[Elecraft] K1 Discontinued

[Mike Morrow]

I saw the K1 first at Dsyton 2000, just after it was announced.  I ordered one immediately, but delivery did not happen for almost six months.  It is one of my favorite electronic devices from the past 50 years.

It covered 15 meters, and consumed only about 60 mA on receive, with backlight.

Two years ago mine took a lightening strike through the DC input which killed a couple of regulators, some diodes, and a DA converter on the front panel board.  But tests show the MPU still functions and displays and responds to the keys.  Perhaps I'll get around to fixing it someday.

Not many rigs (except the K2) have had a production and sales run of 17 years.  It will be missed, but I don't know how it was kept in production that long.  I suspect it had a unit cost to Elecraft not significantly less than the KX2.

Mike / KK5F
K1 serial 175

-----Original Message-----

>From: N4OI - Ken <kenst at roadrunner.com>
>Sent: Aug 30, 2017 11:36 AM
>
> I guess my kids or XYL will dig it out and put it on the market with the
> rest of my stuff one day...  But man, until then, what a great QRP rig!!
> 4-band K1 with ATU...  a real, take-anywhere radio!!