[Elecraft] Re: K2 full-time portable?

[Wayne Burdick]

John,

I've used my personal K2 (serial number 00001) for dozens of field outings over
the past 3 years. That's what we designed it for. Don't let the high-performance
receiver fool you  ;)  

The textured powder coat finish can handle a lot of abuse. If you do scratch up
a side panel or cover, you could either consider it a badge of honor or order an
inexpensive replacement. This is one advantage of the modular chassis design. 

There are smaller all-band HF rigs out there for portable use, but the K2 is
unique in that it has both a built-in battery and a built-in auto-tuner. With
both installed, it still weighs only 5 pounds. It also has much lower
receive-mode current drain, resulting in some 6 hours or more of casual
operation at 10 W PEP. (When using a battery, you can operate down to under 10 V
with no loss of signal integrity. I recently posted more details on this.)

I may be biased. Hopefully you'll get more responses!

73,
Wayne
N6KR


John Pfeifer wrote:
> 
> Hello all,
> 
> I've been reading this list for almost a year now, and am
> getting serious about ordering a K2...
> 
> Here's my question:  My ocean-side QTH is plagued with a high
> electrical noise level (S7-S9), originating somewhere outside
> my house.  I don't have much hope of tracking it down and
> fixing it. (Our electrical company has huge problems with
> arcing insulators because of salt-spray.)
> 
> As a result, I'm considering a 100% portable/pedestrian
> mobile operation using a K2.
> 
> How will the K2 hold up to such punishment?  Once I've poured
> my and heart & soul into building a K2, will I be able to
> take my precious rig out into the field, where it will be
> scratched and knocked around on a regular basis?