[Elecraft] K1 or KX1?

[Ron D'Eau Claire]

Jim, K2HN, asked:
Have been thinking about getting my feet wet with building either a K1 or
KX1.  I see most posts seem to refer to the KX1.  Aside from size and
portability is there any difference in performance in the two?  I can work
with either one but would prefer the one with best performance.  K2 next-
can't find much that beats it.

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The KX1 is the "X"-treme portable rig. The whole station, key and antenna
fits in my jacket pocket. It gives up a few things for that. One is output
power. On internal batteries it is limited to 1.5 to 2 watts. So what's
that? -- about 1/2 or 3/4 "S" unit below a full QRP Gallon: 5 watts. Shoot,
I worked the world for years with my 2-watt HW-8, but it's still
significantly less than 5 watts. But, if you have room for an external
battery or power supply it'll come within a gnat's whisker of that QRP
gallon. 

I don't have a K1 so I won't comment on a direct comparison. The KX1 does
permit SWL-ing in the more popular SW broadcast ranges. Its internal ATU is
more limited in matching range than the other Elecraft tuners because of the
miniscule space it must fit into. That limits the number of inductors and
caps that can be used to produce a match. 

If you have a pretty normal-sized operating desk and never operate portable,
you'll like the K1 (or K2!!) much better except for the extended frequency
coverage provided by the KX1. 

If you like portable ops, must travel frequently, or live in a small R.V.,
you'll probably appreciate the KX1. 

As for sheer performance in terms of receiver sensitivity, selectivity, and
dynamic range, the K2 beats 'em all.

Each Elecraft rig fits a niche. And many of us have more than one niche we
want a rig to fit into, so we end up with more than one <G>  

If you can tolerate a portable rig the size of fat hard-cover novel and want
the greatest flexibility, I recommend the K2. With a 2-minute cover swap you
can go from a QRO rig to a self-contained QRP portable station with built in
wide(r) range ATU that only needs an external key (and the KXPD1 paddles can
be used with the K2 using the special bracket Elecraft just announced that
clamps to the K2 bail) and an antenna. Back home, you drop on a different
cover and have a 100-watt 160-meter through 10 meter CW/Data/SSB station
that leads the state of the art in Amateur gear.

And people adverse to swapping covers have come up with a way to avoid that
and just plug the K2 into the home station with the KPA100 and KAT100 amp
and tuner in an Elecraft box that sits alongside the K2. It's all documented
on the Elecraft web site.  

Ron AC7AC