The high prices of the roofing filters for the K3 and optional filters for other rigs reminds me of a little history.
In the very early '80s, I desired to purchase a CW filter for an Astro 200, long after CIR went out of business. I happened to be visiting Phoenix, AZ for a few days, so I dropped by Network Sciences, the company that had made the Astro filters and had also been the filter supplier for Drake, Atlas and other manufacturers. It was still there, but obviously about to fold. I met with Howard Falk, the owner, who said he could supply me with an 8-pole CW filter for the Astro. We chatted a bit while a technician, apparently the only other person around, checked out my filter. Howard said that he had essentially been driven out of business by the Japanese filter manufacturers. Drake and others had switched to Japanese suppliers since they could get the filters for a little over $1 each, whereas his cost was over $2 each. Note that there were no middlemen. Drake was selling their filters for $40 or $50 each, I forget which. A tidy profit. Howard charged me $40 for that CW filter, by the way. Since Howard's tale was only one data point for me, it would be interesting to verify it through other sources. Inflation since that time has been about a factor of 2.6, according to official US Government figures: http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl Some of us would disagree with the official numbers, putting it closer to a factor of 10, but the official factor is close to the actual increase in retail prices for the filters. If the costs have gone up in that proportion, the profits are huge. Especially if one figures in the interim advances in manufacturing, such as monolithic structures, etc. Of course, there is at least one middleman involved with the Inrad filters, increasing the cost to Elecraft. No doubt high markups are necessary along the line somewhere because of the low volumes involved. Nevertheless, I find it especially disturbing having to pay these modern prices considering that the filters have apparently not been designed or chosen for good IMD performance or advantageous group delay characteristics. Also, some filters are reputed to have been defective. Of course, the filters may not be totally to blame for the mediocre front end performance of the K3 (compared with the professional-level performance that some of us had hoped for.) Jerry AI6L _______________________________________________ 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
