[Elecraft] Re: K1 or K2

Wed Apr 11 22:35:01 EDT 2007

Hi Dale!

Where have you been?  I assume you have a K2 or one of the other 
Elecraft rigs?  Yes, these are nice people here.

Gary, N7HTS in Wyoming

Dale Putnam wrote:
>
> Hey, Gary,
>   Been a while, good to see you. Hope all is well,
> and Welcome.. these are a great bunch of folks. Lots of help.
> --...   ...--
> Dale - WC7S in Wy
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> > Date: Wed, 11 Apr 2007 20:01:01 -0600
> > From: n7hts at bresnan.net
> > To: RStein at co.grays-harbor.wa.us; elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> > CC:
> > Subject: [Elecraft] Re: K1 or K2
> >
> > 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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