Exactly, great summary and very well stated Gary - 73 Steve W5JK On Jan 16, 2013, at 3:24 PM, Gary Gregory wrote:
> I have read all the posts to date and FWIW I have this personal view. > > All the major manufacturers make Fun transceivers. By this I mean many here > in VK simply use amateur radio on 40/80M daily to chat with friends and > acquaintances on a daily basis and do little if no other operation and > therefore many use older transceivers and enjoy what they do obviously. > Then there are those who for whatever reason feel a need to have a 'new' > transceiver, be it high end or low varies greatly but they too appear to be > having fun with their chosen transceiver. > > I have also listened to 'other' operators who seem to want a technically > superior transceiver and will not be put off by a higher dollar value if > they are convinced that their choice of model/manufacturer will give them > what they perceive to be the best transceiver. Then there are those that > are Brand Loyalist and by this I mean it must be from one manufacturer that > they feel is the only one that does it right and all others fall short. > > Finally there is the group of avid contesters who often don't care what the > brand is but they do care greatly what the receiver can do for them and > they are results oriented and usually do not swap transceivers all that > often when compared to the 'other' style of operators I mentioned above. > > > I have had many and varied models/brands over the years too and I am a DX > chaser and part time contester as I enjoy the personal challenge of > contesting but I do not participate in every contest. I have had some > 'dogs' along the way too as well as a couple of the so called high dollar > models and when I discovered Elecraft by accident (fat finger web browsing) > and the soon to be released K3 I wondered what all the hue and cry was > about. I dove in early and have never been more happy with a choice. Is it > fun for me to use my K3...you betcha sweet bippy it is. > > I don't vary my settings very often at all and yet I was told just the > other day by a "Collins Owner/Lover" that he thought the K3 was 'too > fiddly' to use. He sat down on 40M with my K3 hooked to his 40M beam and > worked several EU stations and a few NA stations and announced that he > thought it was not nearly as difficult as he had first thought. He never > once objected to the lively receiver and enjoyed the Hi/Lo Cut settings and > he didn't even whine about the small speaker some have commented on. He had > me reset the RX EQ for his ears and I thought it sounded better than the > external speaker he uses with his Collins gear. All of this is of course > purely subjective on my part. > > My opinion is certainly biased otherwise I would not be posting this, > however, I just wanted to say I have fun every time I turn the K3 on and > hear the bands occupied. My idea of fun is to wave the aluminum in the air > around a bit till I find another operator wanting to have a chat. A one on > one for an hour, a pileup into EU, 24 hours in a contest...it doesn't > matter for me, I reckon I am having fun every time I hit the Power > button(s) on the K-Line and that is what it's all about...for me. > > I have wasted a lot of money over the years looking for a 'keeper' and > Elecraft and the K-Line have done what no other previous choice I made has > done and now I can really have Fun on a daily basis operating what I now > see as a simple to use transceiver. Yes I agree with those who suggested > the learning curve can be steep for some. There are those I am sure who > tried a K3 and just didn't 'get it' and moved on to yet another > transceiver. Sadly, we do make mistakes or let ourselves down by not being > more determined to try all the features of a new transceiver over time. > Many jump to an early belief and never get passed that point and so for > them the search goes on. > > Like many I suspect, I have been fortunate to have had my K3 long enough > that it has proved it's worth every day with many contacts and for that I > am thankful to Wayne, Eric and all the fine engineers both at Elecraft and > those who contribute to them. Thanks to all. > > 73 > Gary > -- > *Gary - VK1ZZ > Motorhome Portable > The Shack* > *Elecraft K3 > P3 Panadapter > KPA500FT > KAT500FT** > KX3-K > * > ______________________________________________________________ > 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
