True, with these rigs a better indication of overall condition is whether the switches and gain pots are clean and funtioning smoothly... and if WARC mod had been done.
The original tubes fire up and put out 120+ every night tho so don't shy away from them.

AB9LZ

Since I only have four paddles to date, I'm probabaly not the most qualified to answer... but... my advice is to get the most expensive paddle you can afford. (and no, the chrome and gold doesn't make 'em "better")
I've had good luck with e-bay, the last aquisition was a massive and solid "Jones" key that I'll probably use for the reset of my life. Makes my Bencher look like the cheap piece of crap that it is.

73
Mark /AB9LZ

My '830 has the original S2001A's. When I bought the rig (e-bay), the original owner included a set of GE's as backups. BTW when setup with the twin 500hz CW filters it makes for a very good DX rig.

73
Mark
AB9LZ

This little kit rocks... it's tiny and has a boatload of features, and best of all < 20$. Much nicer than other keyers at three time the price.

http://www.hamgadgets.com/product_info.php?cPath=21&products_id=51

AB9LZ

W4YA:

"The trick when you're younger is to send no faster than you can copy. When you are older, try to stay awake during the QSO."

That made the coffee go up my nose! Funniest thing I read all day!

AB9LZ

"By the way, I never drank any of that "old ham spirit", how is it?"

It tastes kinda like beer....

Good luck with the HR10b, I have one too, I built one as a kid, my folks let it go in a garage sale. Found another at a Ham fest. Apparently it's common for P.S. electrolytic to go bad (as mine had) was able to find a close replacement at tubesandmore.com. Alignment is pretty straightforward. Now to find a DX60B ; )

Good Luck

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

Thanks for the correction, that makes sense, the PLL would have lower phase noise than the DDS. Does the K1 (not KX1) proper use DDS? Somehow I was lead to believe is was a varactor, which scared me away from buying one.

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

My first rig was a TS 520 from E-bay, at $145 it was beat... but worth every dollar. Bought it before I got my ticket, used it to listen in on slow code QSO's, ...helped a bunch to pass the code test.
I then used my sons wristrocket to send a 40m inverted v into the nearest oak tree, figured the swr would be within 1:3 hooked the 520 to it (with no tuner... tube finals are great!) and made my first QSO on 7113, about 1000 miles away! I was so excited I could barely copy the guys name much less his call.

Total outlay for that first setup, about $185. That was 9 long months ago, I've since spent another $1000, mostly on other "e-bay specials", the best being a Kenwood TS 830.

The absolute best piece of gear is that wristrocket.

Have fun!

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

No, you won't need an additional tuner. The Windom will give you a pretty decent SWR on most all bands, the internal tuner in the TS 2000 is sufficient to bring what mismatch exists (usually 2:1 or so) down to what the transitorized finals in the Kenwood would like to see, something like 1:1.3 or better.

I use a Windom and an old TS 830 with no tuner at all, that rig has tube finals and can handle up to a 1:3 swr with no prob. My TS 130 (a transistor rig) rquires a tiny bit of matching to work correctly, so I use an LDG Z100 to take care of the slight mismatch.

Have fun

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

I *think* the K1 uses both the NE602 in the first mix along with a varactor diode and 10 turn pot for tuning. So yes you'll get a bit of drift, and the tuning is not quite linear. The K2 uses a DDS vfo into a diode ring mixer, a superior setup as far as stability and image rejection goes. The caveat here is that I don't own either rig, but have homebrewed both types, the K2 type is much much nicer to use, the NE602's are great for quickie portables, but you'll get sick of thier limitations in a hurry.
The suggestion of going to e-bay is a great one, you can pick up what was the "killer rig of the day" at bargan prices. I have an old $250 TS830 that is bulletproof and a great performer in all modes.

You might want to rethink the antenna thing, especially on 17 where a dipole is only 28 feet or so, and a Moxon is even smaller at 7 x 20 feet. Those bugcatchers are nothing more than dummy loads with little whips on top.

73's
Mark
AB9LZ
 

Oh, and I should point out, the US hams have cleverly reserved the "good" DX windows for the Extra's. (i.e. 75 and 20m). The best phone bands for generals (these days) are 17 and 160. CW you are good on all of 17 and 30... 20 40 80(but not the lower 25khz where the dx window is) and all of 160.

The rest of the world can't go above 7100 so forty isn't good for phone unless there is a contest, then you need to work wierd 200khz+ splits say listening on 7020 and calling on 7225.

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

Your radio is fine, I have an old TS830 (with tube finals) that seems to work perfectly, in fact at times it seems that I can "out hear" other stations, perhaps it just luck. (and good filters!)

The real key(s) are a good antenna, patience, and lots of skill.

As far as I can tell there are two types of DX

1) The kind that falls into your lap, i.e. I was tuning up the other day on the CW portion of 17, and I hear a european CQ right under me.

2) The kind you chase, i.e. some guy parks in a known DX zone, and you join the pile up, hollering your call into the mike for 20+ minutes until he comes back to you.

A third (and quite fun) kind of DX is QRP, 1000 mile+ qso's on a watt or two, lotsa fun and good weak signal experience for when you hit on "real" DX.

I've only been at this for 9 months or so and have found CW DX to be much easier, i.e. there have been more cases of random "in your lap" type QSO's. Phone DX is harder in that there is much more competition, and personally I don't find it to be as much fun.

My advice... rack up as many Q's as possible with whomever will come back to you, the DX will come with skill and experience.

Have fun, I am.

73's
Mark.
AB9LZ

Well, if you'd like to see how not to do it, and you are in the Chicago area, feel free to stop by the QTH.

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

Lol! I do the same thing, even w psk31! I'll load up the clipboard buffer with the call, but always forget the name (as it scrolls off the screen), and end up having to write it down. I suppose I should rewrite my client to allow for auto name/call parsing.

Back on subject, during a QSO I'll copy the name/qth, then jot down notes that eventually end up in the log i.e. nice fist, Qrp, Wx, etc...

73's
Mark
AB9LZ

I have a SWL 40 and can attest to what a great little rig it is. That said, when I operate from the trail (via mountain bike) I prefer 30m, the shorter ant is easier to launch into the trees (via slingshot), there are plenty of slower moving folks, important when you are trying to manage a key sitting on a tree stump (plus I'm new at this so Im not so good at CW anyway). And plenty of daytime DX opportunities, especially on weekends.

73's
Mark
AB9LZ