++++++++++++++++++++ See also K2 Operating Experiences (2) ++++++++++++++++++++ From: "Wallace, Andy" To: "'Elecraft'" Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 11:09:37 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] "discovering" Elecraft > -----Original Message----- > From: k4wtf at ENTERZONE.NET [mailto:k4wtf at ENTERZONE.NET] > > After we went QRT, I > fired up the laptop and went out to the elecraft site. A few > days later, a box full of parts that would later become K2 #2490 arrived > at my house! Perhaps a more pleasant thread than the 100/10 battle would be to recount how you discovered Elecraft, as the List ends 2002... I heard of them a couple of years back when a local SWL/Ham in the club brought back a K2 flyer from Dayton. "Look at this! It's a kit!" "Wow, over $500? Too much rig for me," was my reply at the time. I was using a tube rig and didn't see the need to plunk down five hundred clams for a new one... I promply "forgot" about the K2. January, 2002: I had connected my TiCK keyer to my KnightSMiTe, a Pixie2 clone using SMT parts which I had built, and started it calling CQ on 80m on a Sunday morning at 7AM -- after sunrise of course... I had made some contacts on the little transceiver but nothing that wasn't pre-arranged by phone. Best DX was about 15 miles and that was all I thought 200 milliwatts and my randomwire could do... Well after a few CQs another W1 answers. I figured, great, two towns over, but it's a non-arranged contact! Cool. Guy was in Maine, perhaps 175 miles away! Not bad at all. I described the contact to an inactive ham at work and he complained that he would like to get on, but had no space... I told him my Pixie clone was the size of a 9V battery, and even the Ten-Tec 1330 QRP kit was small, and only $95. I sent him TT's website, and remembered the K2, so looked up Elecraft as well. What's this?!?! A K1? I didn't know about that! I read the info, read the QST reviews that night, and ordered it the next day. -Andy PS Before learning of the K1, I worked a guy on 40 who said he was using one. I thought it was a "typo" and wrote it down as K2 in my log. :-D ++++++++++++++++++++ From: "Sherman Banks (W4ATL)" To: "'Elecraft'" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] "discovering" Elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 11:47:43 -0500 I had always wanted to build my own HF transceiver, and with the demise of Heathkit I thought I would be relegated building a small low performance QRP kit or maybe homebrewing something over a matter of years. I saw Elecraft display the prototype K2 at the Dayton hamfest in '98 (I think) and I thought, man, what a cool rig. But I could not really justify the purchase. Nor was I really into QRP. Well, after thinking about it for a while, I just decided to get it and build it. I was the first one to purchase a K2 at the 2001 Dayton Hamfest. Only because the credit card machine wasn't working yet at the start and I had cash in hand on Friday morning. I learned from the previous year that they sell out fast at Dayton! After building the K2 I learned the joy of ragchewing with other QRP folks on CW. With the 100W PA option I have a home rig to use to bust through pileups for the DX contacts and in a matter of minutes I have a portable station to carry with me into the field. It's a lot of fun! 73 de W4ATL S/N 2075 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Francis Belliveau" To: "K2 List" Subject: Re: [Elecraft] "discovering" Elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 12:42:14 -0500 This IS a great end-of-year thread! My story covers a longer time span that those heard so far. I had been a ham for about 15 years with only an HW-8 for HF work. It was all that I could afford when I got started. After the family had been well started and things had been settled I decided it was time for a better rig. I mostly wanted an improved receiver and more bands. I had even started thinking about building my own portable rig. It seemed to me that multiple bands with low power consumption and portability were things that I wanted and nobody was design rigs with that in mind. I also had little available funds. I then saw the QRP-Plus in QST and started saving for one. That took a few years and when I was ready, they were no longer in production. Next, lamenting about this on the local repeater, I got pointed at the SGC-2020 which was in the making. That looked like it would fit my needs. It was more expensive, but I was still saving so I ordered one and waited for them to hit the production line. Well that got delayed. Then came the announcement that they would only come with a 90 day warranty. I knew that I would not be abel to find the time to use the rig enough in 90 days to be sure all was okay, so I cancelled the order. Again lamenting to friends at a local club I was told about the K2. This rig was also not yet in production, but the description went well beyond my wildest dreams. I made the call, and placed my order. Again I waited about a year for the field tests