I read yesterday that Elecraft were releasing a new product and was very surprised to see what it actually was - a handheld!! But not just any old handheld, it’s a CW ONLY handheld and a very odd looking one at that.
Very unusual and I’m not entirely sure how many buyers there’ll be for it - I reckon it’s gonna be a very niche market. No doubt it is going to work superbly but the appeal will be narrow (I think). Thomas K4SWL and John AE5X have ordered one and I’m looking forward to reading their reviews in due course, but I don’t think this is a radio I’ll ever call my own (not least of all because I’m only just starting to learn CW).
This radio came as quite a surprise announcement. No one seemed to have leaked anything about it during it's design period (which has obviously taken many months).
UPDATE : 26 Oct : Looks like someone’s happy 😊
There's one tiny thing that annoys me about Elecraft - and yes it will seem like it's a bit of a silly gripe, but it's a valid one as far as I'm concerned. When they launched their brilliant (but rather expensive) T1 ATU, they included an interface port which would link up to one of the most popular qrp radios of all time - the FT-817, but they never offered the cable!! I (and many others) have written to Elecraft Support many times asking about the lead and we always get the same negative response. How difficult would it be for them to have at least released a simple wiring diagram to allow buyers of the T1 to make up their own lead? Moan over.
73, Tom, M7MCQ
2 comments:
Good morning Tom, from reading other blogs these new Elecraft rigs are flying off the shelf. I am or was an Elecraft fan, they make a GREAT product and you can't beat the support. The KH1 bare bones is not a great deal of cash but you then have to add on's and the price goes up. As you said it's only CW and that limits sales. The "Edgewood" package is only 100.00 less than me getting an Icom 705. But that does not factor in the extra 40.00 in shipping and the possible duty at the boarder which is always hit and miss. Now the 705 has no tuner and less customer support but it does have HF, VHF, UHF and SSB. As you said in your post lets see when the rubber hits the road.
73,
Mike
VE9KK
Hi Mike, hope you are well. I’ve just been looking at some polls and the KH1 does seem to be a niche product, albeit the perfect choice for those wishing to operate pedestrian mobile on CW with 5W. I’m looking forward to hearing all about it from the early investors.
73, Tom, M7MCQ.
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