Where's all the K2's?

Best I can tell, the Elecraft K3 was offered for sale back in April of 2007. That seems about right. I know that they had a deal where you placed an order then waited (and waited) for your radio to arrive. I saw recently on their site where they've caught up to the backlog and if you order now they can ship your radio right away.

Judging from the comments I've read and heard, it's a terrific radio that continues to just get better and better. Sure, I've heard some gripes, but I've not heard anyone say that they've been disappointed and want their money back. But this isn't about how great the K3 is, it's about the K2.

Now that the K3 is starting to become plentiful, where are all the K2's for sale? I figured that many hams would be selling their K2's in order to finance their new, shiny K3's. Or maybe they'd decide to go in another direction and buy one of the other spiffy new offerings from other manufacturers. So I figured we'd start to see a bunch of K2's for sale.

So where are they? I'm not an ebay junkie, but I regularly check for various radios, especially the K2, and over the past year I don't think I've ever seen more than 2 for sale at any one time. And those commanded a pretty darn good price, I might add. In fact, right now there's none for sale. At least I couldn't find any. If you look for any other radios, even some oddball ones, they generally show up. So what's up with the K2?

Well, I thought about that and here's what I've come up with. Owning one myself, I think that most folks consider it to be an excellent radio. I know I certainly do. That alone makes it hard to part with.

Next, I think people are reluctant to part with them because they built the radio themselves. After putting in all that effort, soldering parts, winding torroids, pouring through the thick manual, troubleshooting, calibrating - you get the picture - it's hard to sell something that you actually put together. Why it'd be like selling your first born.

Also, I think the folks who did buy the K3 or any other radio find that the K2 is a great second rig. Or its just perfect for field day or a trek to the beach or mountains. Or maybe it took back the number one position when the new radio wasn't up to snuff? Or in the end, the new radio wasn't any better after all?

Maybe they just can't part with the mojo?

Whatever the reason, I think it's curious and a real testimony to what a great radio it is.

On a completely unrelated note, as anyone who reads this knows, I travel a great deal for my job. I end up staying in a variety of places, some remote, some in the middle of good-sized cities. I am constantly amazed at how poor the wireless internet coverage is in most hotels. I find myself ecstatic when I check into somewhere and discover that they have wired access available. In writing this short enty, I've struggled to maintain a signal, despite being able to see the wireless access point from my room.