to be completed and the production run to begin. I ended up with serial number 314. Technically the third in the PI series as my friend noted to me. Actually the first in the series to be recognizable as such. I am looking forward to hearing from the next member of this small club, the owner of serial number 3141. It will be a long time before this small group is expanded, but I hope my rig will still be functioning if Elecraft ever makes K2 s/n 31415. Likely a replacement model will come along first. Operating? Well I still get very little time for HF but when I have operated I have much enjoyed the rig. I am still using a straight key since I cannot make the paddles work well enough to get three consecutive characters correct. SSB is not yet functional as I experienced the last time I tried using the rig. That was Field Day 2002. I expect that in the next few weeks I will begin using the rig a bith more and then will open it up for the big upgrade to Rev-B. The needed parts are expected to ship today along with a new microphone that will make setting up SSB easier since the one that I have shorts the element unless the PTT button is held. That's my story. Almost 20 years waiting for the perfect rig before my K2 was born. 73 & Happy New Year to all. Fran, KA4FRH K2 s/n 314 ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Steve & Anne Ray" To: "Elecraft" Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:23:40 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] Discovering Elecraft I went to Dayton for the first time in 1999, and saw the K2, thought to myself it is really nice, but I will wait. After a year and seeing the K2 at Dayton in 2000, after I got home I ordered one. Unfortunately the price had gone up $30 by the time I ordered. Oh well, still the best money I ever spent for a rig. For Xmas in 2000 I ordered all the latest additions, KSB2, KAT2, KNB2 and the 160 meter module. In 2001 at Dayton I went ahead and ordered the KI02 and the KAF2. This year at Dayton I bought one of the first KPA100 for sale and lugged it around all day the first day at Dayton. It has been quite a upgrade for me, from 1962 till 1976 I used a Ranger and a SX-110, then from 1976 to 2000 I built and used a HW-101, HW-8 and several other QRP rigs. Now I am up to date with the latest rig and having a ball, I have the KAT100 and will start building it shortly. It is amazing how many people I talk to, especially on 17 meters, who want to know about the K2 and the modules for it. I bet I have interested 20 to 30 hams on the K2, hopefully some of them have got one. I am having a ball with the K2 on QRP CW and it is nice to have the extra punch when you need it with the KPA100 for SSB and CW. 72, Steve Ray K4JPN ex K1VKW EM82ep Warner Robins GA Elecraft K2 1422 & KPA-100 Heath Fan HW-101, HW-8 +++++++++++++++++ From: "Douglas Westover" To: "elecraft" Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 11:51:08 -0800 Subject: [Elecraft] How I Found Elecraft One meeting of the NCDXC (Northern California DX Club) at Harry's Hofbrau in Palo Alto, Eric brought a K2 to demo. It was love at first sight...I knew I HAD to have one and though it took me a year and a half to actually order one (never buy the first of anything..I learned that lesson with my Plymouth Volare!!) I have never been happier with a radio. I've always been a builder and at least semi-QRP. I started in ham radio in 1952 at age 14 with a Philmore NT-200 transmitter kit (6V6-6L6) and a Knight Kit regerative receiver. Needing something more to do I designed and built an amp with a pair of PP 807's for the NT-200 (which got me an Honorable Mention in the New York Science Fair)..It also worked fairly well at about 150 watts. There were lots of other rigs, the Heath AT-1, Heath DX-60, Viking Ranger II, Eico 720. The first time I ran any "power" was with a Johnson Courier with a pair of 811's at 500 watts. My current station consists of the K2/100, an ICOM 765 (NOT 756) and an Ameritron AL-80A amplifier. I use the IC-765 for BC band and SWL. The Kenwood TS-870 I once owned was sold several months ago. The K2 is by far the best radio I've owned. +++++++++++++++++++ From: "Albert Heyes" To: Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 20:31:08 -0000 Subject: [Elecraft] discovering elecraft It was the GQRP winter sports 2000/2001. Its a Boxing day to New Years = Day qrp activity period. A few of my many qsos said TX is K2. I had no clue about the K2 until I asked a Warrington ARC member. He = told me to look at Elecraft on the web. The web page was my first view. = In June 2001 I was a tutor at an RSGB Morse Camp. Another tutor had = brought his K2, so I had a good look and a little play. I was sold on = the idea but had just traded in my 3 yr old 1000MP for a new 756PRO. = Around Easter 2002 Mike G4VSS said he liked the K2 and what did I think. = This encounter in the clubroom bar reminded me of a previous event when = two of us instrument techs at a power station got brassed off and unlike = the ladies who go buy a new hat we went to the