[Elecraft] ELEPRODUCT POLL : The Cardinal Sin..If you CANT be good BE careful...!!

[Andy GM0NWI]

Guy's....

I just could'nt resist it...!

WARNING..!!  BEFORE carrying on to read my post....some of you "MAY" ...and
some of you "WILL" be offended at the suggestions, that
I have compiled,...like y'all tonight...for my "cent worth"...

I apologise most profusly (DOH..!) again for any offence taken...it was not
my intention....

Over the last few hours, I like y'all have watched with "baited
breath.....antisipation....and antrepidation..." at the "suggestions" that
have been
forthcoming in this "thread" that we have created....

My suggestions... for "future" add-on's for the Elecraft range of kits are
as follows :-


1...  INDEED....being a "Ham" for the last 14 years ....enjoying every
moment for it's worth....learning so much (forgetting A LOT..!)...I have
also strived to get "perfection" in both my station and my "operating
practice"...skills etc...  Whilst being confined to a wheelchair for
mobility,..it
has been a HUGE "bug-bear" to me over the years, that one of the most
interestingly fascinating facets of our hobby,...is ..indeed
...."Antenna"(s) ...In their many entirities...(DOH..!)

The "fact" that I cannot "get up 'n go" do something with the antenna "farm"
(2el Tribander at 12m on a wind-up tower..with ramp access)...is most
annoying...and I have resolved myself to the fact that the "only
possibility" is to try and construct a /P vertical .....

SO..for me atleast.. I hear by put forward....NOT only as a disabled "Ham"
with unsatiable desire to "learn"...but also as a "humble" guy with a
"yearning to be "normal"...that I as a person, ..."wish" that someone could
invent a "Potent Vertical Antenna"...and perhaps a similarly
"easy-to-assemble (Idiot Proof)" .../P antenna system for the "field"...

I have for years "toyed" with the idea of purchasing a "Texas Bug Catcher"
...to mount on my wheelchair...!! (keep reading..!)...  as this antenna
"seems" to be one of the "most potent" available on the market today....
SO..! I for one would welcome a "REALLY POTENT" /P antenna system from
Elecraft, that would "compliment" ...any of their transceivers.....  They of
course could be marketed for the "higher power" guys also...

2...  A Matching PSU...for BOTH the "QRP" and "QRO" versions of Elecrafts
radio's would also be a welcome edition I am sure in ANY "shack" to "finish
off the line" as they say....in "kit" form of course....  Say... 20-30amp
for the 100w K2 owners .....and something a "little smaller" for the "QPP"
owners .....

3...   A Matching Speaker...complete with "Filters" ....A La..... FT847,
FT1000MP and the likes would be nice...!   But only if it was made to
the same "depth" (front-to-back") of the radio it was intended
for....Again...a market for Elecraft..as they produce for each of their
radio's...In "kit" form again....

4...   With all the talk about "SSB Quality" on the reflector
recently.....and of course, nothing at all wrong with that...we ALL "should"
strive, as far as I am concerned for the "best possible" audio that we
can..with the facilities given by the radio...  Why NOT a "Matching CW
Key"...say "Single Paddle", "Twin Paddle" *(iambic)..."bug"
......whatever......Heck..! a "range" again would be the way to go...to
suite the various radio's that Elecraft currently and in the future will
hopefully produce...  Something like the CT12DX key...in chrome "kit" form
for instance...

Hope Y'all Ready For This...!!

"Suggestion No.5"......

5...   This "may" just be a personal thing....but ever since "Discovering"
radio, ...in its form...and doin' the usual "stint" on CB radio (14 years an
unbelievable hobby for someone in my physical position....as IS Ham
Radio....)...I have came to be "Absolutley Fascinated" .....with "Linear
Amplifiers"..!!!!   Shock, Horror...Dagger's-At-The-Ready...!!   Yeah...!  I
KNOW...this is a "QRP Thing"....so let me first apologise for "such"
comments....but let's not forget...IT IS...a FACT...that some of the guys
who already have constructed K2's, K1's...KX1's....  "sometimes" partake in
a little "more power" trangent...   SO...I think (personally again), that it
would be a "good idea" business wise,...and also for the many constructors
(let's face it ...we ALL are) amongst us... to have the "choice"....to try
our hands, at putting together a "kit" form Linear Amplifier....  To ATLEAST
...TO KNOW...and say at the end of the construction period...

I Built That...AND ...It Works..!!

I personally for the last 14 years of my "Ham Career" have ran no-more than
5 watts or less...and have a desire to try milliwatting (if I could get
someone to give me a design for a decent switchable power attenuator..!)....
But I WOULD DEFINATLEY...love to "give it a try" at putting together a
fully-loaded, band switchable, power switchable linear for the shack... as
there ARE inceasingly more times that I CAN increase the output power IF I
WANT TO...and that is,...for me anyways....the "point" of having a linear in
the shack.... "It's there......IF..need be"...

WHAT AN ACCIEVEMENT...!  In my eyes anyway.....after all ....how many of
us....in the group CAN say that they have constructed either a Valve or
Mosfet Linear Amplifier......THAT THEY BUILT FROM SCRATCH..!!!   We don't
NEED to "work" it all the time.... I personally think it is .....if not
THE......definatley ....."A"  ...."missing link"...in the things that most
of us in our "Ham Careers" the "choice" to construct a "kit" form Linear
Amplifier...as we may not...either have the knowledge or parts available,
for whatever reason....to do such a thing....

In This ....their would have to be a set "power output"...for the varying
markets of "Hams" in different world zones.... but I am sure that Elecraft
could come up with a "comfortable compromise"....  Of course....it would be
"nice" if the said project was in a matching EC-2 case....or one "just"
slightly larger than the K2 itself.... (it would be difficult to make such a
thing I guess to match the K1 and KX1..?) SMT ...is a "possibility" I
suppose...

Combine ALL..of the above ....WITH the suggestions...already put forward by
the guy's here tonight...and I think that we have provided
.....Starters,..Main Meal..Pudding....and "afters"....for Elecrafts
perusal.....

Again I apologise if I have offended anyone here tonight....These are only
my ideas for the future.....as is the others that have already made
suggestions....

On a closing note...lets not forget..!   That too much "overload" can
sometimes, see a companies demise...quicker than you can blink an eye..don't
mean to be "sour pussed" ....but we HAVE to be careful on what we
suggest...how its going (if at all) to be marketed for the masses, what
profit would be endured...etc...etc..

Remember...!  "We Are The Oil....That Keep The Wheels Turning"...!

72s de Andy                               andy.gm0nwi1 at btinternet.com
Website : http://www.proteluser.com/bbs2/
A.R.S. GM0NWI
K2 S/N 01432 "Soon To Be On - Air"          "...I Just See It..! .."
(J.A.Ross 2004)

"Long Live QRP..!"                                 "All The Best Wishes From
Bonnie Scotland.."

 GQRP No.9576                                                     The
Weakest Station In The Nation.."
 QRP-L No.2165
 ICQ No.31899603                             "It is vain to do with more..."
                                                       what can be done with
less.."