Jeremy,
I built a K1 as my first HF rig, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It's
limited, but within its limitations it's very good indeed. Since
your budget is $300, I'd recommend the two-band board on 20m and 40m,
and the 150K tuning range. There's CW activity well beyond 80, and
you can also listen to some LSB on 40m and digital on every band,
even if you can't reply to those. The autotuner gives a lot of
freedom, and lets you operate with a much wider range of antennas.
Still, the K1 will be absorbing all of your budget. Another rig to
consider is a $120 40m-only kit by Hendricks kits <www.qrpkits.com>,
the MMR-40, which does both CW and SSB. I don't know much about it,
and it's certainly less polished than the K1, but as a starter it
might let you do more, particularly if you add a T1 tuner to it. 40m
has enough going on to keep you active -- and learning -- for a long
time.
I finally got a K2 a year ago, and it opens up new worlds. And VHF
is yet another new world. Unfortunately, I think there's no cheap
way to "do" radio. It's an expensive sport, but less expensive than
golf, or scuba, or flying airplanes.
Peter N8MHD
_______________________________________________
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