stores and bought a new = pair of safety boots. Mike & me decided to order K2s. Mike got 2702 I = got 2703 after 44 hours of building I tuned it up on 20m and answered a = cq call from Mongolia with 5 watts into a 90ft doublet and got 579. I = recently worked 27 States including W6 during a couple of hours on the = 10m contest. With the K2 on filt2 700hz wide and the 756pro on 500Hz = filter the K2 rx was much better on the same incoming signal. But dear = reader you already know this HI. Happy New Year to all albert at g3zhe.fsnet.co.uk +++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 12:30:29 -0800 (PST) From: Lee Buller Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How I Found Elecraft To: Reflector Elecraft I was prowling the booths at Dayton. I had an itch to buy a new rig and I was looking at the ICOM 746. I already had a ICOM 765 (very sweet sounding radio) but it had started acting very strange. I had sold it and l was looking to buy. I saw the K2 and fell in love. My amateur radio buddies had to tear me away from the rig chiding me that would be a mistake to buy the rig. They actually talked me out of it and I went on to buy the IC746 that very day. The IC746 was OK, but was not a good contest radio like the TS850 or the IC765. I was unhappy with the selectivity. I then found a used FT1000MP and was set. Then I came to Dayton again...saw the rig again...and went home and scraped the dollars together to buy one. I never told my ham radio buddies I was going to buy the K2. I had an ITCH and the K2 was the scratch. I was BORED with ham radio. BORED, BORED, BORED. I hardly went to the shack and hardly operated except for contests. I have yet to allow my contest buddies to use the rig. They are skeptical of how it would work in a contest. Little do they know. HHHARRRRRR. I enjoyed ham radio again. I am building something that works. What a hoot. I cannot express how much the K2 has rejuvinated my interest in a hobby that has captivated me for 38 years. Lee - K0WA +++++++++++++++ From: "Peter Halpin" To: "Elecraft at Mailman. Qth. Net" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] "discovering" Elecraft (LONGISH) Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 21:40:30 +0100 Hi all, To get away from all the pointless bickering about what constitutes a "real" K2 here's how I discovered Elecraft. A couple of years back I heard about the K2 at the G-QRP Club's yearly convention in the UK: at that time there were even rumours that there'd be a 6m transverter to match it. That got me really interested as I was chasing 6m QRP DXCC at the time. Unfortunately the integrated transverter never materialised but my 6m QRP DXCC did, so I let things rest. Then a friend of mine - Klaus DL8MTG - came to visit and brought his K2 with him. I was very impressed by the all-round quality of the thing, and decided that if I ever had the spare money I'd build one. Last year I had a close encounter of the nastiest kind with bowel cancer, and after an emergency operation followed by chemotherapy I really needed something to help me get my concentration and dexterity back to normal. I was able to persuade my Boss (bless her!) that building a K2 would be really therapeutic, so I ordered a basic QRP K2 with all the bits except the KAF2 - that came later. Building it was great fun and helped restore quite a bit of concentration and got my fingers working again. My nervous system had taken a whack from the chemo and winding all those lovely toroids got them loosened up a treat - well, that's my story and I'm sticking to it. One of the problems when it was all built was "what next?". I fancied trying something on a smaller scale but then the KPA100 was announced. As I'd never in my life built anything capable of producing more than about 15W it seemed a good idea to try this as an exploration of the possible. Anyway, to cut a long story short, it all works. Then the ********* (insert expletive of your choice) at Elecraft decided to present the KAT100. Oh dear: how do I convince The Boss that I need to splurge even more cash? To make matters worse I had just been told that the ****** cancer was back and had nestled in my liver - just how do you justify building something you may not even get a chance to build, let alone use? But Jeanette responded characteristically and said as I can't take it with me, I might as well enjoy it while I can. So there you are: I now have a K2 for QRP work, with the KPA100 option should I ever feel that I need it. Having a full-option K2 is a privilege: I'd be very happy with it without the optional KPA100, but I certainly don't feel that a K2 with a KPA100 is somehow "worth" more or less than one without. It'd be as silly as saying that a K2 with an SSB option isn't a "real" K2! Most of us know that the REAL challenge with QRP is using 'phone modes, although I can assure you that it's not nearly as difficult as some people would have us believe. So here's a challenge to all of you: get out there and work a single-band DXCC in (95%) SSB and earn some REAL