[Elecraft] A few questions before ordering the K2 kit...

[jez]

Some of the replies really made me thinking, as the K3 really seems to give a
great value for money. But in the end I'll probably come back to the kit
building experience I prefer (for now).

The K3 offers a lot of things, but maybe too much for a ham beginner like
me. So for now I'll end up with a K2 I think, and once I'm a bit more
experienced in a few years and would like to do some RTTY or PSK31, there's
still the option to add a K3 to the shack.

73,
Thomas




lstavenhagen wrote:
> 
>>And finally:  consider the K3.
> 
> This was actually the route I took instead of decking out my K2. So I
> would also second this recommendation if your end goal is a fully featured
> rig that supports all the modes, all bands, DSP etc. 
> 
> I.e. the base 10 watt K3 comes stock with SSB/RTTY/PSK31, etc support,
> audio I/O, an RS-232 interface, 160 and 6M, DSP and other creature
> comforts that make life really nice for certain things. When you actually
> push the pencil across the piece of paper on it, the K3 actually ends up
> being the better option in that case. It also has other things you can't
> get in the K2 such as a high-stability reference osc., QRO internal ant.
> tuner (i.e. you don't have to ditch the internal tuner when you install
> the 100W module), and generally higher performance in the RX. 
> 
> However, the K3 doesn't offer the same kit building experience as the K2
> because it's a modular, no-soldering kit. The K2 is a true box-of-parts to
> fully functional rig experience, which I found to be great fun when
> building mine. I was a first-time kit builder never having built a kit of
> any kind before, so I had to go slow and prepare carefully by buying all
> the correct tools etc.
> 
> I even wound my own toroids, which I still recommend even tho it's tedious
> at times. You actually learn some things in that process that you probably
> wouldn't otherwise...
> 
> So, IMO, I say do both! I'm a lot more broke now than I would have been if
> I'd only done one of them, of course, but then again I'll never have to
> buy another rig again if I don't want to.
> 

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