Hi Jeremy,
First let me say welcome to the world of HF and to this fine list. I'm sure
that you will enjoy both.
The K1 was not my first HF rig, nor was it my first kit, but I do use it as
my main station rig. Elecraft's construction manual is outstanding and with
your technical background I think that you will do just fine. The people on
this list (or the qrp list) are an excellent source for help if you do run
into any difficulties.
There are some people who do not recommend QRP for first-timers. They
suggest that it can be a frustrating experience with long gaps between
successful QSOs. I understand that concern, but I have to question the
amount of QRP experience that these folks have. In my opinion, working QRP
DX might require a significant amount of patience and skill, but solid
regional contacts are almost always easily available - especially on 40
meters. (I don't even have a very good antenna - an inefficient multi-band
trap vertical!)
As far as your CW vs. SSB question, all I can say is that I am totally a CW
operator and absolutely love that mode. I have a microphone around here
someplace but I don't know where it is and it wouldn't work on my K1 anyway!
I'm sure that there a hams who are just as dedicated to SSB, and that's
great. It's really a matter of doing what you personally enjoy. (This is a
hobby!) If you do decide to give CW a try, don't worry about speed.
Accuracy is far more important, and speed will naturally increase with use.
Just about everybody on the CW bands is more than willing to slow down and
help out a beginner (unless there is a contest going on). I personally
consider it an honor to be on the other end of somebody's first CW QSO.
By the way, my K1 works on 40, 30, 20, and 15. My favorite bands are 40,
30, and 20, in that order.
If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me directly or
post them to the list.
73
Paul - N8XMS
Livonia, MI
--- Original Message ---
Message: 48
Date: Fri, 23 May 2008 14:33:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: Jeremy <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft K1 as my first HF rig??
To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=iso-8859-1
Hi all-
I've been looking around for a few weeks now for my first HF radio (just
recently newly licensed as a General) - and am looking at either something
like a Yaesu FT-101, or a Kenwood TS-820S.... or an Elecraft K1 (probably
just the 2-band 20m/40m version). I'm wondering if anyone built a K1 (or K2
I guess) as their very first HF radio - and if so, whether or not they were
happy with the decision. I don't really have any doubts really about the
radio itself - probably just more about the fact that it's QRP and CW only).
My price range is up to about $300 right now.
Is building a K1 and not being able to use SSB a disadvantage for a new
ham - thoughts? Is only having 5 watts going to be overly frustrating (for
being able to make contacts)? I do know that a good antenna is pretty
important - I was going to do an end-fed or center-fed dipole.
I am quite comfortable with building a kit (I'm and ex-Electronic
Technician, and now am an Electrical Engineer so I know that I can and like
building/soldering and even the troubleshooting parts.) I'm still in the
process of learning morse code (slowly but surely) and using CW, especially
QRP, was one of my original reasons for getting my license in the first
place. I also really like the fact that modifying a K1, and being able to
build QRP accessories is practical for a 5W radio - not so much with a 100W
one though!
If anyone has any thoughts at all or advice I'd really appreciate it. I hope
I'm not too off topic here as this isn't really an Elecraft technical
question - but I figured that if I posted this at eham.net or QRZ.com forums
I'd get hit with a lot of "Life's too short for QRP" responses - and not as
much good advice.
thanks,
Jeremy
KC2TIX
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