The weight of rigs from Japan has more to do with the choice of steel for the chassis instead of aluminum, and certainly the size of the TS-990 is the right size for many people. But another observation is that when you look at the schematic diagrams of Japanese rigs they are unbelievably complicated. There are easily ten times as many paths, components, connectors, and devices as the typical American rig, making it extremely difficult to follow signal flow on these enormously dense circuits. When I first obtained an Elecraft K2, I couldn't believe how simple it was. The schematic looked pretty much like the occasional homebrew transceiver you see in QST, and yet the specs were every bit as good as Japanese rigs costing (and weighing) way more. I have always wondered whether Japanese transceivers are way over-engineered-- and thus more expensive, heavier, and larger-- than they have to be.
Al W6LX ______________________________________________________________ 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
