[Elecraft] RE: Discovering Elecraft

[N2EY@aol.com]

Here's my story:

I got started back in the mid-1960s due to fascination with all things 
electrical, particularly radio. First rx was a "foxhole radio", with razor 
blade and pencil lead for the detector. First SW rx was a 2 tube regen, with 
which I learned the code by listening to other hams. Learned almost 
everything from books - "All About Radio And Television" was the first, and a 
1949 ARRL Handbook found on the family bookshelves was the impetus towards 
ham radio.

Got my Novice license in 1967 at age 13. First rig was a 6V6GT on 3726 kHz - 
ten watts input, mnaybe 7 watts output. First nonhomebrew rx was a Heath 
AR-2. 

Had a few other pieces of nonhomebrew stuff (BC-454, DX-20/VF-1, Adventurer, 
SX-99, Viking 2) but the chronic shortage of radio money had me building rigs 
rather than buying them. It also meant that I used CW exclusively, because it 
gave the most bang for the buck. 

By the time I was out of college and had enough to actually buy some decent 
gear, I had discovered that most of the equipment on the market wasn't really 
meant for CW operation. Most SSB transceivers of the day had no provision for 
sharp filters or turning off the AGC, and their tuning rate was way too fast 
for my taste. There were a few rigs that met my requirements, but they cost a 
fortune. So I kept on building receivers and transmitters. By the late 1970s 
I was building CW transceivers. 

Parts for these rigs came from dumpsters, old TVs, hamfests, and military 
surplus sources like Fair Radio. In the '70s and '80s, hollow-state parts and 
equipment could be had for almost nothing - in some cases, simply for the 
carting away. I amassed quite a pile of stuff for a pittance, and built 
better and better rigs. 

Had a short fling with a Ten-Tec Argosy, but its limitations and audio AGC 
finally drove me to sell it and warm up the soldering iron again. From 1978 
to 1983, and from 1984 to 2001, the main HF station was all-homebrew. 

Yeah, a long story, but ya gotta know the background to realize how radical 
the next bit is.

Of course all down the years I'd kept an eye on the ham rigs being made, but 
they all had some shortcoming or other. The ones I liked were all on the 
wrong side of $1000 - in fact, they were on the wrong side of $2000. And even 
those rigs had things I didn't like! 

Building my own stuff had ruined me for manufactured gear because I was used 
to understanding exactly how my rigs worked, being able to work on my gear no 
matter what the problem, and having my rigs designed for CW first and 
foremost.

So on Field Day 1999 (or was it 2000?), what do I see but N3IUT using a 
little gray QRP rig from a company I'd never heard of. Dern thing is 
completely unaffected by the other 100 W rigs in use, while the other 
stations are having troubles with overload, etc. A quick listen reveals that 
this "K2" hears right down to the noise on 15 meters with terrible antenna, 
has all sorts of features, and is made from a kit!

I go home and do some Internet surfing and find the website. Seems to good to 
be true - gotta be a catch someplace. I download the manuals, read the 
reflector, hem and haw and scratch my head. Only thing this box won't do is 
100W, and there's an amp on the way.

Meanwhile, all that hollowstate stuff I'd gotten for pennies had gone from 
being unwanted junk to highly desired - and priced! I've been selling stuff 
off right along, via hamfests, ads in Electric Radio, email reflectors and 
eBay. I stepped up the selling pace and soon turned some of the inventory 
into the cash necessary for  K2 #2084. It went together easily and 
performance was all that was expected. Tried it in SS 2001 and was greatly 
surprised at how well 5 watts and a wire antenna could do. 

Yes, I still have and use my homebrew rig, but it shares the op desk with the 
K2. Best of both worlds.

I figured when I bought the K2 that I'd get the amp as soon as it was 
announced. But a funy thing happened on the way - QRP was so much fun that 
the amplifier took a low priority. Maybe I'll homebrew an amplifier using 
some of those tubes...

73 de Jim, N2EY