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| Reviews Summary for Elecraft K2 |
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Reviews: 130
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Average rating: 4.9/5
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MSRP: $599. USD
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Description: SSB/CW 160-10M HF Transceiver Kit
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More info: http://www.elecraft.com
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write your own review of the Elecraft K2.
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K5LG
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Rating: 5/5
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Jun 3, 2008 07:53
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good rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I have had the k-2 a few years, old serial no. I have never upgraded it. The rig works great on cw and is fun to use. The rit needs a detent back to 0. And a few other things are kinda clunky for operating, but this is a great little rig. Has it got a better rcvr than the 765? omni6 plus, 761? The answer is in a-b testing is they are about the same . Its a great little rig
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N6VCW
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Rating: 5/5
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May 28, 2008 22:47
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Great radio for my needs
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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With $720.00 and 80 hours invested in this radio, I received exactly what I expected. A solid QRP radio for casual QSOs on CW. That's all I wanted out of this radio and it delivers everything I hoped it would.
I needed a portable QRP CW radio for sunny afternoons in the park, making casual contacts. This radio does not disappoint me in the least.
It might do just fine for contesting and DXing, but that's not why I bought it. I'll definitely try it out for those activities as well, though.
I'm very pleased with this manufacturer's products.
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W2IE
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Rating: 3/5
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Mar 14, 2008 04:22
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Like but don't love it
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I’ve owned this radio several years now.
It’s not that I don’t like the K2, it’s that I don’t love it.
First, I built it as a kit. I don’t mind kits, heck I used to sell them but the problem is that it takes an experienced builder 30 or 40 hours to put this kit together and I think if you put something together you should see a savings somewhere along the line. If you worked at a job for a week you’d expect to make a few hundred dollars at the least so it’s not unfair to add that to the price of this rig. What you wind up with is a twelve or fourteen hundred dollar 20 watt, non DSP rig with flimsy knobs and a so so display.
If you start adding up the cost of the K2 you’ll see that you’re not saving much if anything at all because this rig can run up a sizable bill when you start adding 100 watts and DSP. Now add that to the cost of your labor attach a couple more bells and whistles and you’re getting into the arena of the PRO III. The bottom line is that you have to add your labor to the cost of the rig and then start comparing it to rigs in that price range.
So I’ve come to the consensus that it is good for a limited purpose unless you want to start dumping money into it. It works CW very well and is ideal as portable rig, in fact in that milieu it can’t be beat. So if you want an efficient rig to pack into the high country with, this may be it.
Side by side with mid price rigs in the shack it’s not the rig I’d pick nor is it the rig I’d pick if I could only have one rig. If you want to rag chew with the gang then I’d go with a mid priced rig from one of the many manufacturers that sell them. They are much more ergonomic, the displays are nicer, knobs are nicer, you get DSP and 100 watts right out of the gate AND you don’t have to build it.
I’m not going into the many issues folks have outlined here about the K2 and it does have issues.
Don’t get me wrong, the guys at Elecraft are princes, when my phone jack cracked open they sent me a new one at no cost. The trouble is that the phone jack is not one I’d expect on and expensive rig and again, the K2 IS an expensive rig.
The K3? It’s in the same boat, start adding up the cost of that radio and see what you have.
Cost, ergonomics, balance, parts quality, display and flexibility all considered I give the K2 a 3.4 out of 5.
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WA1SEO
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Rating: 2/5
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Jan 23, 2008 16:21
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Not that great
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My final rating for the K2 is a solid 2 out of 5. Following is an explanation of why I rated it that way.
I purchased it based on test reports and all the high praise on the Elecraft reflector especially as it pertains to contest environments. This was supposed to replace my Drake R4C with Sherwood modifications, a custom made interface, and an ICOM 735 as the transmitter. I made a mistake since it didn’t live up to the hype.
