[hidden email] writes:
> It is almost always more
> expensive to build than to buy something of the same specification.
Building from scratch with new parts bought in small quantities from
"regular" sources rarely saves any money. Kits are a different story because the kit
company can get volume discounts.
Scratchbuilding with parts from irregular sources is a different game
entirely. Two of my projects use variable capacitors from BC-221s. They must have
cost Uncle fortune but they cost me only a dollar or two in surplus.
> Heathkits, if I recall correctly, were never particularly cheap.
>
>From the mid50s to the early 70s, they were the least expensive way for a US
ham to have new gear. You couldn't buy the parts new for what most Heathkits
cost. A 1968 HW-101 cost ~$300 with ACPS. What other new 1968 rig could
compare?
> If I want to make contact
> with people around the world, I can use the Internet.
>
One reason the rapid growth of years ago isn't happening today. Back then ham
radio was about the only way the average person could do long-distance
electronic communications.
> to make radio contacts using
> something I have built myself feels like more of an achievement than making
> contacts using a shop-bought radio.
>
There should be a warning sticker on every Elecraft box that it will ruin you
for appliances....
But even if you bought one already built, what rig can compete with the K2?
73 de Jim, N2EY
>
>
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