K1 #2973 on the Air

[Doug Person]

I'm happy and proud to announce that K1 #2973 is on the air.  It went
together perfectly.  I made 3 errors but found them immediately.  
Everything worked perfectly the first time.

I'm honestly not much of a cw op.  Nonetheless, operating the K1 is a
real pleasure.  It is quite a delightful little package to work with.  I
have my choice of rigs with a K2 and a K3 as well.  But the sense of
accomplishment from a perfect build and a superb sounding receiver is
incomparable.  I built the K2 as well (my third) and it is, in my
opinion, as good as a cw transceiver ever needs to be.  The K1 is an
excellent stablemate.

I'm saying this to encourage anyone contemplating a K1 to go for it. Its
about as good a kit-building experience as can be had.  Big enough to
offer a challenge but not overwhelming.  The K2 is a pretty big kit and
I can see first-timers being a little intimidated by it.  I think the K1
is the perfect first-timer's kit.

For some reason I get just a little extra kick out of a contact on the
K1.  Maybe just its cool size.

73, Doug -- K0DXV
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[Eric Champine]

Congrats on the build Doug.
Man it was a very fun build for me too.
I finished mine 09-15-10. Serial# 2908.
I was just thinking that in a little more than 6 months they sold 65 of
them.
On average 11 a month. I would say that they are still moving very nicely
off the shelf after all these years.
They must be will loved too because I hardly ever see them for sale used. I
know I'll die with mine :-)
It has the 4 band module and I added the noise blanker, ATU and battery kit.
I love how it works and sounds. I take it to work with me sometimes and toss
some wire up and across our 12' ceilings for lunch and make some contacts
even though I stink at CW.
I am getting better and it is fun on this nice little rig.
I like it so much I am now building the K2.
Anyhow I just wanted to add in how much fun it was to build.
Have a good evening.

73 de W2EEC

Eric
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[Doug Person-3]

Hi Eric,

I'm not a great cw op either.  But the K1 draws me into it. It's making
me get better with my cw copying. Also, most cw ops are pretty patient -
especially the FISTS group.  Good org to get involved with if you're
looking to get better.
The K2 on cw is a sports car. Its hot and slick and handles like a
dream. The K1 is a high-quality economy car. Its small, comparatively
simple, and gets the job done.
I have the ATU on its way and I'm thinking about the NB.  I have 2
two-band modules because I wanted 80 meters.
Right now, I have a small LDG tuner to tune my 160 ft open wire-fed
doublet.  Works great. I get 7 watts out.  I'm going to try it with a
simple long wire just to see what happens.  I have a couple of 12v
lithium ion battery packs I bought on ebay from Hong Kong.  They should
get me a couple of solid hours of operation when the snow finally goes
(I'm at 8200' in the Rockies of NW Colorado).
I guess the K1 is still pretty popular. Great kit. I built one when it
first came out; sold it a few years ago knowing I would eventually just
build another.

gl & 73, Doug -- K0DXV


On 4/3/2011 9:20 PM, Eric Champine wrote:

> Congrats on the build Doug.
> Man it was a very fun build for me too.
> I finished mine 09-15-10. Serial# 2908.
> I was just thinking that in a little more than 6 months they sold 65
> of them.
> On average 11 a month. I would say that they are still moving very
> nicely off the shelf after all these years.
> They must be will loved too because I hardly ever see them for sale
> used. I know I'll die with mine :-)
> It has the 4 band module and I added the noise blanker, ATU and
> battery kit.
> I love how it works and sounds. I take it to work with me sometimes
> and toss some wire up and across our 12' ceilings for lunch and make
> some contacts even though I stink at CW.
> I am getting better and it is fun on this nice little rig.
> I like it so much I am now building the K2.
> Anyhow I just wanted to add in how much fun it was to build.
> Have a good evening.
>
> 73 de W2EEC
>
> Eric

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