[Elecraft] Am I crazy?

[JT Croteau]

Am I crazy?  Well, if you ask my YL she'd emphatically say YES.

But here's what I am debating:

My only rig at the moment is a Ten-Tec Paragon which is a mighty fine
HF Transceiver.  I spend the majority of my time on 80, 40, and 20
phone.  However, I am thinking about selling it to finance the
purchase of a KX1 or a K1.  My reasons for doing so, in order of
importance to me, would be:

1 - Forcing myself to re-learn CW.  I love CW but have never mastered
it very well.  In fact, after I learned just enough to pass my 5 WPM
for my novice back in 1989, I have never really used it. but I still
love the sound of CW and really admire those who can do it well
Getting a CW only rig may help me finally start to take CW seriously
and relearn it.  Right now it is way too easy to tune up the band and
hit the PTT.

2 - Portability. It seems I am rarely home these days and on the road
somewhere.  The YL and I are talking about doing more camping this
year as well.  Most of our camping trips will be to coastal areas.
Operating doesn't get much better when you are near saltwater.  Having
a KX1 on hand everywhere I go would be awesome.

3 - Simplicity/Space Reduction.  My base station with the rig, power
supply, external ATU, etc. takes up quite a bit of space in our small
house.  The "shack" is currently in a corner of our master bedroom
along with our home office.  With an internal ATU and batteries, I
could operate the KX1 or even a K1 from anywhere... even the picnic
table outside or from in bed. heh.

4 - QRP - I do love the challenge and simplicity of equipment of QRP.
I can turn the drive of the  Paragon down to 10W but it doesn't feel
the same as operating with simple equipment and I still lack the
portablity.

5 - I have the itch to build something.

So those are my main reasons.  I'd keep the Paragon and just buy
another rig but I don't have the extra cash at the moment.

Am I crazy to essentially downgrade from a once top of the line rig to
something simpler with less power out?  But, then again, would it
really be downgrading?

I appreciate any comments and thanks for listening.

73,
JT - W6FO - Canton, GA