Hi Phil, A bare-bones K2 is a fine radio, although there are still a couple of unresolved issues, like the tuning clunks you hear on crowded bands, due to the synthesizer. I'm still puzzled why it hasn't been addressed. If you can ignore that, then it performs very well even without the convenience features found in most other radios (PBT, IF SHIFT, variable notch filters) and buttons and knobs to control them. That being said, it's hard to avoid talking about the cost of a fully featured K2. When you begin to add in the costs of the 160m, 60m, DSP, SSB, 100W, and noise blanker options, you rapidly approach the 2K mark. Add in the cost of Jack Smith's panoramic display (which requires you to use a separate computer to take advantage of the neat features or have another box on the desk) that isn't integrated into the radio and you're in the price range of an ICOM Pro3...and that doesn't take into account the time involved in assembling the equipment. If you need/want large buttons, add another $125 and visit Mike Stricker's page (home.att.net/~info4mjs). So now you have almost $3000 into your radio.
The new Ten-Tec Omni 7 looks like it may be interesting. How about a used Ten Tec Omni 6+? You could do a Yaesu with an INRAD filter option or even an older ICOM 765 or 775DSP with INRAD filter option. But if you want a good basic radio that you want to know all the ins and outs about, the K2 is still fine. Dave ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a PS3 game guru. Get your game face on with the latest PS3 news and previews at Yahoo! Games. http://videogames.yahoo.com/platform?platform=120121 _______________________________________________ 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
