Wishful thinking? Yeah, probably, for the same reason Elecraft doesn't want to get into the power supply business. There is a HUGE amount of "closely-held magic" in both the precision oscillator and in the GPS disciplined-oscillator business. Elecraft would have to devote Engineering resources to develop a product that others already have on the market with volume production, but aimed at a niche market with a predisposition to low-end pricing. The percentage of hams that actually NEED a precision reference oscillator in their radio (for other than bragging rights) is a small number, indeed.
You can buy 3 or 4 used Thunderbolts today for the cost of a new one - and likely 3 out of the 4 will work perfectly for this application. Throw away the bad one, keep a good one, and advertise the other two on the Elecraft reflector ;-) 73, geo - n4ua On Thu, Apr 14, 2011 at 11:30 AM, Roy Morris <[email protected]> wrote: > Presently it seems that the Trimble Thunderbolt is the only reasonably > priced reference oscillator available. When ordering one of these you are > taking a chance as they are refurbished and shipped from China. Some of > these units are better than others depending on serial number. Again, you > are taking a chance with what is shipped to you. > Since the K3EXREF is being offered, a logical next step would be to produce > an external reference oscillator. I hope Elecraft is developing one. Is > this wishful thinking? Roy Morris W4WFB > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > ______________________________________________________________ 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
