[Elecraft] A new K2 takes to the air

[Doug Person]

Success at last.

K2 #5839 has been operational for a few weeks now.  It is a basic 
model.  A few months ago I made a commitment to myself to only work cw.  
My interest in radio has been fading in the past few years. This loss of 
interest had led me to selling K2/100 #1920 and all its accessories. 

For some reason (insanity?) unclear to me I felt like trying cw again.  
I have an FT-817 and with the addition of a cw filter found it quite 
capable.  This led to the urge to build another kit and before long a 
KX-1 graced my hamshack desk.  Kit-building is oh-so-addictive and the 
K2 urge became unbearable. I placed the order thinking I would sell 
something to cover the cost (I forget what).

I completed the K2 and had some problems.  I was as careful as I could 
be but still managed to put T7 in backwards and break the gate lead off 
of Q23 in such a way that it was both intermittent and invisible.  But, 
all is well now and 5839 is truly a pleasure to operate.  It is 
difficult to compare the experience of operating the K2 at 10 watts with 
that of operating the IC-756Pro and IC-2KL at 600 watts.  The K2 keyer 
just seems right.  The receiver sounds smooth and clean; its ability to 
pull signals out of the noise seems remarkable.

Still, the bands have been lousy these past few days.  The noise has 
been high and the signals have been weak.  Normally, I consider this a 
challenge, but you need to have something to work with and there was 
very little in the way of signal-to-noise ratio.  I realized that the 
'Pro had one facility that helped in these conditions - an effective 
DSP.  So, back to www.elecraft.com and another charge to rationalize 
away with a promise to sell excess equipment.  I ordered the KDSP2.  It 
looks good on paper and sounds good in the demos.  Maybe it will help me 
break my mental lock on the Icom.  At minimum it will be another reason 
to heat up the iron.  It looks like there isn't a lot of effort required 
to build it so it should be operational pretty quick.  I hope it helps 
me dig those weak ones out of the noise.

Here's to CW: After 45 years of hamming, I couldn't find much to talk 
about anymore, at least on phone.  But to sit and flip the keyer paddles 
back and forth and communicate at the excruciatingly slow rate of 15 
words per minute, I've discovered a new world.  And, oddly, the people 
who inhabit the low ends of the bands are a different (even strange) 
breed.  Now that the final requirement for CW has been deleted, why do 
it?  and the answer? Because we can... Because anybody can talk into a 
mic... and for a few dozen more reasons that need not be explained.

A special thanks to Don - W3FPR for all of his help.

And here's to Wayne, Eric & Co. - their success enables thousands of 
hams to enjoy their hobby in a way that has not been available since you 
could but an HW-101 kit for $179.  Calculating the inflation factor in, 
the K2 is actually less expensive then the HW-101 was.  And where the 
'101 was adequate, the K2 is superb.

72, 73,  Doug -- K0DXV