A morning break in the rain today in the Bay Area allowed me to sneak out for
some field operation with the KX2. While using every weapon in the KX2's
arsenal, I thought about how to best convey just how feature-dense this radio
is.
To appreciate it, you really need to hold the rig in your hand and try it out.
Since that's not always an option for a potential user, the next best thing
might be to create an engineering metric.
Granted, "features per cubic inch" (feature density) isn't exactly science, but
it is useful for comparing portable transceivers, where both size and
versatility really matter.
Here's one possible formula:
F_in = ( bands + modes + internal_options + other_significant_features ) /
in^3
Fuzzy? Well...yeah. Nonetheless, here's what happens if we apply this to our
legacy 4-band K1 transceiver and the KX2.
*****
K1:
bands: 4 (owner's choice of HF bands)
modes: 1 (CW)
options: 3 (battery, ATU, noise blanker)
other: 3 (keyer, CW messages, variable-BW xtal filter)
F = ( 4 + 1 + 3 + 3 ) / 64 in^3 = 0.17 features per cubic inch
KX2:
bands: 9 (80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 m)
modes: 5 (CW, SSB, AM, FM, DATA)
options: 5 (mic, battery, ATU, paddle, real-time clock, 100 W amp)
other: 35 (keyer, CW messages, int. mic, DVR, speech compression, VOX,
IF DSP (SDR), switchable preamp, switchable attenuator,
audio peaking filter (APF, for CW),
RTTY decode/encode, PSK31 decode/encode, CW/data auto-tune,
fully adjustable AGC slope/threshold/decay, RF gain & AF
limiter,
dual watch, variable-passband filters, passband shift,
noise blanking, noise reduction, audio effects, RX/TX EQ,
dual VFOs, split, wide-range RIT/XIT, cross-mode (SSB/CW),
CW/data logging, 4 user-programmable functions, Amp-hour
tracking,
scanning, freq. memories, direct frequency entry,
full remote control interface, freq. up/down buttons (on
mic),
measurement of PWR/SWR/ALC/CMP/supply voltage/supply current,
adjustable carrier-operated relay)
F = ( 9 + 5 + 5 + 36 ) / 26 = 2.1 features per cubic inch
*****
By this metric, the KX2 packs about 12 times as much "punch" as a K1. (As a
principal designer of both radios, I have to admit this is a bit alarming. In
2001 we felt the K1 was pretty much state of the art for small CW rigs.)
Of course, holding the KX2 in your hand, then actually putting it on the air,
provides a much more satisfying comparison.
Calculation of feature density of the KX3 is left as an exercise for the reader
:)
73,
Wayne
N6KR
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
