Wayne, This information is extremely interesting and more than a little unexpected. I am fascinated by the capability of the KX2 (mine is 2.5 years old), but its internals have very little isolation and protection from adverse ambient conditions...an essemtial requirement for most gear in military service.
1. Is the KX2 supplied by Elecraft identical to those supplied to amateurs? It would be interesting to know if and what its military users have fashioned some protection from the elements. At the least, the aftermarket Kx22 heat sink, SideKX left side panel, and SideKX cover would seem appropriate. 2. Is the KX2 being supplied by external DC power? I'd predict short life for the speaker connections with frequent removal of the bottom cover for KXBT2 replacement. 3. The stock KX2 (unfortunately) provides no transmit coverage outside the ham bands except 5.06 to 5.45 MHz for 60m. Is a special firmware load being used to permit general coverage transmit? 4. Federal agencies (including CAP, but not MARS) normally use radio equipment compliant with standards established by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) which manages the use of all federal spectrum. Agencies self-evaluate equipment specs using information supplied by the equipment manufacturer. The CAP currently shows at https://www.gocivilairpatrol.com/programs/emergency-services/radio/communications/radios-radio-network a broad spectrum of ham and commercial gear in which only the FT-817 with TXCO-9 meets NTIA specs. They evaluated the K2, K3S, and KX3. I suspect the military users of the KX2 have not formally evaluated its NTIA compliance. US military agencies have sometimes adopted commercial radio gear with no changes. In 1965 the Collins KWM-2A MF/HF SSB/CW transceiver was adopted as the RT-718/FRC-93 ...and it had very little protection from adverse environmental conditions. 73 Mike / KK5F -----Original Message----- >From: Wayne Burdick <n...@elecraft.com> >Sent: Feb 8, 2020 12:23 >FYI: > >I asked one of our U.S. military KX2 customers (a special forces commander) to >describe how they use the rig. Here's the verbatim quote: > >* * * > >"We use the KX2 to enable us to communicate in emergency situations where >military-issue gear is unsuitable, impractical, or has failed. Its >form-factor is ideally suited for increasing the redundancy of our >communications without any noticeable increase in weight or bulk. In >addition, and perhaps most importantly, it is used to interface with civilian >radio operators when we are assisting with civil emergencies, such as those >that are caused by hurricanes or earthquakes. Unfortunately, we have been >called to assist with both of these scenarios lately, and the ability to >interface via HF using a tough, portable radio has been instrumental in >passing critical information in environments where cell phone and internet >networks were non-existent." > >* * * > >I'm hoping he'll release additional details in the future, but he's asked that >we not discuss his actual deployments, names, unit, etc. He did say that many >units have been outfitted with KX2s for the reasons above. > >If you have a specific question or reason to contact him, I'll be happy to >forward the email. He seems to come up for air every week or two, between ops. > >73, >Wayne >N6KR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
