Hi all, I downloaded the manual for the new Eagle. I've always been a Ten-Tec fan, but the fact that I sold my Orion II says something about what I think of the way they have been designing stuff for a while now.
Anyway, I got only about 3 pages into the manual, and I knew I would probably hate the radio. If you just look at how you adjust power you will see one of my biggest beefs with Ten-Tec design. It's the old "multi-pot" thing (like on the Orion) all over again. I guess Ten-Tec wasn't impressed with anything I ever said critically about their process. To change power, you have to push a function key, then hit tune, then adjust power with a control. Compare that to the the K3 or K2, which is one control, and right on the front panel. I haven't even gotten to how you adjust CW keyer speed, but I bet it's the same laborious process. It's one thing to want to make a radio simple, with only a few controls, but burying adjustments in multi-step processes like this are not making a radio simple in my view! The new Eagle trumps the K2 in only a couple of instances, based on my cursory review--it is 100 watts without an added accessory, and it covers 6 meters out of the box. I won't even go into how the K2 trumps the Eagle. A K3 would be clearly superior, and for only a small price difference to add the 100 watt amp and a couple of filters. Well, maybe not a really small difference, but small enough, considering what you get. We'll have to actually see and hear the Eagle in action to really be able to evaluate it, but I already see lots of negatives. Ten-Tec has always been a good company, and I hope they have success with this radio--I don't want them going away! Somewhere in that brain trust there has to be a product that will get me excited again. I also hope Eric isn't too quick to squash this thread. I think it is a good thing to draw comparisons to different radios. Ten-Tec may be focusing more on the new Kenwood, as someone suggested, but I think Elecraft has a big bullseye on it's forhead, and so far, everyone is using a bow with a 15 pound pull when something much, much bigger is required. Dave W7AQK ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