Pros: Small package, adjustable bandwidth crystal filter, maintenance
Cons: Very noisy synthesizer during contest conditions, poor adjustable filter shape in SSB mode, expensive options that are only used with the K2
The reflector is great if you are trying to get the K2 operational. The synthesizer makes a “clunk” every 5Khz if there are many S9 stations on the band. I thought I had a problem but then I found out it is a design issue that hasn’t been fixed yet. I discovered a firmware bug that was never fixed. I had the basic K2 with SSB module since I couldn’t justify the expense of all the “extra” options.
After 2.5 years of ownership, I became frustrated with the tuning issue.
If you want to build a fun kit that you can actually use, this is it. If you want a refined radio, the K2 may not be for you.
My score is a solid 2.
Mike, WA1SEO
http://home.att.net/~info4mjs
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N1YWB
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 26, 2007 18:16
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Great RX and kit
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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The K2 is a premium product with premium receiver performance at a premium price that goes up quickly depending on what capabilities you want to add. The build process is long but rewarding. The result is a contest winning, DX working HF ham radio with one of the top receivers on the market and lots of great features packed into an efficiently compact unit that you can fix yourself.
See my full review at: http://n1ywb.blogspot.com/2007/11/elecraft-k2-review_5634.html
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N9GRG
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Rating: 3/5
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Sep 15, 2007 19:13
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Good radio-fun to build-expensive though and not as fun to use
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I found that this radio is all that many people say in terms of a great kit and you will enjoy building it as long as you follow instructions completely and are careful in your building practices. I really haven't had this much fun as I did building the radios.
It has a good reciever, but it is very expensive when you consider the feature set and the cost in terms of time to build the whole thing. But then it's the only kit of its kind so a premium is understandable.
As a radio to use regularly I found it to be poor. Yes its a good performer as a receiver but the ergonomics are rough. The face plate should have been bigger. If you want to take this radio out on your travels, it's a little big but luggable, but as a main rig it's too combersome and small to use comfortably.
In the end I sold it, not because it was a bad radio but because I really found myself using my Icom 746Pro instead. The performance is the same in my opinion but the feature set and ergonomics can't be compared.
Also, the K2s don't hold their price well as it sells for a lot less than what you bought it for and certainly a lower resale percentage than other rigs I've sold.
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N7HTS
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Rating: 5/5
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Aug 29, 2007 12:52
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Super rig!
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I built my K2 about three months ago and have been using it almost every day. I have the SSB option also. I work mostly CW but, I like to work SSB once in a while. I'm using a Kenwood MC-60A mic with it and have gotten good audio reports.
There isn't anything that I don't like about it. It's easy to use yet has one of the best recievers on the market. I can hear weak signals much better with the K2 as compared to two other rigs that I have. Some people say that Elecraft fans say good things about the K2 because, they built it themselves. Well, maybe there is a little of that but, if it didn't work as advertised, I wouldn't have it now. I sold an eight month old Ten Tec Argonaut V for the K2 and I like the K2 much better. Not to say that the Argonuat V is not a good rig.
There isn't much else to say that hasn't already been said. It's a fantastic radio and you won't be disappointed. The only next best thing to a K2 is a K3 which should be out any day now.;-)
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N9TA
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Rating: 4/5
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Jul 15, 2007 05:33
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Good experience, best CW rig
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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I've built 2 of these rigs, and I still have one...although I don't use it much anymore. As long as you can read and follow directions (and have "some" soldering skill) you should have NO problem building these radios. Support...both from Elecraft AND from the online forum... is the BEST in the known universe. These really are radios you can build AND troubleshoot/repair yourself. The K2 is the BEST CW radio I've ever used...by a rather wide margin. However, the SSB audio can best be described as "communication grade". If SSB is your game, look elsewhere. There are RABID Elecraft fans who will complain and say I must have goofed up building/aligning/or setting up the filters on the radio. I must have goofed up the same way on BOTH the K2's I've built...HI HI. I only keep my K2 around for emergency communication purposes...where else can you get a radio that only draws around 200mA on receive.
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K4DGW
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 3, 2007 18:14
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Fun Rig, learned a lot
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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I purchased the K2 with the goal of having a quality radio. I had soldering experience and some minor kit work, but building the kit wasn't why I bought it, I wanted a good rig.
