[Elecraft] Fw: K2 and confused

[Dave Van Wallaghen]

Hi Jerry,

I placed my KPA100 and KAT100 in a separate EC2 enclosure and really like
the setup. I followed the instructions on Lyle Johnson's (KK7P) website:
http://www.kk7p.com/k2kpa100.html .

>  For those of you who have done this,     did you install the KAT2  and
> the
>  KIO2  in your QRP rig  ??
> 

Yes, I installed both modules. My main focus was to easily grab my QRP K2
and work portable. So I installed the KAT2 and the KBT2 battery options. I
did purchase the KIO2 because it makes for an easy method of reconnecting my
K2 with the KPA100/KAT100. Lyle shows how to connect the basic K2 to the
external KPA100 without the KIO2, but I thought it was cleaner to add the
KIO2.

>  Are you running the QRP rig through the KAT100 and switching out the
> amp??
> 

Yes.

>  IF you switch out the amp and want to run digital QRP will the KIO2  in
> the
>  amp still work??.
> 

I'm not exactly sure what you're asking here, but you daisy chain the AuxBus
cable from the K2 KIO2 connector to the AuxBus connector on the external
KPA100/KAT100. The AuxBus signals are routed between the KPA100 and KAT100
internally in the EC2 enclosure. So I think the answer to your question is
yes.

> IF  the KPA100 is installed in the rig,    can it be switched off and
> still
> run the rig
> QRP or is it strickly a QRO rig ??
> 

Yes - when the power is below 10 watts the KPA100 is "bypassed".

>  I guess I'm looking for who done it and how ya did it to give me some
>  guidance.
> 
> It would be cool to have the QRP rig with all features and hook it up to
> the
> KPA100 /  KAT100  for contesting etc.
> 
> Are the KAT2 and the KIO2  truely excess now or should I install them ???
> 

If you plan on using the "basic" K2 separately (i.e. portable or mobile ops
etc.) then no the KAT2 and KIO2 are not excess at all. I ran portable from
my front yard all summer long and it was very convenient to unplug a couple
of cables and take the K2 outside and when I wanted to run QRO, plug them
back in and I was up in 30 seconds or so.

Hope this helps.

73,
Dave W8FGU