QMX 20-15-10 meters with promising SSB support looks more interesting for me than KH1.
Also I did not find any information about SWR meter.
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Hi Armin,.
I like your comment on CW. The new radio is certain to be a good performer. It is a complete package. Elecraft tend to be 30% more expensive than alternatives. The KX2:is similarly expensive but again everything integrated in one small box.
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I would have trouble decoding let alone sending CW while walking these days.
73
Ron
VK3AFW
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It was said that the KH1 will initially come onto the European market exclusively as a kit.
A kit does not require an EU certificate, at least in HB9 - i.e. the responsibility for compliance with the technical requirements during use lies with the licensed radio amateur.
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Gosh there’s a lot of negativity in this thread. Sometimes I think radio amateurs are an odd bunch of people.
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Me too… then we’re probably not the target group 
73 Armin
The word you are looking for is “neurodivergent”, this is the modern buzzword in DE&I circles. There are more accurate and quite earthy words to describe us.
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Hi Armin,
Yes, that struck me as well, in this age where every new radio has to be an SDR, have a waterfall display and be able to send FT8, this “designed purely for CW” TRX was a surprise.
I will never buy or use one as I am not a CW operator but hats off to Elecraft for NOT following trends and rather building a tool for a specific job.
73 Ed DD5LP.
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Yes I think if we set aside for one moment the arguments on price, the circuit description from the owners manual offers a glimse into some interesting design decisions:
- the use of a superhet receiver instead of SDR, with an advertised power consumption (no sigs) of 50-70mA as a consequence. I suspect it will also ‘sound nice’ if you are a fan of analogue radios.
- the use of a TO-220 cased PA transistor instead of a bunch of BS170s. The advertised specs claim an infinite SWR tolerance - I guess we’ll find out over time if this is born out by users. But I like the sound of a more robust PA and the wider external supply voltage range.
- re-using the KX2 battery pack and, from the description what sounds like the similar in-situ trickle charger. On the KX2 I’ve found this ‘top-up’ charger to be really useful when out in the campervan - no need to have bits of KX2 lying around in the evening whilst charging the battery, the on-board charger works really well.
On the KX groups . io forum Wayne posted:
Our newest radio has been optimized over the past year with the help of experienced SOTA, POTA, and QRP field operators. Its small size and high level of integration have already transformed their expeditions, allowing operation from anywhere, anytime. (One operated /PM for many hours during 2023 Field Day, making contacts exclusively with the attached whip, while walking several miles.)
I hope that once their NDAs expire, we might hear some interesting updates from the SOTA people who have been using this radio.
Jonathan
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Sorry for the negativity Jonathan! I suppose for my part, it’s just frustration. I swallowed the $500 hint, hook, line and sinker. I was willing to dream that I could actually have the possibility of buying an Elecraft rig, but it’s turned out to be not the case. Right product, wrong economics.
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Hey, thats OK Colin, it wasn’t just you! I understand totally (I’d love a K4 but it ain’t going to happen!!), so for now its interesting to poke inside the KH1 documents and get a glimpse on how it works. I’m also quite greatful that there’s manufacturers out there still able to cater for our wierd interest of taking radio gear to hilltops and beeping away to our distant friends 
Oh and all my Elecraft radios have been bought secondhand, so this will be available eventually.
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I just realized I misread the KH1 stats! It’s not 7oz, it’s 13oz fully loaded—-I believe that’s the same weight as an unloaded KX2?!?!
So no lighter than a KX2 and you lose a few HF bands and you lose AM/FM/SSB/DATA TX AND you are down 3db on TX vs a 10w KX2? Oh and an unloaded KX2 looks cheaper than a loaded KH1?
I guess a KX2 with tuner weighs slightly more than a KH1, but still—that’s a lot to give up vs a KX2.
73,
Tom, N2YTF
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My lack of enthusiasm for it is based on comparison with venus sw-3b and qmx
Sure, the rx will probably be better on yhe kh1, but for most use cases this is irrelevant. Most uses for this radio do not require a fantastic rx.
So a fully loaded kh1 is around an order of magnitude more expensive than a venus sw-3b (with a homebrew battery pack and antenna).
I would be very pleased to pay a little over £500 for an upmarket cw only rig designed for /p and with lots of features, but the kh1 is a silly price and not quite fitting with the features i would want.
If i am walking about I will be using a 2m HT
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Good point. Even receiving CW and logging takes 100% of my brain power. I couldn’t multi-task and walk avoiding obstacles, etc. But they use the term “pedestrian portable” so maybe they imply the operator is stationary during QSOs.
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Remove the word “wannabe” 
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The term “mobile” in amateur radio does NOT imply you are actually in motion.
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I know that (and I think you know Andy that I know that).
My point was that maybe Elecraft chose ‘pedestrian-portable’ rather than ‘pedestrian-mobile’ as some might interpret the latter as meaning 'walk ‘n talk’ or in this case 'walk ‘n key’. Just speculating.
I know you know because I know you can walk and chew gum at the same time 
There are many who struggle with differences between portable and mobile and invent statements confirming that are not capable of walking and chewing gum at the same time by using expressions like “static mobile” 
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… yes, for older and somewhat clumsy fingers, for example, slightly larger dimensions would be very welcome.
Who knows, maybe the target group of older users will soon become an interesting market segment too, hi.
Until that happens, my needs for a portable lightweight station are well covered by the MTR3B-LCD for the 40/30/20 m bands.
For more bands and a higher output power, the KX2 and KX3 are still completely sufficient for me.
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I used this back in the 70’s for when operating from a non-moving car with the radio inside the car and the antenna mounted to the car. One configuration may have been a converted Pye mobile radio on 2 metres AM and a Halo antenna fastened to the roof rack parked on top of a small hill.
Why not just “portable” - well you could drive off and keep operating and then you would be mobile. Portable in those days meant operating away from the car, usually with a tent and a mast and antenna (and possibly a generator).
Nowadays in most countries you no longer need to say Portable (/P) or Mobile (/M) in any case but some people like the term “Pedestrian Mobile” or “Bicycle Mobile” even if they are static somewhere - so - as long as they’re happy - so be it (as long as the regulator of the country allows “any” suffix optionally after the call sign - some only allow /M and /P).
73 Ed.