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write your own review of the Elecraft K1.
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N4OI
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 28, 2010 18:50
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Real CW Radio!
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Time owned: more than 12 months
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My K1 was the first QRP kit I built about six years ago. The process was a blast and it functioned perfectly the first time -- no rework. It is the 4-band version with 40-30-20-15 meters plus the ATU and tilt stand, which is a very nice luxury, BTW. Although all my other QRP kits I built afterward were very cool and fun, they reside in a drawer -- to be tried out once in a while and then put back. But not so with the K1! It resides next to my FT-920, always connected to its own position on the coax switch. Perhaps conditions are improving, but I find that I am almost exclusively using the K1 these days. Even at six watts, my calls and CQs are almost always answered and my signal usually holds up over a long CW QSO. It just has a great sound from the little speaker and the silent QSK is flawless. The filters work great and I can follow drifting signals around with the RIT. Of course, the AGC is a little slow, but I rarely use the earbuds anyway so no problem. It is exquisitely small,very elegant (as in Ele-craft), and in summary -- a real, very capable CW rig. Guess it's my baby....
73 de Ken N4OI
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M0BMN
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 23, 2010 12:36
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Great Kit , Great After Sales Service Too!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I have built a number of Kits over the years inc the K3/K2/K1/Kx1 and many others. This Christmas i got a nice new K1 kit to build, The XYL let me have it a week before the big day so i could get it built and on air over the hols, well i spent a few hours a night putting it together and finished the set off on the night of the 25th, all looked well to start with untill i noticed a load of drift, i had heard other comment on drift of a 100hz or 200HZ from a cold start for a few mins but mine was more like 1-2KHz !
i looked at ever thing and check my values, all seemed ok. I thought i would send a email to their support dept to see what help they could be, i fired it off late on christmas night and expected it would be after the new year when i got a relpy, i was shocked to find that after a hour or so i had received a email back, it was from Don (one of the tech guys) with a detailed check list for me to work through with details of voltages on pins to check etc, well a quick check found that one pin on a connector had not been soldered so the voltage was floating around, a dab with the iron and the drift was gone.
Its now rock solid, from cold it drifts less than 100Hz (no display change) in the first 5 mins and then doesnt seem to move if i leave it on over night. I can not think of any other company that gives such good customer service.
Anyway the K1 is now fitted with the Auto ATU and battery options and it works great, well over 5 watts with the internal battery pack and very nice tone. If your looking for your next radio kit this should be it.This is my Third K1 and its going to stay here this time, well done Elecraft.
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WA2WMR
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Rating: 5/5
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Sep 23, 2009 08:40
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Everything is so tiny.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I'm almost finished building my K1 and am writing this review with the intention of reviewing it as a radio later. This review is strictly about the kit building experience.
Back in the '70s, I was certified to wire flight space craft. Also, I had built the Heathkit SB-102 plus several SB Line accessories as well as one of their color televisions. So, while I'm a rusty kit builder, I'm not a novice.
Let's start with the bad news. Everything is SMALL!. Tiny even. Positively microscopic. When I was inventorying parts, I needed a magnafying glass to read the numbers on the parts. In fact, after finishing the inventory, I had one diode left over and one diode not checked in the parts list. I called up support and asked if I could assume that the part I had was the last part unchecked on the list and was told that it was.
My soldering iron is the same GE handle and tip that was used by the NASA contractor for whom I worked. For this kit, it was a sledge hammer. Needed to get a new one. Got a very nice one from Radio Shack. Also, my eyes aren't what they used to be so I needed a magnifying workbench lamp. So, you may find that you will be spending somewhat more than expected for extra stuff.
The instruction sheet lacks pictures. When an instruction telles you to install R1, it would be very nice to have a small thumbnail sketch to show you where on the board to look for its location. (To be fair, Heathkit would show you a picture of R1 attached to a terminal lug, but when you went there, you found 35 other components already on that lug. No such problem with the K1. One component goes into one set of holes or one lug.)
