[Elecraft] RE: Can Elecraft take over the global HF ham radiobusiness ?

[Larry Phipps]

My perspective is probably in a minority here, but here goes.

I didn't buy a K2 because I like building kits. I do a lot of building 
and experimenting, and I want to use my time and skills to create new 
things, not assemble kits. I bought my used K2 on ebay because I can 
work on it. I have done some of the mods, and plan to develop my own 
mods as needed to keep the rig viable for years to come as well .

When my TS850S started a slow death, almost every circuit that died was 
not field repairable. My previous rig was a Drake TR7 which was field 
repairable, but virtually all the Japanese radios are not designed so 
that you could even operate the radio while having access to the boards. 
I assume they have fixtures to allow factory  repair (or just replace 
the boards).

I was determined to buy a rig this time that could be easily fixed with 
minimum downtime or cost. Feature-wise the TS850S has more to offer, but 
the Elecraft is easily the equal in terms of performance, and better in 
receive. If Elecraft can make a K3 kit with more features, but still the 
same level of serviceability and performance, then I'm all for it... but 
if it loses those virtues, then it might as well be a Kenwood.

Larry N8LP



Craig Rairdin wrote:

>>As for the radio being in a kit form, that is actually a HUGE selling 
>>point, regardless of the time and effort required to build it since 
>>all hams that I have met so far would really love to be able to build 
>>their radios instead of buying a ready made appliance, provided that 
>>the result does not lack in any significant RF design respect vs the 
>>commercially available units. And I am not talking about a million 
>>gadgets that you rarely ever use in a rig, but basic ant time proven 
>>options as the above mentioned.
>>    
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>>This is almost a universal definition of a Ham: "he who likes to 
>>tinker"
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>>...and by gaining widespread acceptance worldwide, profits can be 
>>improved even with a smaller profit margin per unit.
>>    
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>I think you're taking your preconceived ideas and projecting them onto
>everyone else. YOU may enjoy building kits, but I don't think that's a
>majority opinion. YOU may be one who likes to tinker with everything you
>build or buy, but that's far from a majority opinion.
>
>If being a kit is a HUGE selling point then we wouldn't be having this
>discussion about what Elecraft could do to improve its market share. This
>has to be the best kit radio out there, so by your definition it should be
>in the market share lead. I frankly don't know if it is or isn't but am
>assuming from the topic of discussion that it's not. So it can't be the case
>that simply being a good kit is enough.
>
>If I might project MY opinions onto a majority of hams (most of whom aren't
>on this list, by the way) then I would say the universal definition of a ham
>is closer to "one who wants more radio than he or she can afford".
>Everything I've "tinkered" with is because I was too cheap/poor to buy
>something that was good out of the box or that wasn't used and in need of
>repair. 
>
>If I've learned anything in business it's that the best products don't
>always win. The best *marketed* products win. This means things like
>"brand", "price", "good looks", "consumer buzz" and "advertising budget" are
>perhaps more important than "receiver sensitivity", "filter bandwidth" and
>other measures of quality.
>
>Craig
>NZ0R
>K1 #1966
>
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