[Elecraft] [K2] lack of sensitivity...?

[Gil G.]

Hello,

I knew this title would grab some attention ;-)

Well, since my K1 worked so well, I decided to build a K2.
It took me 30 hours over three days. Everything works, but…

First, the receiver is pretty deaf on 20m. Not much static at all, faint signals.
I plugged in my K1 on the same wire, and what I could barely hear on 20m on the K2 came in full blast on the K1.
The preamp helps a little, but not much.
On 40m, the score is closer, but still advantage to the K1 over the K2 with preamp on.
I can use FL1 and FL2, but with 3, the signal is very attenuated, with 4 (200Hz), usually gone.
The other bands, I haven't listened enough yet to make a diagnosis… I can hear more static than on 20m.
I have set the filters as indicated in the manual.

The K1 has the ATU, would that make such a difference?
I use a 35.5ft wire with 13ft counterpoise, directly out the BNC via a binding post.

By the way, I do get full output power on the K2 on all bands.
I precisely peaked all bands on receive, then on transmit with my QRP wattmeter.

Any advise?

Thanks!

Gil.
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