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K2 purchasing help

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Lane-2

K2 purchasing help

I'm looking at ordering a K2/100 and hoping I'm not making a mistake
by trying to build something I have no experience in. I'm really
wanting to get into CW more and this is my main purpose for purchasing
this rig, so hope this is the right choice, though I will use voice
too. It seemed simpler than other radios and I liked that. Though I
noticed by the time I finish w/ upgrades, it nears the price of the
K3. Any suggested configurations for this purpose would help as well.
But I do have the following questions:

Can I add ANY of the upgrades to the K2 in ANY order?

Is there a benefit to purchasing all the upgrades at once (e.g. latest
and greatest parts are known to be perfectly compatible, or will all
be compatible at any time (seem to recall reading some older models
need special upgrades because of the newest stuff out))?

Where can I find a list of tools I need to build this radio? And are
there any kits out there that teaches one to solder for the way this
board requires?

KTA100 - What's the difference w/ the KTA100-1, and KTA100-2? One is
in a low profile external case, and the latter is in a larger K2 size
external case? Does something else go in the larger case along w/ the
KTA100-2? Any good reasons to make it external or part of the radio?
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Frank MacDonell

Re: K2 purchasing help

I would recommend you call Elecraft sales. You cannot go wrong with
Elecraft. A great product with incredible support!

On Friday, March 25, 2011, Shane
<[hidden email]> wrote:

> I'm looking at ordering a K2/100 and hoping I'm not making a mistake
> by trying to build something I have no experience in. I'm really
> wanting to get into CW more and this is my main purpose for purchasing
> this rig, so hope this is the right choice, though I will use voice
> too. It seemed simpler than other radios and I liked that. Though I
> noticed by the time I finish w/ upgrades, it nears the price of the
> K3. Any suggested configurations for this purpose would help as well.
> But I do have the following questions:
>
> Can I add ANY of the upgrades to the K2 in ANY order?
>
> Is there a benefit to purchasing all the upgrades at once (e.g. latest
> and greatest parts are known to be perfectly compatible, or will all
> be compatible at any time (seem to recall reading some older models
> need special upgrades because of the newest stuff out))?
>
> Where can I find a list of tools I need to build this radio? And are
> there any kits out there that teaches one to solder for the way this
> board requires?
>
> KTA100 - What's the difference w/ the KTA100-1, and KTA100-2? One is
> in a low profile external case, and the latter is in a larger K2 size
> external case? Does something else go in the larger case along w/ the
> KTA100-2? Any good reasons to make it external or part of the radio?
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

--
Frank KD8FIP
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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: K2 purchasing help

In reply to this post by Lane-2

Shane,

If you believe you will enjoy the assembly process and soldering, then
go for the K2. As you noticed, there is not much of a price difference
between the fully loaded K2/100 and a K3/100 with minimal options - of
course, one can get upwards of 5K$ invested in a K3 if one wants to
order it fully loaded with all filters and options.

You asked about upgrades, but I believe you mean options - the options
can be added in any order you should choose.

The benefit for purchasing all the options at the same time as the base
K2 is that one can add the standoffs and headers for the options during
the build process (the manual tells you when to do that), and minimize
later dis-assembly. Actually disassembling the K2 to add options later
is not a difficult task at all, but it gets laborious to do it multiple
times - disassembly usually involves removing the bottom panel and/or
the rear bottom panel (heatsink) which is a little more involved if the
screws holding the PA transistor mounting hardware come out - I hold the
screws in place with a piece of tape over their screwheads.

If you order the K2 and option kits from Elecraft, you will receive the
very latest, no upgrades are necessary. If you purchase a used K2 below
SN 3000, it may need the A to B upgrades, and there have been upgrades
to the KSB2 option (wider filter than original) and the KPA100 (changes
to the T/R switch area) that you may want to add to a used option
without the most recent upgrades. There have been only 2 upgrades since
SN 3000 - the Keying Waveform Mod and the Extremely Strong Signal
Handling Mod. All K2 mod kits are available from Elecraft.

The list of tools required is in the manual for the K2 - download the
manual from the Elecraft website.
There is also a soldering tutorial (written by Tom Hammond) on the
Elecraft website - search for soldering tutorial to easily find it.

As you discovered, the KAT100 comes in two flavors - the KAT100-1 in the
low profile enclosure. The KAT100-2 must have the EC2 enclosure ordered
with it. That is normally used when the owner wants to mount the KPA100
and the KAT100 both in an external enclosure, freeing the base K2 to be
used portable as a QRP transceiver. The external mounting requires the
KIO2 (or a suitable substitute) in the base K2 to provide the necessary
communication signals to the KPA100/KAT100.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 3/25/2011 9:54 PM, Shane wrote:

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