Doug wrote: >One other thing: I really wish Wayne and Eric would peal off one of >their talented junior engineers and design a K0. (K zero). A single >band superhet with 2-3 watts out and super compact.
So...maybe a K0-15 for 15 meters. I like that concept. Before the K1 became available in 2000, I had built three of Dave Benson's Small Wonder Labs DSW series of mono-band PIC- and DDS-technology QRP rigs. I still have the DSW-20, -30, and -40 and they remain great and very innovative QRP transceivers. Wonderful rigs! My only issue with those $130 (in 1999) units was that the operating system allowed ONLY iambic mode B keying, which I consider an abomination. :-) However, Jackson Harbor Press produced a direct plug-in replacement PIC (controller) for $7 (!!) called the DSWK that offered many additional features over the original SWL PIC, including selectable iambic keying mode (just like Elecraft). The DSW (and later DSW-II) with the DSWK PIC created what is IMHO still the neatest small mono-band QRP rig of all time. Unfortunately, Dave discontinued the DSW series several years ago, leaving that market empty. I regret not having purchased a DSW-II-80 when it was available. Today I almost always use the K1, but sometimes I will take one of the DSWs when I just want a very small mono-band set. Elecraft advanced the PIC/DDS concept to the multi-band feature-rich KX1 all in a small package, yet I also believe there's still something appealing about a smaller, simpler, mono-band rig. A new Elecraft rig that combined some characteristics of the SWL DSW-II and the (don't laugh) MFJ Cub would be great. The DSW characteristic would mean a rig that needed NO LED or LCD display. All control response output would be Morse. The MFJ Cub characteristic would mean a rig with all the "boring drudgery" components being machine pre-assembled surface-mounted to the PCB. Only a few major components that mostly determine the operating frequency would be required to be hand assembled by the builder. Such a rig could be put together in an evening while encountering much less opportunity for construction error. (There'd be much less demand on Elecraft tech support for troubleshooting.) Choose a DDS chip that can be clocked high enough to allow a 15m model, use a four-pole IF filter, and provide an AGC circuit. Mono-band CW perfection! I'd buy a couple, maybe more. Mike / KK5F ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
