I assume by now everyone’s heard about the new Elecraft KH1 handheld transceiver. Offical Website Wayne N6KR is not a SOTA op, but he seems to know exactly what SOTA ops want.

I was able to hold one and play around a little at Pacificon today. Definitely a nice radio. Most of the internal volume is a giant battery. Due to space limitations, he said not to expect any other bands. But 40-15 is the sweet spot for QRP HF. Lightweight, and even with the whip extended doesn’t feel heavy. Probably the closest thing the ham community has to an HT for HF, so far. I wouldn’t mind having one; N6KR is a great salesman and engineer. I’m sure there are videos out showing it in action by now. We timed him going from packed to ready to transmit, it took him about 22 seconds. Most of that time was unwinding and tossing out the counterpoise wire.

The receiver is a superhet, similar to the MTR or KX1. Transmitter puts out 5W. There are two antenna connectors, BNC and the screw for the whip, and you can choose between them. Its not really shown in the manual, but there’s a little “catch” to hold the end of the counterpoise wire when it’s wrapped around the radio to keep it nice.