Hi all: I am astounded at the qso success I have had with my K2. I figured when I built this baby that I would occassionally have a solid qso but the poor guy on the other end would have to crank up his hearing aid to hear my puny signal. Boy, was I amazed at how wrong I was. If I did not know better, I would believe I was running 100 watts, not the 10 watts I run.
I have logged 32 qsos now and have worked 23 countries, easily. My worst report was one 539. Next worst was one 559, next, a 569. The rest, 579 or better. The 569 came from a VK2 - a ten minute solid qso, on 30m (wire antenna). In a qso with a W2, I was peaking over s9. I have even busted a few (small) pileups. I usually answer the other guy's CQ. Seldom do I have to give my call more than once or twice. A couple nights ago, in 20 minutes, I worked Senegal (6W), Morocco, Algeria, and Canary Islands. WOW!!! (I can't believe it either) All with 10 watts. I do have considerable dx experience - 5 band dxcc; mostly cw, unconfirmed by ARRL (too lazy to seperate all those cards) and apparently a good antenna system. Most of this work? was done on an inverted vee with 68' high apex, fed with open wire feeder and homebrew tuner. The 20 meter antenna is a 40+ year old 3 el Telrex monobander, fed with 30 year old RG213 Belden coax, which I previously thought was surely dead from old age. Guess not! And no, I don't live on a mountaintop. One thought - this report says to me that cw is a killer mode, and should still be a license requirement. Finally, I love the K2. I love it's qsk, its receiver, and just about everything about it. If it only made money for me, it would be perfect plus. Otherwise, it's merely perfect. Thanks, Elecraft. You have renewed my zeal for ham radio. George, N4YM (hamming for 50 years) _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] 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
