Main fun of the K1 and KX1 is building them :-)
Phil W7OX
On 7/7/16 11:07 AM, Mike Morrow [email protected]
[KX3] wrote:
Barry wrote:
> ...I would have preferred the K1, but I don't
believe Elecraft is
> selling that anymore.
The K1 is still sold...see
http://www.elecraft.com/k1_page.htm . The K1
remains an excellent small CW-only transceiver.
However, the four-band KFL1-4 filter board has
been unavailable for a couple of years.
The original posting in this thread contrasted
the KX1 vs. KX2 or KX3. If RF performance
mattered, where the K1 is clearly superior to
the KX1, the 16-year-old K1 deserves honorable
mention among small QRP transceivers:
(1) The K1 uses an LC VFO that is cleaner than
the DDS frequency generation scheme of the KX1.
This reduces transmitter spurious output, and
improves receiver performance because fewer spur
frequencies are part of the local oscillator
signal fed to the front-end mixer.
(2) The K1 can be placed on any of the HF bands,
although Elecraft sells parts for 80m through
15m only. The KX1 DDS chip is clocked at its
maximum rate of 50 MHz, which limits KX1 highest
frequency coverage to around those of 20m band.
(3) The K1 IF uses a four-pole crystal
filter...the KX1 IF uses three-pole. This makes
a very noticeable difference in selectivity.
(4) The KAT1 produces a larger number of
configurations (1020) of impedance than the
KXAT1 (124). (It's of note that the KXAT2
produces 32764 different network configurations,
264 *times* the number of the KXAT1. The KXAT3
produces 131068 configurations, 1057 times the
KXAT1.)
(5) Many find continuous K1 LC VFO tuning more
natural than step-wise KX1 DDS tuning.
(6) The K1 has a noise blanker option...the KX1
does not.
(7) The K1 transmitter can produce up to seven
watts of output power. The KX1 is about half
that...at best.
(8) The K1 case has a speaker...the KX1 does not.
OTOH, the KX1 is clearly superior in terms of
VFO stability. It is superior in its span of
frequency coverage within the limits of the DDS.
It can switch between USB and LSB receive mode
due to the frequency agility of the DDS as local
oscillator. It has neat features like audio
feedback to controls. It is smaller and lighter.
With respect to the KX1 vs. KX2 or KX3, the gulf
in capability and performance is so great as to
render the question absurd. The only advantage
to the KX1 over the KX2 is that Elecraft
provides a schematic for the KX1...something
that very noticeably withheld for the KX2 and
its accessories. That implies the customer is an
"appliance operator".
Mike / KK5F
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