Here's the biggie! About a dozen components are installed on the bottom of the board. After you've been busy installing components on the top side of the board, and it looks like an aerial photo of lower Manhattan, you are told to install a component on the bottom of the board and be very careful (why am I hearing Elmer Fudd?) to avoid burning a component on the top side of the board when soldering it. Why, oh why, didn't I take the blue pill? (oops, wrong movie) Why, oh why, didn't they have us just install the bottom components first? It got so bad toward the end that I would bend the leads and check that they fit into the holes and then clip them (hoping that I didn't cut them too short) and solder it on the same side as the component was mounted.
One other thing, which kinda applies to this as a kit and as a radio. The filter board is not meant to be swapped in and out with a second board to cover the other two (or 4 bands). It isn't overly difficult to remove it, but it wasn't designed the way the Sierra transciever's band boards were. This has to be done very carefully. So if you are considering going for the two band kit and getting the 4 band board later, go for the 4 band kit to start with unless you really want to have 80 meters. I can see myself getting a second radio rather than just a second board.
The alignment tool that they give you for adjusting capacitors during alignment isn't strong enough to turn all the caps. I finally had to resort to using a jewler's screwdriver to turn them.
Now for the good part. First of all, the resistors for the RF board come tied together by two strips of tape with the resistors in between, forming a laddar. When I inventoried the parts, I marked the stips with the resistor number to make it easy to find. When I needed a resistor, I'd go to the laddar, find the resistor, snip the ends of the leads and install it. It was a little frustrating, however, to see several resistors of the same value scattered around the laddar. It didn't occur to me that they were on the ladder in the order in which they were called for in the instructions and I didn't see any mention of this fact in the instructions. (That doesn't mean that it isn't there; I just didn't see it). That was a very nice touch.
Also, during the inventory, all parts that were not static sensitive I stuck into a styrafoam board and labeled the board beside the component. This made it very easy when the instruction said, "Insert C4..."
I went through the instructions and found the instructions for winding the torroids and then wound them all at the same time (be sure to label them). I don't think I would have had the patience to stop assembling the kit to wire them as they came due.
Well, that's about it for the K1 kit. Piece of cake. No problem. (Of course, I said the same thing about boot camp after it was all over) Be wewwwy caiwfuf. Toroids are fun. Toroids are fun. Toroids are fun. Toroids are fun. (Keep repeating that).
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W9MVM
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Rating: 5/5
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Jul 22, 2009 10:18
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Very Nice!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I purchased the K-1 in March 2008 after double knee replacement. The K-1 was just assembled s past week. Randy N4TVC did a super job doing the build for me. Had it on the air w/G5rv and a MFJ tuner. Looks good works good. well pleased
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N2DTS
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Rating: 4/5
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Feb 17, 2008 12:39
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Cute little thing
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I got it last Thursday, finished building it Saturday, zero problems, no missing parts, its easy to build.
I did not bother with a parts inventory or any of the resistance checks, and everything worked great anyway.
Three big gripes:
They should have added a few digits to the display so you could just read the frequency.
The audio AGC system just plain sucks with headphones on, I changed the cap from a 2.2uf to a 1uf and need to try even less.
It cant handle a strong signal at first, and you can desense the receiver for like 10 seconds if a really strong signal comes on.
The power output control is like the K2, it just reads voltage so you often get low output unless the swr is under 1.2 to 1.
Otherwise, its a great working rig, like the K2 was.
I just wish Elecraft would get away from minimizing everything, all their radios would be much better if they had a few more knobs, buttons, displays.
Even the K3 is on the small side, could likly use 10 more knobs and 20 more buttons.
It seems like EVERYTHING they make is designed to be carried to the top of some mountan, they dont make anything designed to be used in the shack.
Their stuff works so well, you know it would be the bomb if they made something with plenty of knobs, buttons and displays.
Brett
N2DTS
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W7LW
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 19, 2007 17:42
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I really enjoyed building it and now, using it.
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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A well thought out design, electrically and physically. Lots of quality parts & components, with an intuitive, detailed manual.