bragging rights :-) Have a look at http:www.halpin.tomaatnet.nl/dxcc.jpg to see what can be done. The moral of this story is twofold: Do what you can while you can - and it's not what you do that really counts in the end; it's the style with which you do it. 145, Pete PE1MHO - G7ECN - M3ECN K2 #2768 (with optional KPA100 capability) ++++++++++++++++++ From: "Joe Malloy" To: Subject: RE: [Elecraft] discovering elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 16:00:28 -0500 My story of discovering Elecraft... I think it was late in 1999 and I read a few messages on QRP-L about this here "K2" rig - a kit, no less! - and decided to look 'em up on the web. I did and was impressed with the K2 but...but I could think of a number of "reasons" why I didn't want one: it was expensive for a kit (little did I know that the end result would turn out to be world class!), it had those *awful* rounded head screws all over it (little did I know that they hid those clever, patented fasteners!) and so on. In other words, I invented reasons why I shouldn't buy it. I had discovered Elecraft and thought I was safe it its wiles (!). But the seed had been planted. Mind you, I was a QRP'er back when Heath was still in business and had purchased a new, kit version of the HW-8 back in 1976 (1977?), had tons of fun building it and worked many, many stations and some DX (I'm not much of a DXer) with it, loved the fact that it was so small, light, portable. Well, this here K2 seemed to be a HW-8 on steroids, and the more I thought about it, the more I wanted one. I figured that I had built (from kits, I'm smart enough not to build anything I might design on my own!) a Lafayette 3-tube regenerative receiver (KT-135) and a Starflite transmatter (KT-390), the Eico plate modulator (722?) and electronic keyer (717), a Heath Q-multiplier and the HW-8 mentioned, I always had good luck with the kits (not flawless, gut good luck) and so, shortly after the QST review article appeared... I broke down a ordered a K2 in May, 2000, serial 01299. I got it with the 160 meter option, then the SSB option, the noise blanker, the KAT2, the KIO2, the KBT2, the KAF2 and it was all good, it all worked splendidly. The only thing I've been holding off on is the 100 watt option and higher power tuner, but I feel myself slowly, oh so slowly giving way. I can only hope there's a K3 (or something else by Elecraft to build!) soon! Happy New Year, everybody! 73, Joe, W2RBA K1 #1005 K2 #1299 ++++++++++++++++++ Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 13:09:02 -0800 From: lhlousek To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Subject: [Elecraft] Re: Discovering Elecraft OK. It's only two days short of the second aniversary of my first Elecraft order so here’s my "Discovering Elecraft" story. I was active for a couple of years in the mid 60’s when I was a kid but QRT when I got into high school. My station back then was a home brew 40/80m 6146 TX and BC348 and BC454 receivers. Thirty years later (1996) I was flying R/C helicopters and decided to get a general ticket so I could use the 6m R/C frequencies. I didn’t do another ham related thing for five years. The week after Xmas 2000 I had some time on my hands and was paging through a QST thinking it might be fun to put together a small QRP rig and try a little operating again. I saw the Elecraft ad among others, did a couple of days research on the web, and joined the Elecraft reflector thinking I would order a K1. It didn’t take long to get talked into getting a K2 instead. January 2, 2001, I ordered a K2, KAT2, and KNB2. Kit s.n. 1818 & options arrived the following Sat and I had them built and working FB the following Wednesday. It took me another week to get an antenna up and have my first QSO. About 6 months later I built a K1 with all options. My excuse was I needed a smaller rig to take with me when traveling on business. Thank you and happy New Year. Lou W7DZN +++++++++++++++++ From: "Milt Jensen" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] discovering elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 14:40:04 -0700 I was in attendance at the Cactus Intertie annual bash in Tucson, February, 1998, and one of the Elecraft guys was there with what I remember as a prototype of the K-2. An ad hoc demo after the regular meeting finished was made by stringing a piece of wire across the room and then making some CW contacts. I didn't pay much attention, but the incident stayed in my mind. This past year when our club was shopping for more efficient Field Day (solar powered)(the YaComWood radios turned down to 5 Watts are power hogs) rigs, attention was turned to the K-2. Three of them were constructed in a couple of months time with the various boards being farmed out to individual constructors and the final assembly, testing, etc. taking place at the club house. The results? Even though we were not able to operate from our normal mountain location (cool and great take off angles) the Eastern Arizona Amateur Radio Society did well with the 3, K-2s at the main three transceivers in a 3A operation. The temp was HOT in the lower desert country and the RF location was not the best, BUT, K7EAR placed "numero uno" in the 3A QRP class and I believe we were number 5 overall in 3A. And that is against the 100 Watt class stations east of the mississippi. In other words; They work well !!!!!!!! 