The K2 was much more fun to build than I expected. I got back into my electronics experience. I made some mistakes and troubleshot them all. Great help was received from the wonderful email reflector.
There were times I was frustrated with the time it took. I often had little time to dedicate to building. Initially, the kit seems to overwhelm. But the procedures breaks it into nice pieces and the first few boards go quicker than expected. The RF board is quite an undertaking. But in the end it is worth it.
Take your time, don't get frustrated, and patiently work through the steps. Get a good soldering iron. Beyond that, it is just plugging pieces in where you are told. There are a couple of mods on the back of the board. A good meter, frequency counter, dummy load and power meter will help. If you do not have all of these, take a look at the Elecraft mini-modules, they are some great stuff.
I did the toroids of the K2 and SSB board myself. They were not hard. I had never done them before, so initially they were a bit frustrating, but after getting the hang of it, it wasn't bad. For the tuner and the amp, I picked up the toroids from "the toroid guy". They worked great, it made it simple.
Alignment went pretty well. I didn't get it right the first time, but once I used the computer program for the band pass, then it all made sense.
I ended up with a great radio, that I know how to fix, and how to align (the way I like. I have since added SSB, 100w amp, and the 100w auto-tuner. I have the DSP and the noise blanker sitting here to build to finish everything up.
I also used the rework eliminators, to minimize changes as I add pieces. These folks were great to work with. Their new manuals replace the Elecraft manuals, word for word, and add their steps in. Good product from nice folks.
Elecraft is a special breed of company. They put out a quality product. The owners, engineers, and support folks are on the reflector. They answer questions and WANT to hear the users feedback. They are an impressive change from what we have come to expect. Great folks, great radio, great fun. Take care and 73 de K4DGW.
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K4DZR
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 1, 2007 15:57
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GREAT RIG!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I finished my K2 (no options) a week before field day with plans of running a qrp battery home station. I was of course delighted that the rig "worked". Along the way I was able to catch a few potential errors by double and triple checking my connections. I purchased a Hakko 936 ESD soldering station so soldering was a breeze with Kester 63/37 solder. I had to do a little signal tracing at one point but found the problem easily and got the 40 meter receiver going quickly. (Great tips from Scott at Elecraft a big help). Listening to 40 meter signals is the first time in the process that you get to hear and play with the super receiver. At this point you can also try all the menu items and play with the keyer. As noted by many, this kit is well designed with quality components. I wound the toroids which was kind of fun and not a major problem. (A far cry from the coils I wound in the late 50's) There were a few tight fits(close connections) that gave me a little pause for concern but they worked out ok. As advertised, this kit is not for beginners but with patience and close attention to the instructions it can be assembled to operate.
Now, a little more about operation. The memory keyer is a dream to operate and the qsk compares favorably with my Omni VI. The filtering system is tremendous. I use mine down to 100 HZ with great success. Read the manual carefully to get the most out of these variable filters. I have noted little or no drift at all .. period which is different from one review that I read. I have the frequecy "tweaked" within 8 HZ of my 706 MKIIg & Omni VI. That is well within the K2 specification. My "first" contact was with a station in Slovenia on 20 meters with the rig set on 10 watts into a 3 element quad. When field day arrived I was ready for a 5 watt battery powered operation. I made 171 contact over my 8 hours of operation working 38 states and 54 section. Aha! the K2 proved itself to be an outstanding contest rig. I had to try non-qrp and drive an Ameritron Al-811 to 50 watts to see what it could do. I used a simple manual switch to key the amp. I may build a keying circuit later. I have made quite a few contacts with 50 watts although I am planning to operate much more qrp. Good luck If you are planning to take the plunge to build a K2. Thanks to Elecraft for having a quality kit available for this "old timer" who wanted to build at least one more radio. My first "big" kit was a Heath DX-100B and yes the parts have changed in size quite a bit. '73 Jerry, K4DZR
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