I built my first kit (Heathkit DX-40) in 1957 and really enjoyed doing it. I enjoyed this one every bit as much; maybe just a little bit more.
I hope Elecraft keeps at it without compromise. If they do, there market share should grow. It's nice to see another US company producing a quality product and standing behind it.
Go get'em (the big two and a half) Elecraft!
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N7KFD
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Rating: 5/5
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Nov 15, 2007 20:33
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Great Experience
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Time owned: 3 to 6 months
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Instructions are easy to follow and walk you through the entire build with good detail. The final tuning took me a few tries until I was happy but it sounds great! I've even decided to put my dipole up another ten feet before winter sets in so I can enjoy this rig to its fullest potential this winter. I felt it was reasonably priced considering the options it comes with and I bought all the add-ons except the battery pack. I wouldn't suggest trying one of these as a first time build, start with a "Pixie" or a "Tuna Tin" to wet your feet first.
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KK6MS
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Rating: 5/5
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Apr 2, 2007 10:51
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A great experience!
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is the first kit I built since Heathkit went out of business. When I looked at all the features and accessories, I was a bit apprehensive. However, building the kit was an absolute joy!
The step-by-step instructions are simple, elegant, and effective. I did not have a single problem putting the kit together and had fun doing it. Tuning and adjustment were a breeze. The total construction time for me was about 30 hours.
The only problem I ran into was a flaky headphone jack. It would cut in and out. I sent an email to Elecraft support and had a new jack in 3 days. It went right in and I've had no problem since.
As much fun as building the K1 was, operating it is even better. I have had an absolute blast! The receiver is hot, and I have had no problem getting out with 5 watts on my vertical. In the first week of operation, I landed a UA0 station, which qualified for the QRP ARCI 1000 miles/watt award.
Although I have two other QRO rigs, I am finding myself using the K1 almost exclusively. It works well, is easy to operate, and is fun. I have plans to take the K1 out into the field this summer, but even if it never leaves the house, it was a great investment.
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G3XBM
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Rating: 5/5
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Feb 19, 2007 14:11
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G3XBM recommends this superb QRP radio
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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This is my second Elecraft kit having built the T1 auto-ATU a year ago.
This is a superb little radio kit. I finished mine last week having taken a few weeks of slow building to complete. I did a few hours each day over about 10 days. Mine was the K1-4 4 band version (40,30,20,15m) with built-in auto-ATU.
Unfortunately I had one (small) problem: the receiver was deaf by about 30dB. By following the recommended signal tracing method described in the manual I tracked this down to a faulty 2N7000 in the RX audio mute circuit. When replaced the receiver sprang into life and receives at an MDS of better than -130dBm. The entire rig can be built and tested with the minimum of test equipment - a dummy load and a digital voltmeter.
Last weekend was the ARRL DX contest, so I fired up the newly built rig into my random 50 foot wire at maximum height of 20 feet. Using 40, 20 and 15m it managed transatlantic QSOs on all three bands with 5W, including 40m.
The NE602 front-end receiver, even here in Europe, has not needed the attenuator switched in once and the selectivity is perfect being switchable from 800Hz wide down to 250Hz narrow. This is no toy radio: it is a class design with some really excellent design features.
If you want a small, fun little CW QRP radio then go out and buy one NOW. You will enjoy the building - but follow the instructions carefully and handle static sensitive devices as recommended - and enjoy using it even more. DXCC is certainly possible with this radio and my imperfect antenna.
Info on my build and on-air performance will be on my website http://www.g3xbm.co.uk shortly.
Roger
G3XBM
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NG0K
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Rating: 5/5
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Jan 14, 2007 05:58
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Works like a champ
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Time owned: 0 to 3 months
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I bought a K1 from a previous owner and really enjoy it. The receiver is excellent, the output audio is great, bullet proof filtering, and it's easy to use. I used it for a few hours in NA QSO party last evening and it worked like a champ on 40m. I worked almost everyone I called and I don't think my 100 watt rig would have done any better.
73, Doug NG0K
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