Elecraft
| Elecraft | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1998 |
| Founders | Wayne Burdick, N6KR, and Eric Swartz, WA6HHQ |
| Headquarters | Watsonville, California |
| Manufacturing | Assembled at the Watsonville headquarters |
| Amateur radio | |
| Known for | HF transceivers sold as kits or factory-built; compact portable radios |
| Transceivers | K2, K3 and K3S, K4, KX3, KX2, KH1 |
| Other products | KPA500 and KPA1500 amplifiers, KAT500 tuner, P3 panadapter, portable antennas |
| Status | Active |
| Today | |
| Website | elecraft.com |
Elecraft is an American manufacturer of amateur radio equipment, known mainly for its HF transceivers and for selling many of them as kits as well as factory-assembled radios. Founded in 1998 by Wayne Burdick, N6KR, and Eric Swartz, WA6HHQ, it is based in Watsonville, California, where its products are assembled. Its radios range from the small, battery-powered KX2 and handheld KH1 for portable operating to the K4 base station.
History
The company says its roots go back to Field Day, and its designs have aimed to combine high performance with portability. Its first product, the K2, was an HF transceiver prototyped in 1997 and in full production in early 1999. It was sold as a kit that buyers soldered together themselves, and it remains available as a kit. Small QRP (low-power) CW rigs designed for backpacking followed: the K1 and, in 2003, the KX1. Both have since been discontinued.
The K3, announced in 2007 and introduced in 2008, was a 100-watt HF and 6-meter transceiver built around digital signal processing. It was offered either assembled or as a kit that went together with hand tools and no soldering. The K3S replaced it in 2015, and many of its improvements could be fitted to older K3s.
A new generation of portable radios began with the KX3 of 2012, a software-defined transceiver covering 160 through 6 meters that is operated from its own front panel, with no computer needed. The KX2, introduced at the Dayton Hamvention in 2016, packs most of the KX3's features into a radio about half the size. The K4, Elecraft's current base-station transceiver, was first shown in 2019; shipping was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic and began in 2021. In 2023 the company introduced the KH1, a five-band handheld CW station.
Amateur radio products
- Base-station transceivers. The K4 has a touchscreen and a built-in panadapter display, and it can be operated over a network with the K4/0 remote control panel; see Remote operation. The K3S, which the K4 replaced, went out of production in 2019. Many Elecraft radios are designed as part of a matched "K-Line" of transceiver, amplifier and tuner.
- Portable transceivers. The KX2 covers 80 through 10 meters at up to about 10 watts and the KX3 adds 160 and 6 meters, and both are often seen on Summits on the Air and Parks on the Air activations. The KH1 is small enough to be held in one hand while operating.
- Kits. The K2 is still sold as a full kit, and Elecraft offers several smaller kits and accessories for builders; see Homebrewing.
- Amplifiers, tuners and accessories. The KPA500 is a 500-watt solid-state amplifier, and the KPA1500, introduced in 2017, is a 1,500-watt amplifier with a built-in wide-range antenna tuner covering 160 through 6 meters. The KAT500 is an automatic tuner, and the KXPA100 raises the KX-series radios to 100 watts. Elecraft also sells panadapters, wattmeters and the AX series of compact portable antennas.