Which kits to start with? Need advice

[Brian Wruble]

Hi all:

I have spent the last 3 years building a K2 with all the add-ons.  The
reason it took so long was that 95% of the work was being done by my 15
yr-old daughter, Zane, W2YL.  She is a superb kit-builder, but she has a
multitude of interests -- especially athletics (swimming and cross-country).
This project proceeded at a very slow pace.  We started out with a version A
(S/N 2528) and had to do all the mods and upgrades.

I would now like to build one myself, again with all the bells and whistles:

K-2, 100 Watt amp, SSB, 160M, DSP, 60M, noise blanker, CAT control, KAT-100
antenna tuner, etc. My question is: which pieces of the whole should I order
first?  In building the K-2, is it a good idea to have the 100 watt amp
available at the same time?  The 60M module?  DSP?

I know that upgrades occur, and I don't want to inventory kits that might
get upgraded while I am waiting to build them.  On the other hand, I want to
be able to work in parallel on several of the options along with the basic
K-2 where that saves steps.

Your thoughts?

73 de Brian W3BW  


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[Don Wilhelm-2]

Brian,

Adding options to the base K2 is relatively easy, and the option upgrades do
not occur as often as changes to the base K2 (the firmware upgrades related
to the K60XV are the one major exception I can think of).

My recommendation is for you to start with the base K2, the K60XV, the
K160RX and the KSB2 options.   These options will have an effect on the
alignment of the base K2 while the others do not - after you have these
options installed, you can complete the bandpass filter alignment, the CAL
PLL and CAL FIL procedures and have confidence that the other options will
not involve changes to these basic settings.  Of course if you wait long
enough Elecraft may come out with some additional option, but I don't have
any information on that <G>.

If you want to eliminate the need to remove the K2 heat sink to install
additional options, you should also add the Aux RF plug and the Aux 12 v
plug associated with the KPA100 while you are building the base K2.  The
headers and standoffs for the other available options can be installed by
removing only the bottom cover.

I hope this gives you some insight for planning your option purchases.  You
could just buy them all at once and be done with it, but if I understood you
correctly, you wanted a 'plan for the future' and the real answer to that
will to be determined by your desires and planned operating preferences -
noone else can make those choices for you.

73,
Don W3FPR


----- Original Message ----- >
> I have spent the last 3 years building a K2 with all the add-ons.  The
> reason it took so long was that 95% of the work was being done by my 15
> yr-old daughter, Zane, W2YL.  She is a superb kit-builder, but she has a
> multitude of interests -- especially athletics (swimming and
cross-country).
> This project proceeded at a very slow pace.  We started out with a version
A
> (S/N 2528) and had to do all the mods and upgrades.
>
> I would now like to build one myself, again with all the bells and
whistles:
>
> K-2, 100 Watt amp, SSB, 160M, DSP, 60M, noise blanker, CAT control,
KAT-100
> antenna tuner, etc. My question is: which pieces of the whole should I
order
> first?  In building the K-2, is it a good idea to have the 100 watt amp
> available at the same time?  The 60M module?  DSP?
>
> I know that upgrades occur, and I don't want to inventory kits that might
> get upgraded while I am waiting to build them.  On the other hand, I want
to
> be able to work in parallel on several of the options along with the basic
> K-2 where that saves steps.
>


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Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com