[Elecraft] K1 Discontinued

[Byron Servies]

Hi all,

About a year after I was licensed in 2008 I was extremely unhappy with
how I was approaching the hobby. I sat there, looking at a pile of
expensive kit I had no understanding of and realized I was not
achieving my goals that pushed me to be licensed in the first place.
Those included building things, learning morse code, and developing a
better understanding.

So, I sold all the appliances and bought a K1 kit! It was a wonderful
build, and I really loved adjusting the VFO by adjusting wire spacing
on L1. So much fun! Of course, to use it I had to learn morse code, so
I did. I'm still not great, but that's just lack of practice.

I am disappointed that there have not been any new solder kits from
Elecraft and probably never will be again, though I understand the
economics, the problems with parts availability, and soldering surface
mount components.  Even so, it makes me sad.

Every time I use my K1 it makes me giddy with joy. Truly a wonderful
radio. Thank you so much for making it.

73, Byron N6NUL
K1 #2799

On Wed, Aug 30, 2017 at 8:58 AM, Wayne Burdick <n6kr at elecraft.com> wrote:
> Hi Kevin,
>
> We should have made a formal announcement here. Yes, we discontinued it because certain parts are hard to come by now, making it no longer cost effective for us to manufacture.
>
> It was a great product for us, and I used mine for years, taking it on many trips. I thought of it as a “Sierra on Steroids” at the time (referring to an earlier design I did for the NorCal QRP Club). But we’ve moved on to more versatile field radios, including the KX2 and KX3.
>
> 73,
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
>> On Aug 30, 2017, at 8:36 AM, Kevin Anderson via Elecraft <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
>>
>> I am a little surprised that no mention was made on this e-mail list about the K1 being just recently discontinued.  Or if it had, I missed it and don't find it in a search of the list.
>>
>> It is being discussed over the QRP-L list, started by someone disappointed that he just finally had tried to order a K1 this past week or weekend and got the news.
>>
>> I presume that some key part has become unavailable, or has parts deemed not worth restocking any longer due to significant decline in demand for the transceiver.
>>
>> Kevin Anderson
>
>
>
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