Wilcox Engineering

Some months ago, I posted the addition of the K8RA paddles to my K2-5373 at the bottom of the K2 page. Not to leave well enough alone, I decided to revisit PSK31 in this new upstairs location. Motivation: I bought a new Apple MacBook Pro, and it was begging me to hook it to the K2.

Fifty years ago I designed and built a tube keyer to replace my Vibroplex. Then a transistor keyer. All this before the iambic keyers came along. As Murphy's Law would have it, I learned a unique keying mode that became a technical orphan.

During the last few months, I've been doing more work building and servicing the radios from Small Wonder Labs.

The one that I've seen the most is the popular 20-meter model, and I'll describe the build compared with the Elecraft kits. There's no mistaking that this is different: the parts are kitted up individually or packed by value and labeled clearly. That made inventory quick and easy. The build instructions are grouped by function in the radio (like mixer, audio amplifier, etc), and that makes it easy to see how the pieces fit together. And speaking of easy, Mychael Morohovich (the Toroid Guy, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) winds the SWL toroids, which takes care of a big hassle.

Steve, KC2VNI, sent me some project boxes to build him a couple portable battery packs ... something that would go nicely with the SWL Rock-Mite. The primary concerns were weight and the amount of time that the radio would be used for RX and TX. Here's the result, a project you can build too if you like the concept.