[Elecraft] KX-1 (sic) wish list

[Mike Morrow]

>Why not just use an outboard amp. when you feel you need more power?

The "need more power" approach to portable QRP operation is nonsense.

What is needed for QRP operation is a DECENT antenna.  Not an expensive
antenna, just a decent antenna.  Something like a resonant dipole that can
be built for less than $10, weighs almost nothing, and can be packed in
almost no space for storage.

That 25 to 85 foot of random wire is easy to string out, but problematic
to match with the KX1's very very limited ATU, and even if matched is
a terrible radiator.  Even worse are those $300 (or more) commercial vertical
antennas.  Some apparently feel that more money spent means more performance.
The opposite is true.

I've played around with backpacking antennas and QRP for more than 30
years.  It's my **principal** interest in ham radio.  Here's what I've
learned about portable temporary-site HF operation:

There is NOTHING that will beat a cheap resonant dipole, even one at
low elevation.  In the many side-by-side tests I've done from campsites
comparing a very expensive commercial vertical to a home-made dipole,
typically greater than a 30 db (5 S-units!) difference will be observed
between the two on both receive and transmit.  Even QST's evaluation of
one of the most expensive and elaborate "portable" verticals, the
Outbacker Outreach with Outpost (a very ineffective tripod base that
magically "couples" the vertical to ground...$700 total) showed similar
magnitudes of performance differential.  This means that my 5 watts into
a dipole trumps your 5000 watts (!!) going into your high-dollar and
heavier vertical.  Plus, you've still got poor signal reception due to
your antenna.  Random wire radiators are generally comparable to verticals.
Antennas of these types only prove that at times contacts can be made
no matter how poor your antenna is.

If a site is so temporary that the 33 feet of a 20m dipole can't be
strung out, then why even bother unless one enjoys frustration at
not being heard, and at not hearing much.

Now as far as what I'd like to see in a "KX2":

1.  Re-design it all so that the kludgy and tricky add-on circuits
for 80 through 20 meter coverage are on one PCB with the rest of
the KX circuit.  Put the ATU on that circuit too, and make it
have matching capability closer to that of the K1.
2.  Re-design the case eliminating any space wasted by a provision
for internal batteries.  Internal batteries in a small QRP rig is NOT
a good idea, especially since an external pack (perhaps one designed
for the "KX2") can be so small and much easier to recharge.
3.  Have a 4-pole crystal filter.
4.  Use a DDS chip that can support 15 meter operation, and add that
and 17 meters.  15 meters is one of the very best QRP bands when it
is open.

I would consider a KXx with these added features to be almost perfect.

73,
Mike / KK5F