Steve and All,
A point well taken Steve. But setting up the the memories this way (if
really deemed necessary!) is an owner convenience really. And if you don't
use it yourself enough to do it without a "sticky note", then it probably
wasn't that convenient in the first place. If I had set it up this way, and
a friend wanted to use the radio, I'd just tell him to use the regular
bandswitch buttons. A visitor will have enough trouble operating any
strange rig, so you don't want to add to the problem with operating tricks
the radio allows you to implement--at least not initially.
I'm a little mystified by the "passion" some folks seem to have about
accelerating the band switching process. Do you really switch bands that
much? I suppose some do. And my judgement may be tainted a bit right now
by the lack of activity on a bunch of the bands higher up. For me, I'm
usually just going between 3, or maybe 4 bands, which are all contiguous on
the band rotation. Pushing the up/down bandswitch works pretty well for
that. I'm just grateful they put both an up and down switch on the K3
instead of making you rotate all the way through like you have to do on rigs
like the Argonaut V. When I had one of those radios, I found it very
frustrating to have to go all the way around to get from 30 meters back to
40 meters. I sort of solved that by putting one VFO on one band, and the
other VFO on the other. Then I could just use the A/B button.
Nonetheless, I suspect that you are more or less correct that a couple more
inches or so on the front panel would have accomodated a bandswitching
keypad. It might have accomodated 2 or 3 more knobs as well for other
things. But it would have added considerably to the volume of the radio.
For some this would have been a good thing, and for others it would have
been a waste. I suspect all of us have at least 1 or 2 changes we would
like to see in the K3. Problem is, our wish lists probably don't always
match up very consistently. The process of deciding how to design a radio
like this seems very complex to me. Just think about how many questions
need to be considered regarding each control and feature. It really
suggests some powerful product/market research is needed, and to be honest,
I don't think Elecraft is big enough to provide/engage/conduct this type of
study. So, we end up with someone's (Wayne's mostly I suppose) best guess.
And it sure won't be perfect. Wayne did a pretty good job I think, but it
"ain't" perfect! But thank goodness he's an operator, in addition to being
the designer, so he didn't saddle us with a multitude of compromises like
Yaesu does perhaps? Then there are radios like Ten-Tec Orions, and Icom
7700/7800's, that put everything under the sun on front panel. But look at
the size of those radios! You almost have to renovate your operating desk
to accomodate them. And when you look inside of one of them one of the
first things you notice is a ton of wasted space. But, if you aren't going
to be moving the radio around much, that's very possibly quite acceptable.
The K3 is a compact (but not too compact?), but reasonably "full featured",
radio. A lot of things were left out though, and many of them will perhaps
be incorporated in the "K4"! The K3 was a substantial improvement on the
K2, and the K4 will be a substantial improvement on the K3. If the next set
of changes aren't all that substantial, they might just call it the "K3A" I
don't even know if a "K4" is on the drawing board, but I bet pieces of it at
least are already in Wayne's head. A keypad band entry may very will be
high on the list. I'd almost bet a bandscope is high on the list. QRO
folks will be glad to learn that, out of the box, it will have provision for
negative ALC! I'm being a bit facetious, but I would probably like having
these features myself--some "just in case", but appreciated nonetheless. We
are all still looking for the "perfect" radio. If and when you think you
have found it, you can bet that a bunch of others will be loudly lamenting
that it doesn't have this or that. My advice to folks who are excessively
frustrated by omissions on the K3 is to start dropping your loose change in
a cookie jar to save up for the K4. A friend of mine recently told me he
saved up nearly $1200 by just dropping the quarters in a jar he got in
change, mostly from stopping after work for a beer! This made me realize a
couple of things:
1. You can really save a bunch of money by doing this with loose change;
2. My friend probably drinks too much!
Nevertheless, I think you have plenty of time.
Dave W7AQK
----- Original Message -----
From: "S Sacco" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, May 29, 2008 4:59 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Bandswitching-My experiences to Date
When I want to QSY to 6 meters, I expect to punch a button that says
"6M" or "50". If a friend comes over to operate my K3, I don't want
to have to point to a yellow sticky note hanging from a shelf, and
then spend 10 minutes briefing them on the intricacies of using the
user-programmed memories.
This issue isn't about finding other clever ways to institute a common
and expected function; it's about justifying Elecraft's choice to
package the radio in a specific footprint. For its size, the
ergonomics are excellent, but it's about 2" too narrow. With that
extra 2", they could have fit a keypad.
IMHO.
73,
Steve NN4X
On Wed, May 28, 2008 at 9:04 PM, David and Dianne on Comcast
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
Hi Everyone,
In hanging around the K3 booth in Dayton this year (some would say I was
'lurking' around the booth) I overheard several K3 prospective owners
pressing Wayne on the absence of dedicated bandswitches and bandstacking
registers.
Having been a user of Icom and Ten Tec gear for many years, I too admit
that
this was one of my reservations when first considering my K3 purchase
over a
year ago.
Now after almost four months of K3 use, I wanted to past a comment
directed
at those considering a K3 who believe that this issue may be a deal
breaker.
IMO it is not.
It takes a bit of time and study to adapt to this approach of Elecraft's
UI,
but the K3 has some remarkable and flexible alternatives.
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [email protected]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [email protected]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
