Hi Jim,
You're probably correct about design compromises made with technologies available and affordable 14 years ago. Its probably not a coincidence that all of the top-shelf modern radios have a leg up on the K3 in the most severe competitive contest environments Think about what less than 14 years of improvement brought to the market in the post-World War II environment and the vast performance differential between the offerings from Collins and every one of their competitors: - 75A-1 1947 - 75A-4 1956 - KWM-1 1957 - S-Line 1958 Its amazing that the amateur radio HF transceiver market continues to drive significant performance improvements after all these years, just as it did from the earliest days of HF radio. 73 Frank W3LPL ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim Brown" <j...@audiosystemsgroup.com> To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 5:45:21 AM Subject: Re: [Elecraft] The Big Three... On 3/29/2020 10:02 PM, donov...@starpower.net wrote: > You would have to seriously compete in an SSB contest with some of the > more modern radios in very crowded bands to fully appreciate how much > better the more modern technologies are for both transmit and receive signal > quality. The latest Flex radios are almost shockingly good, but all of the > top-shelf modern radios are significantly better performers than the > 12 year old K3 or even the K3S. Thanks Frank. Soon after he got his Flex 6700, his two key impressions were 1) it was the best radio he'd ever owned; and 2) the designers of the radio and it's software/firmware didn't have a clue about USING radios on the air. #2 was so bad that they didn't even understand the problems. Thankfully, guys like N6WM, K9CT, and I'm sure others, stepped in to educate them. :) I'm not a digital guy, but having worked in pro audio most of my professional life, some concepts have rubbed off. If I were to speculate on the shortcomings of the K3/K3S you've noted, it would be that the system wasn't designed with enough bits and bandwidth. But that all depends on the parts you can buy for a product that must sell for a price that customers can pay, and, as you've noted, those design decisions were likely made in 2006. And from where I sit, I've always viewed Wayne and Eric as marketing geniuses (in the best sense of that). 73, Jim K9YC ______________________________________________________________ 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 donov...@starpower.net ______________________________________________________________ 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
