the fire this thread is becoming, but I'm not
happy with the insinuation that a K2 without the 100W PA is incomplete. The
only thing there's room for in my K2's case is the transverter module;
adding the PA would entail tossing out the battery pack and the KAT2, and I
have no desire to build or pay for a PA that I neither want nor need.

It's a pity that Elecraft didn't choose a different model number for the
higher powered model, to emphasise the difference between them, and so that
those of us who choose to run low power aren't made to feel that our K2's
are somehow inferior or incomplete.

I think there's a lot of truth in the basic statement made at the start of
this thread. The difference between 10 and 100 watts is less than 2
S-points and I personally think the extra power makes less of a difference
than those who insist on having the higher power want to believe. I'd
hazard a guess that at least 90% of the contacts that can be made with 100
watts, can be made with 10. Personally I've had more success, and less
frustration, using my K2 than I've had using any other radio I've owned in
the past, which has included some 100W models. I'd put that down to the
good audio and highly effective speech processing, which enables the 10W K2
to punch well above its weight.

I don't wish to be associated with the offensive suggestion that those who
bought the 100W PA are not very smart, but I do wish that fewer people
would consider higher power a necessity. I believe that the so-called
"Mojo" that many K2 builders talked about in the early days was simply
people who had never used low power before until the K2 forced them to,
being surprised to find how little difference there actually is between 100
watts and 10 watts. I'm personally sad that the 100W PA is now available,
as I expect that many who build a K2 now will never put it on the air until
the PA is finished, except perhaps for a brief test, and so will never make
that discovery for themselves.

73 de

Julian, G4ILO. (K2 #392)
Homepage: http://www.qsl.net/g4ilo

k4wtf@ENTERZONE.NET wrote:

[snip]

Insulting someone because they choose to _COMPLETE_ their K2 by adding the
100w finals is rude, crude and socially unacceptable.