[Elecraft] SO2R thoughts

[Stephen Bloom]

Hey all:

I've been the owner of a K3, KAT500, and KPA500, and a Microham MK2R+  for
about 9 months now.  Love em all.  The one additional thing I wanted was a
Legal Limit amp (I'm a fairly active contester).  Bought an Expert 2K-FA and
just put that online.  So far so good.  The one clear downside to the 2K-FA
is ...that it is loud (actually quieter than most High Power amps but still
loud).  

With that said ...and given the fact that the Expert Amp SO2R isn't really
SO2R (second antenna is rx only) ...I'm going to pair a second rig with the
KPA500 and use it as a backup contest rig and as main for non contest Qs
where I don't need the extra 3DB.  Right now the second rig is a Kenwood
TS2000 ...which isn't really a contest or DX quality transceiver.  The three
options I'm mulling over are ..

1)  another K3 ...Upside:  SO2R is most intuitive with identical xcvrs,
plays well with KPA500/KAT500, identical cabling  ...Downside:  Expensive,
It's more fun to have different rigs to play with, and like others, I find
the K3 can be kind of "harsh" to listen to for many hours.

2)  Kenwood TS590 ...Upside:  Biggest bang for the buck (IMO) contest
capable xcvr, Good audio ..Downside:  Looks like it has a weird audio codec
(meaning not the standard Kenwood).  I see that N1MM works with it ...but I
wonder about other software plus the MK2R+.

3) KX3+KXPA100(+existing KAT/KPA500) ..Upside:  The KX3 really intrigues me.
In a perfect world ...the Second Rig would be one I could easily take
portable.  The Sherwood reviews seem to indicate that the KX3 rcv
performance is comparable to the K3, and I'm a real fan of Elecraft in
general.  Downside:  Clearly there is no technical reason one couldn't chain
all this together, but I wonder if anyone actually has done it, and if there
were any configuration issues 


Any input would be appreciated.

Thanks and 73
Steve KL7SB