[Elecraft] Help me choose my first HF rig

[Don Wilhelm]

Ron,

Well said, that is entirely in the spirit of ham radio.  Hams helping 
hams!  May that not be forgotten - ever.

We have many stories that indicate that we do just that.  I hope that 
spirit never dies out.

If I may share my early ham days, I was "taken in" by the local ham club 
- a group of less than 20 members in a small town in Ohio.  They and 
their counsel got me started, and analyzed my problems with the first 
transmitter that I built.  I cannot repay them directly because most of 
them are SK, but I can pay back to the amateur community at large in 
remembrance for what those hams did for me.  Their encouragement led me 
to a BSEE education and a career in electronics and design that I would 
never have anticipated as a teenager.

I am not one to sell the gear I have purchased over the years, so
I have loaned some of my excess transceivers to new hams just to get 
them on the air, particularly on HF.

I do not regularly sell my radios - I leave that to my heirs, so I have 
some of my older gear available for long term loan - of course that is 
normally to locals, but I could consider someone particularly needy in a 
more remote location if I were asked.

So for an HF beginner, look around at your local ham clubs and see if 
there is someone who has excess gear that can be available to use until 
you can make up your mind about the ultimate station that you would like 
to put together.

Make no mistake, I believe that an Elecraft station is great for 
beginners and older hams alike, but if you have questions about what 
will be "best for you", that takes a bit of experience to determine what 
you will really need.

As I have stated before, a KX-Line will do most everything a new ham can 
want for HF operations (and more), so I don't think you can go wrong 
with an Elecraft station as your first ham radio investment - it is an 
investment that can last you for many years and serve you well in the 
meantime.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 4/13/2017 11:34 PM, Ron D'Eau Claire wrote:
> I agree. Get a rig and get on the air.
> 
> In some ways it's sad that Ham rigs have become so sophisticated and cost
> enough that most Hams need to think in terms of resale value.
> 
> There is a Ham I used to chew the rig with on 40 CW regularly who saved from
> his small fixed income for a years to replace his HW-8 with a new 100 watt
> rig. Dang! He was happy with the new rig. Then I worked him again a few
> weeks later and he was back on the HW-8. I asked him why. It seems he knew a
> Ham nearby who was on also a small income and lived alone. His  rig died and
> the cost to repair was prohibitive. Rather than leave him off the air my
> friend made him a gift of his new rig and dusted off his old HW-8 again.
> 
> I also had a HW-8 for which I had built an outboard 25-watt amplifier (the
> HW-8 ran about 2 watts barefoot). I had since built a K2 running 10 watts,
> so I sent him my outboard amp for the HW-8.
> 
> That's the Ham Radio I was raised with. We often swapped stories about how
> when we had a need others had given us stuff over the years or passed it on
> very cheaply. It's an aspect of the hobby I try hard to see continue.
>