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.

Sunspots?

With all the talk lately about sunspots, namely the lack of, I thought I'd confess something that might seem a bit unusual.

I've never been on the air during a period of high sunspot activity. Yes, that's right. Never. And I've been a ham for over 30 years.

How can this be?

First, I guess I should define what I'm referring to as "high sunspot activity". Well, I can't give you a quantitative number, like 50 or 60, or even 100. What I can say definitively is that the two periods where I've been an 'active' ham were both during sunspot minimums. And this is one of those periods. So, we're probably talking about, oh, say...zero sunspots!

And, second, I have no one to blame but myself. And work. And family. And all those other obligations that got in the way of ham radio. Oh, and moving 9 times in 6 years (long story).

So, while everyone is complaining about the lack of sunspots, or expressing their joy over a count of 15, I'll say that ignorance is bliss. Because whenever we do get some sunspots, regardless of how many, it'll be a new experience for me!

On other topics, I've been following the blog of W9OY http://w9oy-sdr.blogspot.com/ and his experiences with software defined radio, specifically the new Flex 3000. I'm extremely intrigued by this radio. For one, the price is very attractive (~$1600) and the capabilities seem out of this world for that price level. I'm not in the market for a new radio - my wife would shoot me - but if I were, this one would be right at the top of the list. I don't know how much I'd enjoy not having a tuning knob, although there are some possibilities to add a third party tuning knob. But I often use my logging program and the built-in spotting screen to tune, so the truth is, it wouldn't be that much of a departure. It is really appealing that there are no filters to buy, no additional hardware to buy for digital modes, and a large support forum. And I like the idea of being able to update the radio's capabilities nearly indefinitely. There are some drawbacks to the 3000, no receive-only antenna input, that's a bummer, although it is available on the more expensive 5000.

Also, the 3000 doesn't have a second receiver, and there is no option of adding one. Although I generally prefer using my K2 on a daily basis, it's really nice to turn on the FT-1000MP and use the second receiver to sift thru pileups and spot my transmit frequency, or find a clear spot, or keep an eye on another station simultaneously. A K3 had topped my wish list for some time now, but, the fact is, by the time you add all the options, including the second receiver, you're in a new price range altogether. And at this point, that price range is out of MY range. So for now, I'm sticking with what I have. But I've enjoyed learning more about the new 3000.