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Which Mods Are Applicable??

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Jim Harris-4

Which Mods Are Applicable??

If this is a repost I apologize. I posted the same
question yesterday and have not seen the post or any
response.

In trying to cover all be bases before order a K2 with
many of the bells and whistles I've found reference to
"modifications." In reviewing the elecraft website
I've found a listing of something like 50
modifications. Some list serial number applicability.
Others do not. The description of some modifications
seem vague to me at this point.

How does one determine which should/need be purchased?
If needed why are they not included with the
appropriate kit? It appears I could spend a hundred
dollars or more on modifications to make a new radio
work. That could wreck my radio budget.

Thanks for the help,

Jim, AB0UK

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S55M

Re: Which Mods Are Applicable??

So this will be the way,not easy, but the right one:
I am proud owner of K2 Nr.3204 and i will describe how the "things" were
going for me:

first look at the serial Nr of Your K2 (if new one will be arround 4500 UP.

The surf to page:
http://www.qslnet.de/member/la3za/K2/modAny.html

On the page You have almost all data You need:

It depends on lots of things and of mode in wich the rig will be used (If
CW only,10W or 100W,SSB,contest,ragchew ecc)

My mods:

Keyklicks mod,
Bandpass filters mod by DL7MAJ (EU only)
Strong signals mod
SSB cristal filter mod to 2,5kHz
KPA100 mod for 80m instability
CW Side ton mod
Rf blocking on SSB input mod
High compression ratio mod
ALC mod
Autodetect diodes for straight key
More roll of low frequency response mod

And I'm not done yet...some minor mods are still waiting for me...

Some of mods made by me, will not be needed, because are already done by
manufacturer on models 4K-up (look at notes on the right side of LA3ZA
page.)

GL in building!

73's
S55M-Adi

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Harris" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 10:29 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Which Mods Are Applicable??

> If this is a repost I apologize. I posted the same
> question yesterday and have not seen the post or any
> response.
>
> In trying to cover all be bases before order a K2 with
> many of the bells and whistles I've found reference to
> "modifications." In reviewing the elecraft website
> I've found a listing of something like 50
> modifications. Some list serial number applicability.
> Others do not. The description of some modifications
> seem vague to me at this point.
>
> How does one determine which should/need be purchased?
> If needed why are they not included with the
> appropriate kit? It appears I could spend a hundred
> dollars or more on modifications to make a new radio
> work. That could wreck my radio budget.
>
> Thanks for the help,
>
> Jim, AB0UK
>
>
>
>
> __________________________________
> Do you Yahoo!?
> Yahoo! Mail - now with 250MB free storage. Learn more.
> http://info.mail.yahoo.com/mail_250
> _______________________________________________
> 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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Don Wilhelm-3

Re: Which Mods Are Applicable??

In reply to this post by Jim Harris-4

Jim,

If you are ordering a new K2 kit, you don't need any of the mods - all the
'standard' ones are already incoprporated into the design.

If you have (or are buying) and older K2, look first and most at those mods
that have been incorporated into the current K2 design. That number is much
smaller than all the mods published on Sverre's website. If you have a
pre-SN3000 K2 that you would like to bring up to date, the best starting
point is with the A to B mod that is packaged by Elecraft (along with the
optional mods mentioned in the A to B instructions), incorporates many of
the earlier changes. Beyond the A to B mods, the Temperature Compensated
PLL change, the Keying Waveshape mod, the addition of D40 and D41 for high
level on frequency signal handling are the additional changes you need to
bring your K2 up to date - of course, some of the changes require updated
firmware, but the Elecraft site is helpful in determining what you need.

Many of the other mods listed in Sverre's webpage are additional changes
that some K2 owners have found helpful because they have had special needs
or conditions (the European 40 meter bandpass filter changes for instance).
You should review these carefully while considering whether or not you have
a similar need or condition with your K2 before applying that mod, and some
may change the operation of the K2 to suit a particular operator's taste -
for instance, my mod to separate the CW PTT from the Dot paddle line is not
desirable unless you have a need to add that function, VHF folks who run a
sequencer chain may need it, or contest ops who want to use a footswitch on
CW, or SO2R stations that need to use PTT steering would need that function,
but the majority of others would only find it bothersome.

