[Elecraft] re: K2 vs. the world

[N2EY at aol.com]

In a message dated 5/20/06 12:41:28 PM Eastern Daylight Time, jrbee at best.com 
writes:


> Do you folks  think that the

Orion II

 is worth the great difference in  
> 
> price based on performance?
> 

Depends how you define performance.

Certainly the Orion's numbers are better. They should be - the basic Orion 
costs five times what the basic K2 costs! Compare the price of a K2/100 with 
SSB, 160 and noise blanker with an Orion II and some filters, and see the price 
differential.

> Certainly factors like unit size and bulk, pride of building, and the  
> fact hat the K2 is not software based
> are important, but is the Omni a functionally better rig?

In some ways the Orion II wins - as it should, because it's much more complex 
and much more expensive. The question (for me) isn't whether the Orion 
receiver outperforms the K2 receiver in some ways, but rather how the K2's receiver 
manages to compete in *any* way with rigs costing so much more and with so 
much more complexity.

OTOH, try running the Orion from a 7 AH SLA battery for any length of time. 
That's a performance measure, too.

IMHO, the K2 wasn't really meant to compete directly with most other HF ham 
rigs. Rather, it was meant to be an alternative to them, by focusing more on 
some things than the usual Yaecomwood. (CW performance, low power drain, ability 
of the owner to build and maintain, excellent receiver performance without 
too much complexity, ability to add options over time, etc.) IOW, the K2 offers 
a unique alternative.

But I still wish the knobs and displays were bigger.

73 de Jim, N2EY