[Elecraft] What's New at Dayton?

[Martin AC6RM]

Tom;

[welcome back, by the way]

(You have to realise that my comments are a tad tongue in cheek; I'm not
super serious here.  I'm a very happy Elecraft customer with absolutely no
complaints.   But ...)

Your point is well taken, if Elecraft wishes to take the conservative
route.  Other mfrs don't necessarily do this -- aggressive marketing
begins with flashy adds that say "[err.. this product has not been
certified by the FCC yet, so check with your dealer on when it will be
available.]"  This is clever because it puts the word out and builds
demand.

On the other hand, I don't necessarily advocate saying things like "okay,
we're designing a transverter kit and we hope to have it ready for
Dayton..."

There's a semi-agressive medium: "Y'all!  We have just completed
beta-testing a TXCO solution for the K2 that brings about a 500% increase
in frequency stability in a high-duty-cyle K2/100.  If you're a
digi-freak, this is a must-have!  Be the first to own one; pre-order yours
now! Only $59.95!  We will begin shipping after Dayton -- if you're at
Dayton, you'll have one of the first kits off the line!"

Clearly, if Elecraft has taken a product through the beta-test stage, they
already have a good notion of the basic demand -- certainly doesn't hurt
to pump up that demand a little bit with some crafty pre-release bumph! 
In fact, this might give them some intelligence on demand that they
weren't aware of!

(eye-ore voice) ON THE OTHER HAND : The word-of-mouth regarding the K2 is
golden and has probably generated more sales for Elecraft than any other
medium.  So the "let the users spread the word after they've built one"
strategy is probably a good one to stick to.

It's FRUSTRATIN', is-all!  :)

73, Martin AC6RM (k2/100#3021)

<snip>
> Better to remain mum UNTIl the product is actually ready for human
> consumption than to offer it "before  its time".
>