All those kits I never built

I can't help but wonder if I was the reason Heathkit went out of business. Each year, without fail, I would send in that card requesting a new catalog and each year I would pour over it in wonder but would never buy anything. It must of cost a fortune to send catalog-after-catalog to kids like me who would never, could never, actually order something.

My town was small and there were no hams, no Elmers, to guide us (that we knew of, anyway) so looking through the catalog was occasionally like reading ancient Greek. Some of the items in the catalog were self-explanatory: like the radio in the lunch box. Others were downright mystifying: a dummy load?

Of all the things in the catalog, I confess I was fascinated with the "Cantenna" (dummy load). It was, in simple truth, one of the only things I could have possibly afforded so I racked my brain trying to think what such a magical device might have done. Thank goodness I never bought one. Imagine my disappointment upon receiving a large paint can and little else!

My interest was high but my pockets were empty in those days. And, even seemingly simple tasks like locating a galena crystal to make the radio described in the Boy Scout manual was beyond what the adults in my life could provide or indeed comprehend. I built things, simple thing, things that perhaps looked amazing to that small-town audience then, but are laughable now.

College came, then exposure to books -- and more importantly, people -- knowledgeable and experienced, that finally provided me with access to a world where electrical engineering and computer science could be taught and learned. Heathkit was waning now, its hay-day past. Even so, I managed to order one kit and build it: an oscilloscope to support my homebrew computer I was designing for an independent study class one summer just prior to graduation. At 5 MHz it was pathetically slow compared to today's offerings but it was sufficient to help me debug the 4 MHz Z80-based computer I had wire wrapped, front-panel toggle-switches and all.

The scope took about 3 weeks to assemble and every moment was nerve racking. What if it didn't work? Not only would I have wasted the $289 (which exhausted my savings and then some) to buy it, but it would have hampered progress on the computer I was building, too! In the end, it did work and it was instrumental in helping me debug the wire-wrapped set of boards in my peanut-size microcomputer.

Perhaps my purchase finally did square my account with the good folks at Heathkit. Still, I wonder how many other kids received a decade of catalogs never to make a purchase. If only I had kept one or two of those catalogs. What fun I would have paging through one now!

The journey is the reward

What Heathkit understood, as did those of us who built kits back then, was that there is a deep satisfaction building something that you'll later use. Heathkit is gone and people do not build televisions or organs from kits anymore, but others have taken Heathkit's place and brought kit building to a level that Heathkit could have only imagined.

Elecraft is now the premiere maker of kits for amateur radio. They have three radios they sell as kits: the K1, the K2, and the KX1. I have built them all. One of the wonderful things about Elecraft radios is not only are they extremely rewarding to build, but you also have a top-notch radio to operate when you're done. The Elecraft K2 is one of the most respected radio receivers around today. When you operate, you have the satisfaction that you are using something you made with your own two hands. It is joyous.

Below is the story of four of these radios. Yes: four.

The K1

This is the results of my first Elecraft adventure. It is a K1 serial number 01460 and it is a beauty. Four bands (40/30/20/17m) and the tilt stand made this as easy to operate as any commercial off-the-shelf offering.

In a bout of frustration and dispair over my antenna situation in my condo, I sold this radio to a fellow who wanted to get it into the hands of an older ham who really wanted one, but no longer had the hands, or the eyes, to build it himself. I sleep easy knowing it went to a good home but regretted almost immediately parting with it. That mistake was corrected in the Spring of 2006 as Sandy gave me with a Valentine's day present: K1 serial number 02168. Now that's true love all the way around!

The KX1

The KX1 is a "trail friendly" radio. It is small enough to fit into your pocket yet has many features a full-sized rig might have: multiple bands (20/30/40m), internal antenna tuner, DDS tuning, and even a little lamp to illuminate your log book. A place for internal batteries makes this idea for use while hiking or even on a business trip as a throw-in to your bag.

The kit has one blemish from a momemt of carelessness on my part: the AF knob (volume control) touched my soldering iron and has a small, ravaged and melted spot. It is a testament to how elegant these kit are that such a small, stupid mistake can seem so large.

Rich (AB1HD), a friend from the local club, read this bit above about my reckless moment with the soldering iron and contacted Elecraft on my behalf. One day, while having a nice lunch with me, Rich surprised me with a replacement potentiometer. The new part is now installed (though the old part did not come out easily!) and the rig now looks as pretty as any you'll see. It was an extremely nice gesture and one I won't forget.

This radio, like its bigger brothers the K1 and K2, puts out very little power. In fact, this one emits about 2 watts on transmit. Imagine: less power than a night-light and you can talk around the world with it! I did just that, working a station in Italy on 2.2 watts. That contact was good enough to earn me the "1000 miles per watt" award from the QRP Amateur Radio Club International. The final tally was 1680 miles per watt!

The K2

The K2 is the top-of-the-line Elecraft offering covering all the high frequency amateur radio bands 80m-10m (and even 160m with an additional board). It puts out 10-12 watts of power, putting you within an S-unit or two of the 100 watt commercial off-the-shelf brands.

Make no mistake: this is a big kit. Or, perhaps I should say, this is a big set of kits as the basic radio may be augmented with add-ons like a DSP, noise blanker, internal battery, SSB option, internal intenna tuner, and more. I have all those mentioned above built into my K2 and couldn't be more pleased.

My first contact with the radio was Bogata, Columbia on 20m, connecting with a fellow I'd had serveral QSOs with before, John (HK3AK). I got a good signal report with a nice comment on the audio. Nicely done given some of the connections were still warm from soldering!

The time I spent building this radio was some of the most rewarding time I've had with the hobby. If you are already an accomplished kit builder, try this one. Yes, this joy doesn't come cheap--but it also doesn't get any better than this.

The K1 (reprise)

This is what you get when Elecraft's parcel arrives: just a plain white box chaulked full of little pink envelopes. Sandy was kind enough to replace my K1 with this new kit.

The manual is both an exquisite assembly guide and the operating manual. Don't take my word for it; check out this quote from the former chief engineer of Heath:

Mike Elliot, W8KRR: "My son, KC8MIG, built a K1 and was very impressed. As the ex-chief engineer of Heath, may I offer my congratulations for a kit job well done -- and I should know!"

Assembly of this new radio was done November 9-11, 2007. I like to take my time when building these radios, lavishing in the experience. Figure on spending about 40 hours for the assembly of the basic radio with the backlight and four band filter. Add-ons like the automatic antenna tuner should be assembled and integrated only after you are sure the basic radio is working properly.