{"id":46148,"date":"2020-10-25T06:45:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:45:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/?p=46148"},"modified":"2020-10-25T06:45:22","modified_gmt":"2020-10-25T10:45:22","slug":"elecraft-kx1-back-with-my-portable-radio-companion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/elecraft-kx1-back-with-my-portable-radio-companion\/","title":{"rendered":"Elecraft KX1: Back with my portable radio companion"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

The Elecraft KX1<\/p><\/div>\n

Note: This article was first published on QRPer.com<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

A few weeks ago, I published a post about radios I’ve regretted selling or giving away<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Number one on that list was the Elecraft KX1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Within a couple hours of posting that article, I had already purchased a KX1 I found on the QTH.com classifieds<\/a>. It was, by any definition, an impulse purchase.<\/p>\n

The seller, who lives about 2 hours from my QTH, described his KX1 as the full package: a complete 3 band (40\/30\/20M) KX1 with all of the items needed to get on the air (save batteries) in a Pelican 1060<\/strong> Micro Case.<\/p>\n

The KX1 I owned in the past was a four bander (80\/40\/30\/20M) and I already double checked to make sure Elecraft still had a few of their 80\/30 module kits available (they do!<\/a>).\u00a0 I do operate 80M in the field on occasion, but I really wanted the 80\/30 module to get full use of the expanded HF receiver range which allows me to zero-beat broadcast stations and do a little SWLing while in the field.<\/p>\n

The seller shipped the radio that same afternoon and I purchased it for $300 (plus shipping) based purely on his good word.<\/p>\n

The KX1 package<\/h1>\n

I’ll admit, I was a bit nervous: I hadn’t asked all of the typical questions about dents\/dings, if it smelled of cigarette smoke, and hadn’t even asked for photos. I just had a feeling it would all be good (but please, never<\/em> follow my example here–I was drunk with excitement).<\/p>\n

Here’s the photo I took after removing the Pelican case from the shipping box and opening it for the first time:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

My jaw dropped.<\/p>\n

The seller was right: everything I needed (and more!) was in the Pelican case with the KX1. Not only that, everything was labeled. An indication that the previous owner took pride in this little radio.<\/p>\n

I don’t think the seller actually put this kit together. He bought it this way two years ago and I don’t think he ever even put it on the air based on his note to me. He sold the KX1 because he wasn’t using it.<\/p>\n

I don’t know who the original owner was, but they did a fabulous<\/em> job not only putting this field kit together, but also soldering\/building the KX1. I hope the original owner reads this article sometime and steps forward.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You might note in the photo that there’s even a quick reference sheet, Morse Code reference sheet and QRP calling frequencies list attached to the Pelican’s lid inside. How clever!<\/p>\n

I plan to replace the Morse Code sheet with a list of POTA and SOTA park\/summit references and re-print the QRP calling frequencies sheet. But other than that, I’m leaving it all as-is. This might be the only time I’ve ever purchased a “package” transceiver and not modified it in some significant way.<\/p>\n

Speaking of modifying: that 80\/30 meter module? Glad I didn’t purchase one.<\/p>\n

After putting the KX1 on a dummy load, I checked each band for output power. Band changes are made on the KX1 by pressing the “Band” button which cycles through the bands one-way. It started on 40 meters, then on to 30 meters, and 20 meters. All tested fine. Then I pressed the band button to return to 40 meters and the KX1 dived down to the 80 meter band!<\/p>\n

Turns out, this is<\/em> a four band KX1! Woo hoo! That saved me from having to purchase the $90 30\/80M kit (although admittedly, I was looking forward to building it).<\/p>\n

Photos<\/h1>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The only issue with the KX1 was that its paddles would only send “dit dah” from either side. I was able to fix this, though, by disassembling the paddles and fixing a short.<\/p>\n

Although I’m currently in the process of testing the Icom IC-705<\/strong><\/a>, I’ve taken the KX1 along on a number of my park adventures and switched it out during band changes.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Indeed, my first two contacts were made using some nearly-depleted AA rechargeables on 30 meters: I worked a station in Iowa and one in Kansas with perhaps 1.5 watts of output power–not bad from North Carolina!<\/p>\n

