[Elecraft] growing market share

[Bill Coleman]

On 3/5/03 6:11 AM, Martin AC6RM at elecraft@ac6rm.net wrote:

>1.  The contester is going to want the best receiver he can get, he
>doesn't care about the general coverage receive, and it has to work with
>his software.  He'll pay for it.  So pricing is simple: $2,500 for a
>pre-built, pre-aligned K2/100 with filters pre-set to the way he wants
>them.

Interesting idea. In fact, many contesters are either using, or have used 
the K2 and are very impressed with it. Even so, the FT1000MP still sells 
very well.

>  It's that or if he's poor, he'll by an FT920 and put the Inrad
>filters in it (and suffer the ringing in his ears).  Remember, there are
>national magazines committed to this little portion of the hobby (ergo, it
>ain't so little).  Sooner or later, he'll want a way of playing with the
>filters without having to pop the top of the radio and doing arithmetic in
>his head -- so Elecraft has to figure that one out.  And they need an auto
>band-switch unit interface to market.

Even if Elecraft comes out with band selection outputs, the combination 
of the K2/100 + KAT100 won't stop sales of the FT1000MP (arguably the 
contestors radio of choice). There's a lot about such rigs that the K2 
can't really address.

Much of the reason is the different design goals of the K2 versus rigs 
like the FT1000MP. The K2 is, as my friend Gary (K9AY) put it, "a simple 
radio superbly executed." Small size and low power consumption were clear 
design goals. 

On the contestors table top, the small size limits the information 
displayed, as well as the available controls. And the low power 
consumption doesn't matter so much when you're connected to the AC mains 
anway.

Nevertheless, I'm not trading my K2/100 + KAT100 for a FT1000MP. No sir.

Bill Coleman, AA4LR, PP-ASEL        Mail: aa4lr@arrl.net
Quote: "Not within a thousand years will man ever fly!"
            -- Wilbur Wright, 1901