[Elecraft] 2001 ARRL SS CW QRP

[John Schneider]

Just wanted to thank the Elecraft gang for a great product. I used 2 K2's 
in a SO2R configuration in the 2001 SS CW contest. The radios were 
controlled with NA10. software and a home brew NA10 controlled switch box. 
The box allows you to listen to both radios, one in each ear, or either 
radio monaural. The box also prevents simultaneous transmission of both 
radios. NA10 was set for TS570, using 2 com ports via KIO2 interface on 
each radio. The radios worked to perfection, except for the frequency walk 
up during transmit, which happened twice. This problem has been identified 
and a fix provided. What a pleasure the receive is on the K2, quiet and 
selective. You could snuggle right up next to the big guns and not know 
they were there. In fact I was asked to QSY a few times, I guess my 5 watts 
bothered them but their high power didn't bother me. It was my first SS in 
a few years, and the main goal was to get used to the radios, see how they 
played. They played great! I finished in the top ten, #8 national, and #1 
in the Rocky Mountain Division. A lot of it had to do with the radios, at 
my age, 60, operator fatigue is a big factor. The K2's were easy to 
operate, no front panel clutter, and easy listening. A check at the ARRL 
web site will show the top ten QRP entrants station descriptions. Other 
than my position, a K2 in conjunction with a FT-920 finished #7, and 2 K2's 
at #10. The K2's were the only pure QRP rigs in the top ten and it looks 
like they held their own against 1000MP's, 781's, OMNI's and other high end 
throttled back radios. If you have access to the ARRL site, check it out, 
it says a lot about the K2. Oh, and the final treat, I got to build 
them!  Also, I didn't mention, I had a K1 as a back up, just in case.

John, k7up
K2's #2012,2223   K1 #637