I will visit a friend to operate his station again for the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest this coming weekend. We use these opportunities to motivate and train new contesters. His main rig is an IC-7610. I will bring my KPA1500 to substitute for his 600 Watt amplifier and tuner since neither provides the kind of integration the K-Line can.
I greatly prefer operating my K3/P3 over the IC-7610! The P3 is a far better panadaptor than the IC-7610's! The K3's user interface is much simpler and more effective to operate than the IC-7610's. BTW, this his the second IC-7610 in my friend's shack as the first failed 46+ times during last November's ARRL SS-SSB Contest (we may have missed counting some). Icom had the radio for several weeks and found no trouble. I give them credit for replacing it after the November debacle, no questions asked. The replacement didn't fail during the ARRL DX-SSB Contest in February. The K4, when it comes, I assert, will not be about aesthetics, but performance and features serious hams want. If you haven't been paying attention, a significant number of those hams have replaced their K3S radios with the Flex 6700. Their feature set and performance have set a standard the K4 will need to excede. I am confident it will. The K3S is definitely NOT "dated" with regard to performance. Check out Rob Sherwood's, NC0B, receiver performance listing: http://www.sherweng.com/table.html. The K3S is #2 for transceivers with the upgraded K3 immediately behind it. Elecraft's challenge is to provide a significant improvement in performance which depends upon both hardware and engineering. That is more difficult than ever before. The K3 was a game-changer. I suspect we won't see a K4 until it too can change the game. I am amused by some of the Luddite comments regarding touch screens and computer interfacing. Yes, the K3S is an awesome stand-alone rig and the K-Line abely performs without a computer in sight. However, most of us have progressed from contesting and DX'ing using paper and pen. Don't use a computer if you don't want, but don't knock the many advantages a computer in the shack provides. After all, it is 2019. Read your equipment manuals, get KE7X's books, and see what else you can do with your Elecraft gear. Most of all, have fun. I recall watching the KPA1500 poster go up on the wall at the IDXC in Visalia. I look forward to seeing the K4 poster there or in Xenia! After all, it's just my kids' inheritance I'm spending and enjoying. 73, Bill, K8TE -- Sent from: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/ ______________________________________________________________ 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
