I have an early K2 and an early KX1. My vote for a one-QRP-rig-only is for the bare-bones K2 for the following reasons:
More power output when you want it. There is a lot of difference between 2W and 10W but not that much between 10W and 100W (in my opinion) All bands 80 to 10. Not that much bigger than a K1 Much bigger than the KX1 but even then it's not too bad. All the features you could want in a rig (adjustable sidetone freq and volume, great xtal filtering, great receiver dynamic range, RF gain control, selectable AGC, battery-saving mode (FWIW), good sounding speaker, variable output power from the front panel, The biggest (and maybe the only?) disadvantage is the power consumption in both RX and TX modes, but even this isn't too big a deal (except if you are a back packer). The tuner is great, so that would be the first option to purchase, but this depends on the antennas you plan to use. I use a CF 40m inverted V and the BL1 balun and work on all bands 40 to 10 (with the built in tuner). You could also use a manual tuner with great results. Once you get started, though, the Elecraft subliminal messages appear and take hold, and you are forced into buying more accessories. Resistance is futile. My bare-bones K2 now has SSB, AF filter, NB, tuner, battery, new firmware, etc. 73, John W2XS _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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
