OK, per advice from others in this newsgroup, I am beginning my search
for a good Collins KWM-2A.

From others' descriptions here, I prefer the -2A over the straight -2.

My understanding is that it comes with either a strap-on-the-back
power supply or a separate power supply. In my case the
strap-on-the-back version would be preferable but not necessary. If
there is a 12-volt DC version of the strap-on-the-back power supply,
that would also be helpful but not necessary (I plan to run it from a
110-VAC inverter if I have to).

If you have one for sale, please send mail to
with a description of condition, accessories included, and ASKING
PRICE, and I'll do my level best to dig your e-mail out from under the
huge mountain of spam that that mailbox receives every day. But, your
mail still might get lost, so if you don't hear from me in a couple of
days, please try again.

(Maybe someday all of the spammers will be sent to that special corner
of Hell that's reserved for them, and we won't have to go through all
this nonsense...)

The closer you are to New England, the better. If you're in New
England or the mid-Atlantic states as far south as North Carolina and
as far west as Ohio, please let me know where the closest
general-aviation airport is, and let me know whether you can come to
the airport and get me.

Thanks and 73

Rick WA1RKT
New Hampshire

wrote:
OK, per advice from others in this newsgroup, I am beginning my search
for a good Collins KWM-2A.

snip

Rick originally said he wanted SSB plus c.w. capability.
The KWM-2 is a fine SSB transceiver, but it's c.w.
operation is the pits. It keys an audio oscillator
(about 1.5 KHz)into the mic circuits to generate c.w.,
resulting in "artifacts": the (suppressed) carrier,
and a weak keyed c.w. spur 3 KHz below the main
keyed c.w. output. Unless you have perfect-pitch hearing,
it is impossible to zero beat someone on c.w.
using a KWM-2. Also, there is only the 2.1 KHz wide
mechanical filter, no additional c.w. filter provision.

Lack of RIT (receiver incremental tuning) is another
show-stopper on c.w. You must listen to the other
fellow's signal with a 1.5 KHz tone, if you wish
to be near zero beat. Most ops prefer to listen
to a lower pitch, about 700 Hz.

73,
Ed K4PF

Even on phone...that half the band on one switch setting and half on the
other is
extremely inconvenient. Perhaps it did not matter for military/MARS use, but
for the
average ham....the Collins is built nice, but a SB102 does so much
more...and a good TR4 is light years ahead of it!!
....Dave
"Edward Knobloch" wrote in message
...


wrote:
OK, per advice from others in this newsgroup, I am beginning my search
for a good Collins KWM-2A.

snip

Rick originally said he wanted SSB plus c.w. capability.
The KWM-2 is a fine SSB transceiver, but it's c.w.
operation is the pits. It keys an audio oscillator
(about 1.5 KHz)into the mic circuits to generate c.w.,
resulting in "artifacts": the (suppressed) carrier,
and a weak keyed c.w. spur 3 KHz below the main
keyed c.w. output. Unless you have perfect-pitch hearing,
it is impossible to zero beat someone on c.w.
using a KWM-2. Also, there is only the 2.1 KHz wide
mechanical filter, no additional c.w. filter provision.

Lack of RIT (receiver incremental tuning) is another
show-stopper on c.w. You must listen to the other
fellow's signal with a 1.5 KHz tone, if you wish
to be near zero beat. Most ops prefer to listen
to a lower pitch, about 700 Hz.

73,
Ed K4PF

And then there is the direct competitor to the KWM-2(A)... Hallicrafters
wonderful late model SR-400A.... arguably a better receiver... also has
Teflon wire etc... great audio and useful CW and a CW filter. But perhaps
even harder to find then a good KWM-2A.

I have a great example on my web page.... see sig line.

Mike, W9WIS

--
Michael Melland, W9WIS
Winneconne, Wisconsin USA EN54pc
qrp-l #1656 - qrparci # 9875 - iparc #252
ars #1075 - http://webpages.charter.net/w9wis/

On Sun, 07 Sep 2003 15:56:14 GMT, Edward Knobloch
wrote:

Rick originally said he wanted SSB plus c.w. capability.
The KWM-2 is a fine SSB transceiver, but it's c.w.
operation is the pits. It keys an audio oscillator
(about 1.5 KHz)into the mic circuits to generate c.w.,

Now that you mention it, I remember that. That always struck me as
rather lame for a radio that was supposed to be the Cadillac of its
time.

For the purposes of this exercise, SSB is more important to me than
CW, though CW is also a factor ... maybe I should re-think this.

I didn't mention it before (because I didn't think of it) but
reliability is also a factor. Now, I never had any trouble with my
NCX-5 or my HW-101 or SBE-34 or Heath MT-1/MR-1 combo or the Swan I
had (don't remember now which model, might have been the 260 or 270),
but at the time everybody was saying how much more reliable the
Collins was than any of the others.

Rick WA1RKT

... If
there is a 12-volt DC version of the strap-on-the-back power supply,
that would also be helpful but not necessary (I plan to run it from a
110-VAC inverter if I have to).

But your inverter will almost certainly be
solid-state, which defeats the whole purpose
of the all-tube rig!

73, John - K6QQ

On Sun, 7 Sep 2003 19:30:39 -0700, "John Moriarity"
wrote:

... If
there is a 12-volt DC version of the strap-on-the-back power supply,
that would also be helpful but not necessary (I plan to run it from a
110-VAC inverter if I have to).

But your inverter will almost certainly be
solid-state, which defeats the whole purpose
of the all-tube rig!

My hope is that the heavy-duty power components in an inverter will
withstand an EMP better than the signal-level components in a radio.

Of course many modern inverters have low-power control circuits to
control frequency and such, so my analysis probably fails on that
score alone.

I still don't have this all thought out completely, yet.

Rick WA1RKT