Am I crazy?
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Am I crazy? Well, if you ask my YL she'd emphatically say YES.
But here's what I am debating: My only rig at the moment is a Ten-Tec Paragon which is a mighty fine HF Transceiver. I spend the majority of my time on 80, 40, and 20 phone. However, I am thinking about selling it to finance the purchase of a KX1 or a K1. My reasons for doing so, in order of importance to me, would be: 1 - Forcing myself to re-learn CW. I love CW but have never mastered it very well. In fact, after I learned just enough to pass my 5 WPM for my novice back in 1989, I have never really used it. but I still love the sound of CW and really admire those who can do it well Getting a CW only rig may help me finally start to take CW seriously and relearn it. Right now it is way too easy to tune up the band and hit the PTT. 2 - Portability. It seems I am rarely home these days and on the road somewhere. The YL and I are talking about doing more camping this year as well. Most of our camping trips will be to coastal areas. Operating doesn't get much better when you are near saltwater. Having a KX1 on hand everywhere I go would be awesome. 3 - Simplicity/Space Reduction. My base station with the rig, power supply, external ATU, etc. takes up quite a bit of space in our small house. The "shack" is currently in a corner of our master bedroom along with our home office. With an internal ATU and batteries, I could operate the KX1 or even a K1 from anywhere... even the picnic table outside or from in bed. heh. 4 - QRP - I do love the challenge and simplicity of equipment of QRP. I can turn the drive of the Paragon down to 10W but it doesn't feel the same as operating with simple equipment and I still lack the portablity. 5 - I have the itch to build something. So those are my main reasons. I'd keep the Paragon and just buy another rig but I don't have the extra cash at the moment. Am I crazy to essentially downgrade from a once top of the line rig to something simpler with less power out? But, then again, would it really be downgrading? I appreciate any comments and thanks for listening. 73, JT - W6FO - Canton, GA _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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JT,
Think about a bare bones K2 too. After honing your CW skills you can always load the K2 with SSB, etc. With a K2 there in no come down from the Paragon. The K2 will fill you itch to build for a while, and when you get the itch to build more, start adding modules. John k7up 2 k2's and a K1 At 09:43 AM 14/05/06, you wrote: >Am I crazy? Well, if you ask my YL she'd emphatically say YES. > >But here's what I am debating: > >My only rig at the moment is a Ten-Tec Paragon which is a mighty fine >HF Transceiver. I spend the majority of my time on 80, 40, and 20 >phone. However, I am thinking about selling it to finance the >purchase of a KX1 or a K1. My reasons for doing so, in order of >importance to me, would be: > >1 - Forcing myself to re-learn CW. I love CW but have never mastered >it very well. In fact, after I learned just enough to pass my 5 WPM >for my novice back in 1989, I have never really used it. but I still >love the sound of CW and really admire those who can do it well >Getting a CW only rig may help me finally start to take CW seriously >and relearn it. Right now it is way too easy to tune up the band and >hit the PTT. > >2 - Portability. It seems I am rarely home these days and on the road >somewhere. The YL and I are talking about doing more camping this >year as well. Most of our camping trips will be to coastal areas. >Operating doesn't get much better when you are near saltwater. Having >a KX1 on hand everywhere I go would be awesome. > >3 - Simplicity/Space Reduction. My base station with the rig, power >supply, external ATU, etc. takes up quite a bit of space in our small >house. The "shack" is currently in a corner of our master bedroom >along with our home office. With an internal ATU and batteries, I >could operate the KX1 or even a K1 from anywhere... even the picnic >table outside or from in bed. heh. > >4 - QRP - I do love the challenge and simplicity of equipment of QRP. >I can turn the drive of the Paragon down to 10W but it doesn't feel >the same as operating with simple equipment and I still lack the >portablity. > >5 - I have the itch to build something. > >So those are my main reasons. I'd keep the Paragon and just buy >another rig but I don't have the extra cash at the moment. > >Am I crazy to essentially downgrade from a once top of the line rig to >something simpler with less power out? But, then again, would it >really be downgrading? > >I appreciate any comments and thanks for listening. > >73, >JT - W6FO - Canton, GA >_______________________________________________ >Elecraft mailing list >Post to: [hidden email] >You must be a subscriber to post to the list. >Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): >http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > >Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm >Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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John wrote:
> JT, > > Think about a bare bones K2 too. I agree. In fact I would even think about a K2/100. For one thing, if you want to practice CW, you will need to have some good, long QSOs. It's harder to do this with QRP, although the 10-15 watts you will get from a basic K2 is better than the 3-4 watts from the KX1. I have taken my K2 on several camping trips and while it is not pocket-sized like the KX1, it is certainly acceptably small and light unless you are into serious backpacking. -- 73, Vic, K2VCO Fresno CA http://www.qsl.net/k2vco _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by JT Croteau-2
JT,
you are definitely crazy! :-) But not as crazy as I am; I have a K1, a KX1, and a K2.... and, possibly judged crazy for different reasons than your YL holds... When I want a full function HF rig, with all the trimmings, I use my K2; it is really awesome (mine has everything but the 100 Watt amplifier); it is portable, can be built with battery built in, and so on, and it has an extremely fine receiver. One of the advantages is you can build it CW only, and if you miss the SSB, add it later, for a nominal charge. You can keep adding accessories too, such as the DSP, the 60M (after SSB, sine we are only allowed USB there), 160M, and so on. On the other hand, when I want to go "hammock portable", there is no substitute or preferred rig over my KX1; it is more fun than I should be allowed, extremely portable, with the options, covers 80, 40, 30, and 20 Meters, has built in antenna tuner and batteries, and is amazingly tiny; the optional paddle works great for me, and with an adapter, the paddle clamps to the bail on the K2, and does double duty. Not to leave the K1 out; it is great fun too, more easily shared by virtue of its built in speaker, and fits somewhere between the K2 and the KX1 in my use. It offers some advantages over the KX1, from my view, primarily in the choice of bands, and mods to cover 160M and others available. In short order, I personally suspect that if you get any of them, you will lover them, and end up with all three (but only if you are as crazy as me, and some of the other listers are as well. I have other brand rigs, but none of the others offer the price / performance ratio or the price / fun ratio of my Elecraft rigs, and you will not fins better factory support, or list support with anything in my opinion. Good luck picking out your first Elecraft kit; I bet you will be back for more... 73 de Dave, W5SV JT Croteau wrote: > Am I crazy? Well, if you ask my YL she'd emphatically say YES. > > But here's what I am debating: > > My only rig at the moment is a Ten-Tec Paragon which is a mighty fine > HF Transceiver. I spend the majority of my time on 80, 40, and 20 > phone. However, I am thinking about selling it to finance the > purchase of a KX1 or a K1. My reasons for doing so, in order of > importance to me, would be: _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Vic K2VCO
I would do a barebones K2 then add-on as funds become available. I had
quite a number of QRP radios and none have compared to my K2. I even have two of them! Bill K9YEQ K2-35 & 5279; KX1-35/3080 ___________________________________ _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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