I think the idea of competition is good for all so having Yaesu or Kenwood come out with rigs that challenge Elecraft is a good thing.
However, in all this kind of talk I never see or hear of the best reason to go with Elecraft -- at least from my own perspective. It is that these guys, Eric and Wayne, are probably on average 15 to 20 years younger then I am so as long as they are making money, I am sure to benefit by their future creations. I like the idea of a backup rig and I may get bored with my Icom 756 Pro III as a backup so having the option of buying the new Kenwood or the FT 5000 is kind of nice. And, I can always consider buying another K3. 73, phil, K7PEH On May 22, 2010, at 9:07 AM, Toby Pennington wrote: > Hector, I would not get too excited about a few DBs on way or another. It > is just not going to make that much difference. Also, diversity receive > with the 5000 is not going to work as well as in the K3. > > The bothersome thing about the FT dx 5000 mp to me is the weight.....another > 52 pound rig that will be a pain in the rear to box up and ship for repairs. > I am 69 years old now and have an Icom 7700. I shipped it out once for > repair and it was a pain getting it boxed up and shipped. Not only that, > but repairs are expensive with the big rigs. IF you lose a logic board then > you are looking at a $2k repair bill including shipping both ways. > > Strong points for the K3, lighter weight, easy to ship, repairs are not > expensive, and can be done in the field on occasion. Great > performance.......also a great rig for portable operation. The only > negative is the user interface which is not really that great when compared > to the competition. Some will take me to task for this comment, but I feel > it is warranted. > > Yaesu and Kenwood have both jumped on the down conversion band wagon now. > They see the success of Elecraft and want a piece of the market. Elecraft is > winning the hearts and minds of contesters and dxers, but to some extent > casual operators still like the bigger rigs with more convenience > operationally. > > My guess is the the FT 5000 will be a big seller, as the user interface > should be more friendly, plus the high performance stats of the receiver > will be attractive. The price for the MP version is about 6,200. A fully > loaded K3 can run over $5k, so not too much difference in price when you > think about feature sets of the two rigs when loaded with comparable > features. > > The Kenwood 950 with two roofing filters 2.8 and 500 hz priced at 1,800 > could be a sleeper for many looking for a lower price version of the K3. > > Time will tell as we go forward......it will be interesting to see what > develops! > > Toby W4CAK > > > > > > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
