On 12/9/2010 11:34 PM, Ed Muns wrote: > What's right or wrong about the K3 manual is largely personal > preference. Some people want a training manual on radio usability. Others > know how radios work and simply need to know the specific K3 details.
I think most K3 users want to know 1) What functions, adjustments, and settings the radio has 2) where to find controls for those functions, adjustments and settings 3) the nature of specialized adjustments (like AGC) that are available and how those adjustments affect how the radio works in a given application 4) A well organized table listing functions, adjustments, and settings, and where to find them, both in the manual and on the radio IMO, the primary shortcoming of Elecraft documentation is that it is organized by "where the controls are" (the menus), rather than the function itself. This shortcoming could be overcome without a major rewrite, simply by adding a GOOD index. As an experienced K3 user, I'm often answering questions about "how find a control" that should be obvious but isn't. The second most asked question is, "why is the radio doing something I don't expect?", which often happens when the user has unintentionally operated a control that set the rig in a different mode (like TX TEST). For example, NI6T, a VERY experienced operator and retired EE, called me to ask, "how in hell do I get this radio in split mode so I can call a DX station?" Yes, it's easy, but the manual sure doesn't help. The other major shortcoming of the documentation is that it fails to tell you things you need to know about the details of how something works. For example, that if the rig is in VOX mode, breathing into the mic will stop DVR playback. This is CRITICAL information, yet you don't learn it until you buy a DVR, plug it into the radio, and try to use it during a contest, at which time you find it is useless if you want to use VOX. 73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ 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
