[Elecraft] Re: K1 or K2

[Gary Krause]

Hi Roger,

Well, I work for the Wyoming DOT and I make maps for the highway 
projects around the state! Hi!  I'm also a professional artist in my 
spare time doing mostly portraits.

Ok on all the gear.  I have a Ten Tec Argonaut V, a Ten Tec Century 22 
and a Kenwood TS-530SP.  The reason I'm looking at the K2 is because, I 
think it would be fun to build and I would have one of the best 
receivers around.  I have DSP with the Argonaut V and crystal filters 
with the Century 22.  I also prefer the crystal filter.  It just sounds 
cleaner to me.  If I get the K2 it will be the 100 watt version with 
SSB.  I work mostly CW but, I like to work SSB once in a while.  It 
would be nice to have a rig that can go from 1 to 100 watts.  My 
antennas are also homebrew with a couple of quarter wave ground plane 
verticals up about ten feet.  I can work all bands with them since they 
are base loaded.  I don't have much room in the backyard and these work 
perfectly. 

Thanks for all of the advice.  I'm sure it will be a great experience 
and I've noticed how nice the people are here. 

Gary, N7HTS

Roger Stein wrote:
>
> Hi Gary,
>
> Wow! You sure got a lot of responses to your inquiry.
>
> Elecraft owners are an enthusiastic bunch and very supportive of 
> fellow users. It embodies the
> 'fraternal' aspect of what amateur radio was in the past to me.
>
> Oh, this is Roger, WA7BOC, in Montesano, WA.  I work as a civil 
> engineer for Grays Harbor Co.
> You can Google Earth 550 North Main Street in Montesano and see the 
> QTH. The County
> campus is at 100 West Broadway, just 4 blocks from my house. A great 
> commute!!!!
>
> I have a lot of tall trees on my property for hanging wire 
> antennas....ah, antennas....my passion!
>
> Back to the work subject...we have a GIS department. They use ARC view 
> (sp?) for the county mapping
> activity. Fascinating subject! WSDOT is our partner in our road and 
> bridge projects, funding, audits, etc.
>
> And back to ham radio.....I had a Century 21 as well as an Argonaut 
> with the 405 ? amplifier years ago. Fun
> equipment, liked the QSK feature!
>
> Like you, I was kind of dormant from the radio activity for a while. 
> When I did spin the dial and listen, the bands seemed full of less 
> than desirable radio activity. This was with a Drake B-line that my 
> Dad and I had shared over the years. I had spotted the Elecraft ad and 
> checked out the web-site. Great! My interest was rekindled in amateur 
> radio.
>
> By chance I stumbled across a collector of Drake gear on the internet 
> as I was now looking to sell the Drake and purchase a K2. I exchanged 
> photos of the gear, clean and shiny as it was always warm, dry and in 
> a non-smoking environment. He liked what he saw. I mentioned that I 
> was selling the Drake to purchase a K2. Well, he had one as well, plus 
> a second unit that he had never assembled!  The negotiating began! A 
> deal was struck and that was how I acquired my K2. I later met both 
> Eric and Wayne at two different Ham Fests, heard both give talks, and 
> was very impressed with them as individuals and their knowledge and 
> direction for their products.
>
> I liken the building of the Elecraft gear to a 'journey', it is a lot 
> of fun along the way and continues to be enjoyable once you get 
> there.... the finished product.
>
> You tend to acquire an 'ownership' factor during the building process, 
> for sure when you wind the toroids.
> I just grabbed the wire, the cores, the tools and sat down in the 
> family room and took my time 'sewing', as one fellow replied, away.  
> It makes for good therapy when you tire of soldering!   Just follow 
> the instructions, get a handy magnifying lens and double check the 
> turn counts. The tinning is best done over the bench and not the 
> family room carpet!
>
> The 'solder-blob' method works like a charm, just need to clean up a 
> little flux off the end of the wire. It is ok if the tinning extends 
> up to the core as you will cinch the cores down to the circuit board. 
> The thru-plated holes on the circuit boards are first class and make 
> for a real nice soldering experience. A temperature controlled 
> soldering station and some nice flush cutting diagonals are the real 
> ticket.
>
> There is a lot to read about all this aforementioned info on their 
> website and in the Reflector archives.
>
> I have had a blast on 160 in a couple of the contests, chase some DX, 
> ragchew, and continue to tweak around with the CW filter widths, and 
> seach for the 'best' sidetone frequency!  Check out both Don, W3FPR 
> and Tom N0SS, websites for other neat Elecraft info. I believe that 
> there are links on the Elecraft site.
>
> All the kits have been fun to assemble, the only problems were do to 
> my errors. I have the K2 with 160, noise blanker, ssb, 100 watt module 
> and matching tuner. I had the QRP version tuner but sold it in favor 
> of the KAT-100, had the audio filter....tried the DSP, sold the AF 
> unit, and later sold the DSP, not to my liking.
>
> A lot like choosing speakers! All ears hear different.  I use an 
> external Timewave DSP599Z if I come across anything that the regular 
> K2 filtering can't handle, and that is infrequent!
>
> Also have the n-gen, dummy load, and signal generator.
>
> Well that is my 2 cents worth...... :-)
>
> 73, Roger, WA7BOC
> K2 #755
>
>
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