[Elecraft] The K2 can compete with the big boys.

[Larry Phipps]

That's $4000 in 1978 dollars... probably less than a K2 in today's 
dollars. I wish I still had my TR7... in retrospect, it was probably my 
favorite rig ever, and that includes a lot of rigs from Collins, ICOM, 
Kenwood, TenTec, etc. It was also one of the few I've had (besides the 
K2) that you could actually work on.

My second rig now is a TS850S, which I liked until it started falling 
apart... and in areas of the circuit that can't be accessed while the 
rig is operating. I decided it was cheaper to buy the K2 than fix the 
TS850S... and now I have a rig that I can always fix. The things that 
sold me on the K2 were repairability, RX performance, this reflector and 
the Elecraft people.

I can say the same thing about the SteppIR reflector and people... 
hopefully more small companies like these two innovative ones with 
hands-on owners will dominate ham radio in the future... that's also one 
of the reasons I liked Drake.

Larry



Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:

>Interesting comparisons!
>
>After the K2/100 combo was released, I always considered the K2 one of the
>"big boys" - just not one of the "really, really expensive boys" Hi! 
>
>The K2 is at its best with the pre-amp off below 15 MHz unless it's hooked
>to a really low-gain antenna like a short whip. The K2 has wonderful dynamic
>range, so adding the preamp usually doesn't hurt so one would notice.
>Indeed, sometimes I turn it on on 80 meters to bring some impulse noise up
>high enough for the noise blanker to react to it. But the preamp does
>nothing for the sensitivity on the lower bands when hooked to any sort of
>decent antenna. 
>
>The test I use is whether the noise floor jumps up when I hook on the
>antenna. If it does, adding the preamp will do nothing except reduce the
>dynamic range by about 20 dB. What I can hear is limited entirely by the
>external QRN. 
>
>The K2 was designed for low current consumption so some ops have added an
>external amplified speaker, especially when using the K2 in a noisy
>environment. 99.9%% of my operating is with the phones so I never notice any
>shortage of eardrum-rattling gain. Even on it's internal speaker, it is too
>loud for me in the shack.
>
>$4K for the Drakes huh? I always liked their gear but I'd rather have the
>$2,800 or so that I didn't spend by getting the K2. Tnx for the input! 
>
>Ron AC7AC
>
>
>  
>