K2

Elecraft K2 – My Favorite Field Day Station

This year our club ran 3A for the ARRL Field Day.

Radios included an Icom IC-756 Pro, TenTec Omni VII, Icom IC-746 (for the GOTA) and a Icom 7000 for VHF plus HF spare. All these radios performed quite well despite the high temperatures.

The 100 Watt Elecraft K2 stood above the others not necessarily on performance, but the elegant way the radio’s owner configured his K2, 100 Watt Amplifier and 100 Watt Matcher.

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Elecraft K2 Building Tips

OK so I decided to buy the base K2 kit and build it along with my son.

Choosing Elecraft is a no brainer, but any of the other kit manufacturers would be fine also. The point it to give a young man an opportunity to see something start from a box of parts and become a higher level assembly.

We are also considering the Elecraft KX1 as a good starter kit. We have already built several of the other smaller Elecraft kits.

Here is a summary of our current situation…

  • I have read the various FAQs, tips, etc.
  • I am not new to kit building.
  • We have a good soldering station.
  • If the K2 works out well we will use it on CW for a while and then add
    enhancements: SSB first then others (perhaps DSP, 160M, 60M-Xvrter,
    100Watts)…
  • Are there tools or tips I am missing before I drop the coin?

The summary of the very helpful answers are…

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