Hi All,
Clearly production of the K3 has been a task of proportions not clearly
contemplated by the principals at Elecraft. It is certainly understandable
that a lot of people are very anxious, if not upset, by all the delays. But
I think it's only fair to remember that probably nobody is more anxious to
get K3's out the door than Wayne and Eric. After all, they aren't doing all
this for fun, and I can't see how they are making any money on all this
effort until they actually go out the door.
If you think about other rigs that are out there, it does seem to take an
inordinate amount of time to get them from prototype to market product. The
IC-7000, for example, was shown at Dayton nearly a year before it actually
became available.
I'm not making excuses for Elecraft, but it does seem obvious to me that
there are enormous problems getting something like this done. And we can't
really do anything about it, which only adds to the frustration.
So, I think it is counterproductive to slam Elecraft too hard. Obviously
they grossly underestimated the problems facing them, but apparently that's
not hard to do in this business. My only caveat would be that I hope Eric
and Wayne are not exhibiting the same degree of patience with their
suppliers that they are asking for folks waiting for their K3. Hopefully
they have been pounding on desks and raising their voices at least somewhat.
But do remember that these delays are costing them, and maybe a lot! I
shudder to think how much extra time they have had to spend getting the K3's
out the door that have shipped. Good grief! They had the whole staff
winding toroids! Off hand, I bet their profit plan has been shot in the
ass!
Dave W7AQK
----- Original Message -----
From: "Don Ehrlich" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Julian G4ILO" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; "elecraft"
<[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, December 06, 2007 5:37 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Shipping Status Page
Right on Julian, I think you speak for a lot of us. The list has been
very calm and relaxed about this issue compared to the more personal
conversations I have had on the air with fellow K3 customers-to-be which
exhibit some very blunt language. The gist of what I am hearing is that
most folks, like me, are mature and aware adults who do understand how
'Murphy' can mess up the best laid plans ... but we expect to be kept
informed.
Julian said:
It's nearly Christmas. How do you think your kids would react if you
told them they'd have to wait for their presents until March next
year? We may not be kids, but I think there is not a lot of difference
with many of us especially where our hobby is concerned.
but you left out the part about:
...and then in March said nothing at all until, sometime in April, revised
the date only when nagged ... and then missed that one also followed by a
series of promised weekly "status update" dates which passed by without
updates ... and on and on and on.
The Elecraft mojo has been seriously damaged and I am tired of biting my
tongue .. so there!
Don K7FJ
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