I agree the K3S fills in most all of the shortcomings of the early and even later K3's. That's why I purchased a K3S. After almost 3 years now of daily usage, it is now at Elecraft for updates.
I'm very satisfied with the excellent performance and the ability to customize a radio to my preferences. I'll pass on the assortment of "cookie cutter" radios from other companies. 73 Bob, K4TAX Sent from my iPhone > On May 19, 2018, at 3:31 PM, Stefan von Baltz, DL1IAO <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Hello Ken & Bob (callsign?), > > I’m very sorry that you and others seem to feel annoyed because of the K4 > discussion. This was not my intention but I’m a bit disappointed that this > quickly drifted off into a 'so why did you buy an Elecraft product' debate > instead of discussing things more objectively. > > Someone was asking about a K4 and I just started to think out loud what in my > eyes would perfect the K3S or even justify a new model. This was not meant as > criticism. However, my points did not come 'out of the blue' as I and others > have been collecting notes since the K3 hit the market. Back then and after > careful evaluation of an early model we just silently went with another > product. Since then many issues have been addressed making the upgraded > K3/K3S a mature product, and my list has shrunken to the aforementioned > points. It now seemed appropriate to articulate them. > > I’m not expecting at all that someone will build a radio to my personal > needs. Most of it is subjective and debatable, anyway. But we all would agree > that time moves on and it does make sense to help such a responsive company > like Elecraft with new ideas which they might consider for future products. > As a long-time reader of this list I understand that it has been this way all > the time and hence I don’t feel it is wrong to mention possible improvements. > > It is absolutely fine if you are happy with your early serial number K3. > However, there may be issues you are not aware of and for good reason > Elecraft has come out with upgrades. One example is the CW timing issue of > the K3 with the old synthesizer as mentioned earlier: > http://lists.f5mzn.org/pipermail/support/2013-November/083384.html > http://mldxcc.org/n6tv-k3.pdf > > There are still a few CW signals on the bands, even highly respected and > successful contesters, which can be recognized by their choppy keying. If you > are not into CW faster than about 32 WPM this is not an issue. But an early > serial number K3 is not an immaculate radio. > > As stated by others Rob Sherwood measures just some aspects of the rigs > performance. These do matter if you are into serious DX-contesting with big > antennas. But there are other technical and operational aspects which are not > covered and he never intended to do so. > > Getting back to the first two points of my list which unintentionally > contained a comparison with newer ICOM rigs: > > - Yes, to me it is amazing how ICOM does it, but the NR really works > excellent and everybody else who has operated an IC-7851 will agree. > > - ICOMs APF is easier to understand: It is basically a DSP audio filter with > preselectable bandwidths of 80/160 or 320Hz in context with a 0-6db > amplifier. This makes it useful as a quick option to emphasize a weak or > disturbed signal. Elecrafts APF in contrast has a fixed 30Hz bandwidth and is > more suitable to emphasize a very weak signal when you have the time to tune > it in. The ability to select both APF paradigms would be awesome. But again, > this is debatable. > > Having said that, I love my K3S and although it took a few years it has now > become my preferred CW rig. > > > 73, > > Stefan DL1IAO, SA3CWW/SM9A > > > -- > Stefan v. Baltz > [email protected] > http://www.dl1iao.com > > > > > >> Am 19.05.2018 um 15:28 schrieb Ken G Kopp <[email protected]>: >> >> If you're so happy with Icom's performance, why did you buy an Elecraft >> product? >> >> 73! >> >> K0PP >> ______________________________________________________________ >> 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 >> Message delivered to [email protected] > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > Message delivered to [email protected] ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to [email protected]
