[Elecraft] Elecraft technology

[Lyle Johnson]

> >I received an interesting comment that it is basically the architecture
> >of the K2 which is unique for a ham receiver, i.e. the single-conversion
> >design and the narrow ham-band filters at the RF input -
> >http://www.elecraft.com/Apps/why_is_the_k2_receiver_single.htm, and I
> >agree this is key to the K2's performance. I could rephrase my question
> >differently, why did it take until 1998 for this architecture to make it
> >into ham receivers, why didn't it happen say ten years earlier?

Note that there were popular transceivers in the 60s and 70s that were also
single conversion, notably the Swan and Atlas.  Both were brought to the
marketplace by Herb Johnson, W6QKI (SK).  He did the Swan designs; Lester
Earnshaw the basic Atlas design.

Atlas claimed excellent performance, but lacked it.  This was mostly due to
the lack of proper termination of the diode balanced modulators.

>...
> My friend Gary, K9AY told me a couple of years ago, "The K2 is a simple
> radio superbly executed." There's something to be said for simplicity.

And *that* is the key.  Remember, the "ele" in Elecraft is "ele as in
elegant" and the overall K2 implementation is indeed elegant. Many times,
the best designs appear to be very simple.  But there is a lot of thought
and careful optimization that isn't apparent at first glance.

The latest ARRL lab tests tell the story :-)

73,

Lyle KK7P