[Elecraft] Out with the Old

[Bert Craig]

Great commentary on the venerable K2. I had an experience that some on this
reflector might find interesting. I purchased a Yaesu FT-991A solely for the
purpose of VHF/UHF SSB/CW. (Our local group's been buggin' me to join them
on 2m SSB, hihi.)

Well, I saw C8T on the cluster and decided to give them a call. I wanted to
try the FT-991A on hf, so I unscrewed the PL-259 from the back of the
K2/100, moved it over to the Yaesu, and tuned to 40m. Nothing heard. I made
sure the filter selection was correct, toggled the IPO settings, etc., still
nothing. Switched back to the K2/100 (S/N 3595, fresh from a Don Wilhelm,
W3FPR, thorough upgrade and alignment.) and voilà, there was C8T. Oh it was
weak, to be sure, but readable and subsequently in my log.

I mentioned this to Joel Hallas, W1ZR, during an email discussion re. his
FT-991A QST review and he commented that, while the K2 is a fine radio, he
was surprised. I'm not, the K2's still higher on the Sherwood Receiver Test
List for a reason. (Albeit that ranking's just by close in Dynamic Range,
DR3.) I'll eventually get a CW optimized K3S, however, I'll always love my
K2/100.

Vy 73 de Bert
WA2SI

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net> On
Behalf Of engineercm
Sent: Monday, April 01, 2019 10:53
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Out with the Old

"I know, the K2 was not announced in the same year as bumper cars, but to
some it is Old Stuff given the newer digital rigs of the day.  My K2 #6011
is still very much alive and a joy to operate in CW (my preferred mode) as a
QRP rig. 
Today, QRP rigs are available at a lower cost, but, IMHO, the K2 still
offers the most enjoyment/$ for building and operating."