73, and Happy New Year de Milt, N5IA ++++++++++++++++ From: "Morrow, Michael A." To: "'elecraft at mailman.qth.net'" Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 16:51:25 -0500 Subject: [Elecraft] RE: Discovering Elecraft I'd been playing around with portable HF operation as an SWL since the early 1960s when my Dad (W5WRR/SK) used a Drake 2-A and Elmac AF-67 powered by a surplus gasoline AC generator on family camping trips in the Ozarks. I licensed in 1968, and continued to enjoy portable operations most. By 1999, for backpacking, three wonderful Small Wonder Lab DSW-series monoband rigs became my favorite QRP radios. At Dayton 2000, I saw the prototype K1 and was sold on it. I ordered one in June 2000, and received it in November 2000. Though most on this topic talk of the K2, I consider the K1 to have been a fantastic, inspired addition to the Elecraft line. I'm not philosophically attached to QRP-only operation, and I'm not really that interested in building things anymore. But backpacking requires a compact, lightweight, QRP design, the K1 was and is the best rig available anywhere to fill that bill, and the only way to get one was to build one. I've been very happy with it, especially after the four-band option became available. So, unlike most others posting on this subject, it was the K1 that brought me to Elecraft. 73, Mike / KK5F ++++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: From: "Ron D'Eau Claire" To: "'elecraft'" Subject: RE: [Elecraft] How I Found Elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 17:24:42 -0800 Every HF rig that I've owned since I was first licensed in 1952 was either scratch built or a kit that I built. In 1999, my "main" rig was an HW-8 that I had built in 1976. It had an outboard amp for when I wanted to really tickle the "aether" and so many modifications to it Heath wouldn't recognize it. I wanted something newer and more "state of the art" than I was prepared to design myself. I tried out a factory-built rig briefly. Not only was it boring, it didn't work very well. Indeed it worked so badly that the manufacturer took it back, refunded my money and apologized. All the while I kept hearing more K2's on the CW bands. Each one had an enthusiastic operator at the key. No one was more enthusiastic than Bob, N6WG, in Newark, CA. But (and I don't want this to be a distraction...) I really wasn't interested in another QRP rig. Then I noticed that Elecraft's web site promised that the K2 would have a module that would let it run either 50 or 100 watts output (they hadn't made up their minds about the size of the amp module yet in 1999). That did it, and S/N 1289 went on the air in June of 2000. It's been a great combination of tinkering and operating that shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. If it isn't something I want to try IN the K2, it's something that I want to build to go WITH the K2. As Helm, WB2ADT, said it so well recently "This rig is a hobby unto itself." My sincere thanks to Bob, N6WG, and all the other enthusiastic ops who chewed the rag with me on their K2's before and after mine was built! A wise person taught me this: We find happiness with others when we focus our attention on how we are the same. We find unhappiness with others when we focus our attention on how we are different. Let the good times keep rolling... 73, Ron AC7AC K2 # 1289 +++++++++++++++ From: N2EY at aol.com Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 20:36:53 EST Subject: Re: [Elecraft] RE: Discovering Elecraft To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net Here's my story: I got started back in the mid-1960s due to fascination with all things electrical, particularly radio. First rx was a "foxhole radio", with razor blade and pencil lead for the detector. First SW rx was a 2 tube regen, with which I learned the code by listening to other hams. Learned almost everything from books - "All About Radio And Television" was the first, and a 1949 ARRL Handbook found on the family bookshelves was the impetus towards ham radio. Got my Novice license in 1967 at age 13. First rig was a 6V6GT on 3726 kHz - ten watts input, mnaybe 7 watts output. First nonhomebrew rx was a Heath AR-2. Had a few other pieces of nonhomebrew stuff (BC-454, DX-20/VF-1, Adventurer, SX-99, Viking 2) but the chronic shortage of radio money had me building rigs rather than buying them. It also meant that I used CW exclusively, because it gave the most bang for the buck. By the time I was out of college and had enough to actually buy some decent gear, I had discovered that most of the equipment on the market wasn't really meant for CW operation. Most SSB transceivers of the day had no provision for sharp filters