Eric, I believe I was one of the first responders to the initial question. I did say that the K2 was a mature product, but by no means does that make it obsolete or near the end of its life.
Elecraft will continue to offer the K2 as a kit, and will continue to provide support for it - for who knows how long? -- until the labor effort to kit it exceeds the profitability is my best guess for that answer. Most of the parts in the K2 will either be continued to be available, or suitable substitutes will be available. For instance, the IF amplifier, the MC1350 used to be available in a DIP package, but now is difficult to find in that format, but is available in SMD format. Elecraft's solution was to put the SMD part on a carrier board that could be mounted in the original DIP holes. If the same fate occurs with other ICs such as the SA612 Gilbert Cell mixer/product detector, I am certain that the same carrier board (but with an SA612, etc. rather than the MC1350) can be used. A similar argument could be made for most any other active component in the K2. Through-hole resistors and capacitors are likely to be available for many years to come, if for no other reason than to satisfy the DIY builders. Even if those parts do dry up, it is not very difficult to devise a scheme to use SMD parts in their place. So, IMHO, parts availability will determine the life of the K2 (and K1 and KX1) - those designs do not use exotic parts, so availability of parts in one form or another should continue for a long time. OK, I do not have a "crystal ball" to tell me the ins and outs of parts availability, but what I can say is that the parts used in the K2 are common enough that replacements should be available for a long time, even if those replacements are in SMD format. Any K2 will work for years if it is not abused. My now (almost) 12 year old Field Test K2 is still up and running, and I expect it to do so for another 10, 20, or 30 years. If something fails, it can be fixed by one means or another, and I expect its performance will not degrade during that period. However, my hopes for additional mods or upgrades to the K2 are nil - at least those coming from Elecraft (that is what a mature product usually means). Any enhancements to my K2 will be mods of my own doing, and those will be done on a "one-off" basis (for my own use). I may offer those mods to the general K2 public, but they will not be "Elecraft sanctioned". 73, Don W3FPR On 6/3/2011 8:53 PM, Eric Champine wrote: > Good! > I love building radios and I have just started my marriage to the K2. Last > year I built the full blown K1 and I loved it so much, the K2 was the > logical next step. Now I have a grand idea of how I want to build and setup > my K2 and then people started to talk about how the end of the K2 could be > close. I really hope not! I think the K2 Kit and add-ons fills a big void > out there. There is still in my honest opinion a big need for these style of > kits. All I know is I am now going to step up and purchase everything I want > and need more sooner than later. Long live the K2! :-) > > 73 DeW2EEC > ______________________________________________________________ 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