I hope that helps a bit with your selection and decisions.
73,
Don W3FPR

----- Original Message -----

>
> In trying to cover all be bases before order a K2 with
> many of the bells and whistles I've found reference to
> "modifications." In reviewing the elecraft website
> I've found a listing of something like 50
> modifications. Some list serial number applicability.
> Others do not. The description of some modifications
> seem vague to me at this point.
>
> How does one determine which should/need be purchased?
> If needed why are they not included with the
> appropriate kit? It appears I could spend a hundred
> dollars or more on modifications to make a new radio
> work. That could wreck my radio budget.
>

Don Nesbitt

Re: Which Mods Are Applicable??

In reply to this post by Jim Harris-4

Hello Jim - not to worry - you don't have to make ANY mods to ". . . make a
new radio work." My K2 is serial number 2028 (a few years old) and I DIDN'T
HAVE to make any mods to it. It worked just great as it was! That is not
to say that I have not made any - in fact. I've made a bunch but only
because I wanted it to be "current" with the latest ones. If you get one
now, almost all the "mods" that you have read about are already a part of
the "new" radio!

Keep in mind that most of the "regulars" on the reflector have a propensity
for tinkering with the rig in an effort to make it even better. (Elecraft
even encourages you to do that - amazing!) The terrific part of the Elecraft
Community is that when someone comes up with something that truly improves
the radio, Wayne and Eric are very interested in incorporating it into the
new ones and providing for modifications of the older ones.

Aside from the fact that the K2 is simply a superb radio, the sense of
"community" and "responsiveness" of the "company" are the best benefits that
I can think of and almost without equal in the industry. As an example,
consider the Yaesu 1000 series (yes, I have the Mark V - and a couple of
other "high end" rigs as well - in addition to my K2) - there has been a
problem with the noise blanker generating nasty artifacts in the passband in
the presence of strong signals for a long time (at least 10 years) - and -
the "cure" has been equally well known for almost as long! It's a simple
220 ohm resistor that is moved from one point and connected at another -
and - to this day Yaesu has still not made this simple production change to
the brand new Mark V's in the supply chain! Maybe it will appear in their
new FTDX-9000 series - maybe! I have an idea the had this been the case
with the K2, it would have quickly appeared in the latest kits, the
"community" would have been alerted, and a "mod" would have been made
available!

No, I'm not an employee of the company nor do I have any monetary interest
in it - I'm just an experienced ham (48 years on the air) and DXer (345
confirmed!) who really loves what Elecraft has done both technically and
more importantly in truly "putting the fun back in ham radio."

Come on it Jim - the water's fine :-) 73 es gud dx -- Don N4HH
K2/100/KAT100, etc. etc!

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Harris" <[hidden email]>
To: "Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Thursday, January 27, 2005 4:29 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Which Mods Are Applicable??

<SNIP>

> In trying to cover all be bases before order a K2 with
> many of the bells and whistles I've found reference to
> "modifications." In reviewing the elecraft website
> I've found a listing of something like 50
> modifications.

<SNIP>

>It appears I could spend a hundred
> dollars or more on modifications to make a new radio
> work. That could wreck my radio budget.
>
> Thanks for the help,
>
> Jim, AB0UK

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John Lonigro

Re: Which Mods Are Applicable??

In reply to this post by Jim Harris-4

Jim:

I guess my approach would be to buy and build the basic K2 first. My S/N
3401 just missed having the temperature stability mod included (I think
they started with S/N 3425 or so). Anyway, the only mod I ended up
making on it was that one. I am totally happy with the radio in that
configuration. Looking back on things, I probably didn't even need the
temp stability mod, since I'm not planning to add the amplifier. I added
several options, but have made no other "mods". I've heard the key click
mod is another important one, and I might end up building that one, but
for now I'm happy with what I have.

I believe that if there were truly any important mods that needed to be
made before the radio performed well, they would have been included with
the basic kit. It works well right out of the box - after many hours of
soldering (hi).

My 2 cents worth.

John AA0VE

Jim Harris wrote:

>
>How does one determine which should/need be purchased?
> If needed why are they not included with the
>appropriate kit? It appears I could spend a hundred
>dollars or more on modifications to make a new radio
>work. That could wreck my radio budget.
>
>Thanks for the help,
>
>Jim, AB0UK
>
>
>
>
>