or turning off the AGC, and their tuning rate was way too fast for my taste. There were a few rigs that met my requirements, but they cost a fortune. So I kept on building receivers and transmitters. By the late 1970s I was building CW transceivers. Parts for these rigs came from dumpsters, old TVs, hamfests, and military surplus sources like Fair Radio. In the '70s and '80s, hollow-state parts and equipment could be had for almost nothing - in some cases, simply for the carting away. I amassed quite a pile of stuff for a pittance, and built better and better rigs. Had a short fling with a Ten-Tec Argosy, but its limitations and audio AGC finally drove me to sell it and warm up the soldering iron again. From 1978 to 1983, and from 1984 to 2001, the main HF station was all-homebrew. Yeah, a long story, but ya gotta know the background to realize how radical the next bit is. Of course all down the years I'd kept an eye on the ham rigs being made, but they all had some shortcoming or other. The ones I liked were all on the wrong side of $1000 - in fact, they were on the wrong side of $2000. And even those rigs had things I didn't like! Building my own stuff had ruined me for manufactured gear because I was used to understanding exactly how my rigs worked, being able to work on my gear no matter what the problem, and having my rigs designed for CW first and foremost. So on Field Day 1999 (or was it 2000?), what do I see but N3IUT using a little gray QRP rig from a company I'd never heard of. Dern thing is completely unaffected by the other 100 W rigs in use, while the other stations are having troubles with overload, etc. A quick listen reveals that this "K2" hears right down to the noise on 15 meters with terrible antenna, has all sorts of features, and is made from a kit! I go home and do some Internet surfing and find the website. Seems to good to be true - gotta be a catch someplace. I download the manuals, read the reflector, hem and haw and scratch my head. Only thing this box won't do is 100W, and there's an amp on the way. Meanwhile, all that hollowstate stuff I'd gotten for pennies had gone from being unwanted junk to highly desired - and priced! I've been selling stuff off right along, via hamfests, ads in Electric Radio, email reflectors and eBay. I stepped up the selling pace and soon turned some of the inventory into the cash necessary for K2 #2084. It went together easily and performance was all that was expected. Tried it in SS 2001 and was greatly surprised at how well 5 watts and a wire antenna could do. Yes, I still have and use my homebrew rig, but it shares the op desk with the K2. Best of both worlds. I figured when I bought the K2 that I'd get the amp as soon as it was announced. But a funy thing happened on the way - QRP was so much fun that the amplifier took a low priority. Maybe I'll homebrew an amplifier using some of those tubes... 73 de Jim, N2EY +++++++++++++++++ Reply-To: "Mychael Morohovich AA3WF" From: "Mychael Morohovich AA3WF" To: Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How I Found Elecraft Date: Tue, 31 Dec 2002 21:31:06 -0500 Due to excessive QRM from local FM and BC stations, I was having trouble getting a little home-brewed x-tal radio that I was building as a gift for my father to work. This was my first foray into the world of radio. Frustrated, I called up one of the offending stations and spoke with the head electronic engineer. He volunteered to stop by my place on his way home from work that day to see what he could do. While he was hopelessly fiddling with my lil unshielded radio we got to talking, and long story short he said something to this effect: "You know, if you are into building stuff, there is this little company in CA called Elecraft...". I didn't even have my ticket then, and really didn't know much about amateur radio at all. Having played with electronics years before while helping a big brother of my best friend build a Heathkit stereo component, I knew I enjoyed electronic kits. "Elecraft, huh?" After the engineer left, I logged on to the internet and performed a search on Elecraft and promptly joined the reflector where, among a host of other good souls, I eventually met my good friend and Elmer, Ron AC7AC. The next thing you know, I was studying for my license and a few months later passed my Extra exam. Somewhere in there I managed to convince my wife that I really needed to have a K2, so the money was produced and the building commenced. An ironic aside here is that while researching that first xtal radio, I came across a mention in a book devoted to amateur radio exclaiming how much fun it was communicating and exchanging QSL cards with interesting strangers around the world using something called CW. "CW? QSL cards? Strangers?!!" At the time, I recall it sounding like a really dopey thing to do . No big wonderful story here, but it does go to show how one seemingly insignificant thing can lead to another until we end up in places we never could have imagined. Tnx es 73, Mychael AA3WF K2#1025 +++++++++++++++++++