Station Equipment

As of April, 2009, my station is divided into 3 pieces - HF, 6M and 2M.  The primary radio for both HF and 6M is the Elecraft K3.  I have previously owned various Yaesu radios, a TenTec Orion II and finally, the K3.  The following is my opinion.  Performance wise, the Orion and the K3 are roughly equivalent - I'm not sure I am competent enough to tell them apart, once they are set up properly.  But setting them up is the issue - the Orion was complicated to adjust for optimum operation, while the K3 is very intuitive.  And since conditions vary with propagation, signals on the band, whether you are contesting or DXing, you constantly need to readjust the radio.  It was too hard with the Orion.  Neither the K3 nor the Orion have all the bells and whistles that come on a FT-2000 for example.  But both of them are a delight to listen to under weak signal and very strong signal conditions.  Of course, there are lots of other differences - size is one.  If you have large fingers, you probably won't like the K3.  And the difference between the customer support between the 2 companies is significant.  TenTec used to have reputation for listening to it's customers - as far as I could tell, they have grown deaf.  You can get an answer to a technical question from the K3 design team virtually 24 hours a day via their email reflector.

On HF, the K3 drives an Alpha 91B.  Alpha is another company that I enjoy doing business with - their customer support has been superb, although I haven't had much chance to test it.  I have an old Heathkit SB200 as a backup HF amp.  I'm using an Ameritron ATR-30 antenna tuner which has been a workhorse - no problems.

On 6M, the K3 drives a Linear Amp UK 1500 watt amplifier.  Linear Amp UK was acquired by Elite Interfaces Ltd. in 2008 and I may have received that last amplifier built by the original owners.  The amp has been working very well and it is built like a tank.

My 2M station is primarily for ARES/RACES use and is currently FM only.

I have an FT100D as a backup HF radio and mobile rig.  I expect to use it during the summer of 2009 for some grid square expeditions into Nevada, Montana and Utah - more on those trips after they occur.