I’m super pleased to have the KX1 back in my field radio arsenal.<\/p>\n

I name radios I plan to keep for the long-haul, so I dubbed this little KX1 “Ruby” after one of my favorite actresses, Barbara Stanwyck<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Look for Ruby and me on the air at a park or summit near you!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Note: This article was first published on QRPer.com. A few weeks ago, I published a post about radios I’ve regretted selling or giving away. Number one on that list was the Elecraft KX1. Within a couple hours of posting that article, I had already purchased a KX1 I found on the QTH.com classifieds. It was, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[545,3,3196,5099,43],"tags":[2034,5667,4102,8869,1303,34],"class_list":["post-46148","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ham-radio","category-news","category-portable-radio","category-qrp","category-shortwave-radio","tag-elecraft","tag-elecraft-kx1","tag-ham-radio","tag-kx1","tag-qrp","tag-shortwave"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pn3uc-c0k","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":45852,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/10\/the-perils-of-radio-self-enabling\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":0},"title":"The perils of radio self-enabling…","author":"Thomas","date":"October 9, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"So the SWLing Post has been online now for twelve years and during that time I've been accused of being a \"radio enabler.\" Of course, I've never counted just how many, but I'm guessing somewhere in the region of 115,900 times. Truth is, radio love is infectious. In the past,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Elecraft-KX1-v-KX2-1.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":52930,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2022\/06\/a-little-off-line-off-grid-camping\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":1},"title":"A little off-line, off-grid camping","author":"Thomas","date":"June 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"You might have noticed a lack of posts this weekend and that would be because I was completely off-grid and off-line, camping with two good friends in Pisgah National Forest. It was brilliant, actually. I got to hang with friends I've known for over 30 years, test my new one\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Field Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Field Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/field-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Elecraft-KX1-e1654469508703.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Elecraft-KX1-e1654469508703.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Elecraft-KX1-e1654469508703.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Elecraft-KX1-e1654469508703.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/06\/Elecraft-KX1-e1654469508703.jpeg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":32508,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2018\/06\/the-evolution-of-a-radio-shack-and-parting-ways-with-my-elecraft-k2-100\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":2},"title":"The evolution of a radio shack…and parting ways with my Elecraft K2\/100","author":"Thomas","date":"June 1, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"[Update: One of our readers purchased the K2\/100! Thanks!] I freely admit it: a\u00a0lot of radios enter and exit my radio shack\u2013\u2013especially portable receivers and SDRs of all stripes.\u00a0 It's just the nature of doing gear reviews and evaluations. I also keep a fairly robust arsenal of radios here at\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Elecraft-K2-100-1024x596.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46500,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2020\/11\/a-little-qrp-radio-magic-this-weekend\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":3},"title":"A little QRP radio magic this weekend","author":"Thomas","date":"November 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"SWLing Post readers: I originally posted the following article on QRPer.com where I publish most of my ham radio field reports. It was the first full Parks On The Air activation with my recently re-acquired Elecraft KX1 transceiver and it was very memorable. I hope you enjoy: Yesterday [Saturday, November\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Field Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Field Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/field-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Elecraft-KX1-Tom-Bihn-Tray-Goruck-Bullet-POTA-QRP-BRP-K-3378-18.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Elecraft-KX1-Tom-Bihn-Tray-Goruck-Bullet-POTA-QRP-BRP-K-3378-18.jpeg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Elecraft-KX1-Tom-Bihn-Tray-Goruck-Bullet-POTA-QRP-BRP-K-3378-18.jpeg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/qrper.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Elecraft-KX1-Tom-Bihn-Tray-Goruck-Bullet-POTA-QRP-BRP-K-3378-18.jpeg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":22488,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/a-review-of-the-elecraft-kx2-general-coverage-qrp-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":4},"title":"A review of the Elecraft KX2 general coverage QRP transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"December 1, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"The following review first appeared in the November 2016 issue of The Spectrum Monitor magazine. It\u2019s not every day that I get exciting news about the production of a new radio. It was two days before the 2016 Dayton Hamvention--the day before the Four Days in May QRP conference--as I\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"elecrat-kx2-review","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Elecrat-KX2-Review-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Elecrat-KX2-Review-1024x576.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/11\/Elecrat-KX2-Review-1024x576.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":18871,"url":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/2016\/05\/the-elecraft-kx2-a-fit-in-your-pocket-size-transceiver\/","url_meta":{"origin":46148,"position":5},"title":"The Elecraft KX2 : a “Fit-In-Your-Pocket size” transceiver","author":"Thomas","date":"May 18, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Since I own the Elecraft KX3, Elecraft K2 and the Elecraft KX1, I'm excited to see that Elecraft has announced\u00a0a new addition to their product line:\u00a0the Elecraft KX2. Elecraft will feature the KX2\u00a0at Four Days In May (FDIM) and the Dayton Hamvention. I am attending vendor's night at FDIM and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Ham Radio"","block_context":{"text":"Ham Radio","link":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/category\/ham-radio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"On my way this morning to FDIM and the Dayton Hamvention.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160518_061916620_HDR.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160518_061916620_HDR.jpg?resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160518_061916620_HDR.jpg?resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/IMG_20160518_061916620_HDR.jpg?resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46148","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46148"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46148\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46148"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46148"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/swling.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46148"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}