[Elecraft] Re: Better receiver: KX1 or Sierra?

[Rick Dettinger]

 Wayne Burdick said:
> Having designed all of these rigs I find it a little hard to be completely
> objective, so get other opinions  ;)
Having built and used all six rigs mentioned , I offer the following
subjective comments:  The Sierra represents the peak of analog QRP kits and
is my favorite "at home" rig for casual operating.  My K2 is the top
performer, of course, but it is less "transparent" than the Sierra.  This
just means that I have to think more about operating when using the K2,
something that it shares with all softwear defined radios. Any experienced
ham could operate the Sierra without the manual.  The trade off is that you
give up features like fast band  and antenna changes.  And power.  The
Sierra is limited to about 3 watts and less for some bands.  Thats about 3db
down from full QRP power and QRP operators will go to alot of trouble and
expense to get a 3db increase from their antenna system.   The K1 gives you
that power and more, plus, you can customise things like sidetone frequency
and power output from the menu.  One of the reasons the Sierra is simple to
operate is that you don't get as many choices.  And you had better like to
wind toroids.  You will wind almost 80 of them if you build all of the band
modules. Due to the mixing scheme used in the Sierra and that  it uses an
air variable capacitor, it tunes "backwards" with respect to the rigs that
use varactor or optical tuning.  The K1 is better for portable operation,
however, the KX1 is better still if you don't need 15 meters.  I  don't find
the limitations of the Sierra serious in most situations and it is the rig
thats usually in use at home.  And since I spend most of my time on or near
7040 khz, I could use the Norcal 40A for for about 90% of my operating.
73  - Rick - K7MW      ______________________________________________