> A very obvious "next act" for Elecraft would be to repackage > the K3 in a larger box, add a bit-mapped color screen, add a > few more buttons, make the knobs larger, and perhaps include > an internal power supply. Voila: the K4! I'm sure many (not > me) would pay $5K or more for such a radio, provided the > hardware looks and feels expensive. If this idea is rattling > around in the minds of our Elecraft wizards, my advice is to > focus on the cosmetics and resist the urge to make lots of > "improvements".
I agree ... however, I would strongly encourage a "K4" to include a dual voltage power supply and higher voltage PA transistors to improve transmit IMD (and perhaps provide 250 watt output). Although the K3 has ye to be beat in terms of raw performance, a K4 (K3D?) with better PA, built-in panadapter and perhaps dedicated "band buttons" with band stacking registers would be a very serious challenger to the $10K class toys. 73, ... Joe, W4TV > -----Original Message----- > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net > [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dick Green WC1M > Sent: Friday, January 02, 2009 4:45 PM > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: [Elecraft] why the K3 is my favorite rig > > > Recently, there was a post on the FOC reflector to the effect > that the FT2000 is a superior choice to the K3. Much of the > criticism of the K3 centered around the size and "heft" of > the rig, as well as the cost. Here are my thoughts on the subject: > > Amateur radio is a diverse hobby with a diverse population of > operators. It's unlikely that one rig can fit all, or even > dominate a market. The way I see it, the K3 addresses a > segment of the market that values high-performance. This > includes, but is not limited to, contesters and DXers. As it > happens, contesters and DXers make up a relatively small > segment of the overall amateur population (though we are > often the most vocal group!) Still, there's plenty of money > to be made from this small segment because its constituents > tend to commit considerable resources to the hobby (money, > land, towers, antennas, time, and electronics.) Many of us > are on a never-ending quest for that last 1 dB of antenna > gain, that last bit of S/N, that last bit of selectivity, > etc. Some of it is driven by competition (we don't like > missing a weak station or losing out in a pileup), and some > of it seems to be a perfectionist streak common to many > contesters and DXers. Also, I think K3 fans tend to be > somewhat more technically-oriented than others in the market. > And I think some of us are getting old and our ears need all > the help they can get! > > I've used quite a few rigs over the past 25 years, and none > of them has pleased me as much as the K3. Yeah, I liked the > Drake twins, but keeping them tubed, aligned and operating > properly was a chore, and the lack of features and > flexibility would drive me crazy nowadays. Most of the rigs > I've used suffered from poor selectivity (a choice between > shallow filtering or ringing) and poor IMD rejection. Of the > previous generation of rigs, the Yaesu FT-1000D and Icom 781 > are probably the best I've used for contesting, but still > suffer from those problems. Also, they're big, heavy, take up > a lot of desk space and generate a lot of heat. Neither is > particularly flexible. Neither is practical for the owner to > repair, and spare parts are becoming hard to find. > > The Orion was the first rig really able to deal with > ultra-crowded bands and challenging propagation conditions. > The combination of roofing filters and DSP filtering makes an > incredible difference. The rig is very flexible, too. The box > is large enough to look serious, the screen is large (in > color on the O-II), and the knobs/buttons are large enough > for most operators. Unfortunately (or fortunately for > Elecraft), Ten-Tec designed the rig without asking customers > what they wanted, and wound up with one of the worst user > interfaces on the market. Some contest station owners won't > let an Orion in the door because the learning curve for new > ops is too high. To compound the matter, the firmware is > poorly designed and poorly implemented. Some of the original > performance of the radio has been lost in so-called firmware > improvements. Since those were introduced several years ago, > the firmware has not been updated at all. The hardware itself > is fairly reliable, but there are a number of areas where > substandard components were used and they tend to fail over > time (encoders, relays, etc.) > > When I first opened my Orion, I was amazed and somewhat > disappointed by the large amount of empty space inside the > chassis. I thought, "What a waste of space!". As we know from > our K3 experience, Ten-Tec could easily have fit the > circuitry in a much smaller box. I suspect they made the > choice for a larger box based on the screen size, number of > buttons and knobs, and a desire to make the radio look "serious". > > I understand that the K3's form factor might mislead the > casual observer to think that the radio is not "serious". > This is clearly more of an issue with the observer's > psychology than the K3's capabilities. Marketers do have to > pay attention to buyer psychology, but they don't have to > cater to the lowest common denominator if there are enough > other buyers in the market with different psychology. > > I guess I'm one of the latter. The K3 is by-far the best and > most capable HF radio I've ever used, and I really don't care > what the package looks like. In fact, I've come to appreciate > the small form factor -- it takes up very little space on my > desk and it's much easier to get the radio out of its > operating position and onto the workbench for upgrades and > mods. I haven't taken it to another station for guest > operating, but based on my previous experience lugging a > 1000D and an Orion, it'll be a pleasure to take the K3. I > can't see how the K3 could fail to become the DXpedition > radio of choice -- this is where the small form factor is worth gold. > > The K3 has another advantage that may have been overlooked by > appliance operators: there's no other full-featured, > high-performance HF rig that you can buy in kit form. To me, > the value has not been so much the cost saving, but the > opportunity to understand how the rig works and the ability > to fix it myself. I'm not your average consumer: I'm > obsessive about trying to fix all sorts of electronic gear > myself. The thought of having to ship a piece of gear back to > the factory bums me out like nothing else (it's a control > thing.) I can't stand the waiting time and the potential for > shipping damage. I'd sooner violate the warranty than ship > it. Not only does the K3 make it possible for me to fix the > radio myself, Elecraft wants me to do so! For me, it doesn't > get any better than that (well, if I had my own spare parts > inventory... :-) > > A very obvious "next act" for Elecraft would be to repackage > the K3 in a larger box, add a bit-mapped color screen, add a > few more buttons, make the knobs larger, and perhaps include > an internal power supply. Voila: the K4! I'm sure many (not > me) would pay $5K or more for such a radio, provided the > hardware looks and feels expensive. If this idea is rattling > around in the minds of our Elecraft wizards, my advice is to > focus on the cosmetics and resist the urge to make lots of > "improvements". A K3-K4 shared hardware and code base will > dramatically lower costs. Significant performance > improvements can wait for the K5... ;-) > > Just in case you think I've joined the ranks of Elecraft > "groupies", please remember that one of my first posts to > this reflector warned against blind devotion to rig > manufacturers, and advised consumers to hold their vendors > accountable. While I've been very impressed with the K3 and > Elecraft's service (and attitude), the company will have to > keep on delivering to earn my praise. So far, they've done an > admirable job. > > 73 and HNY, > Dick WC1M > > _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net 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
