Selected page of The Elecraft K2/100
A
nyone who has surveyed a current catalog of amateur radio
equipment is well aware of the
wide selection thats available today.
No longer must one choose between an
HF and a VHF/UHF transceiver, since
many of todays units incorporate coverage of amateur bands from 1.8 to 450
MHz. Accessories such as keyers and
antenna tuners frequently are built-in,
and many radios can be controlled from
a computer, allowing users to set up a
customized virtual front panel that
meets their liking.
Despite the broad selection of equipment thats available today, almost all of
these new radios have one thing in common: They all essentially are commodity devices built to be produced in large
numbers, not repaired. Surface-mount
technology, once found only in more
expensive commercial equipment, now
is basically ubiquitous. In the past, an
amateur who wanted to adopt an approach different from simply taking a
radio out of the box and plugging it in
could either home brew his equipment
| bands, CW only, with RS-232 remote
control. Accessory kits add 160 meters,
SSB operation, receive audio filtering,
real-time clock, and a noise blanker.
The K2/100 provides all the basic features one would expect from a modern
HF transceiver, such as 100 watt output on SSB and CW, direct frequency
entry to 10 Hz resolution, band-stacking registers, dual-VFOs, full QSK,
RIT/XIT, band scanning, direct frequency readout for transverters, selectable CW receive sideband, and an
iambic type A or B keyer with multiple
CW message memories. All this in a
lightweight package that measures just
3.4" 7.9" 9.9". The Elecraft K2/100
is easily one of the smallest 100 watt HF
transceivers to come along in some
time. Its so small it should easily fit into
almost any vehicle for mobile operation,
although unlike some of the competition
it doesnt have the option of separating
the control panel from the transceiver
itself for remote mounting.
The K2/100 does not have an internal anten
| kit of pre-wound toroids from an
Elecraft-approved independent vendor,
which may prove to be a worthwhile
expenditure.
The K2/100 is a relatively complex kit,
and it may prove to be a rather daunting experience for someone with very
little kit-building experience. If you
would like a K2/100 and cant (or dont
want to) build it yourself, Elecraft has a
list of amateurs who will build your radio
for a nominal fee (Some folks just cant
build enough kits.). Another option is to
acquaint
yourself
with
Elecraft
kit building by constructing the lesscomplex K1 CW-only transceiver.
On-Air Operation
The K2/100 is a surprisingly versatile
package for on-the-air operation. It supports all the popular operating modes
(with the exception of FM), and it really
excels in its support of CW. The radio
supports a total of nine CW memories,
and there is a Fast-Play option that
you can turn on for contests. Fast-Play
allows you to tap a single key to play a
CW message, instead
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