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

[Bill Coleman]

On Apr 30, 2005, at 10:24 AM, Marinos Markomanolakis, M.D. wrote:

> On the other hand, as mentioned in my original post, you can hardly  
> justify keeping the K2 as the only rig for HF, and making those  
> "bare bones" time proven RF design improvements as well as some  
> more subjective ones that appeal to many of us: (general coverage,  
> notch, pbt,adding a preselector, analog meter, AM receive  
> capability, optimization of the NB, cleaning the spurs from the RX  
> etc) can make the package just too good to be ignored by the  
> majority of the hams.

I have a K2/100 and an older Kenwood TS-430S. I could easily get by  
using the K2/100 only. In fact, it is usually the only radio I deal  
with.

As to the other features: General coverage is way overrated. In the  
nearly 20 years I've owned the TS-430S, I have rarely, if ever, used  
the general coverage feature.

I find the KDSP2 autonotch is more than sufficient. A preselector is  
unnecessary -- the rig has more than enough gain and dynamic range.

While an analog meter is nice, I've found I have no trouble reading  
the 10-segment LEDs.

PBT would be great -- especially considering that it could nearly be  
done with a firmware change.

AM receive is mildly interesting, but it would be more important if  
there were general coverage receive. I'd be more interested in FM  
(for 10m FM or transverter use) support before AM.

The NB could use something. It works OK on certain types of noise,  
but on others it is wholly ineffective. While the NB on my TS-430S  
does a little bit to all noise -- I leave it turned on all the time.  
I can't do that on the K2, since the NB will weird out during crowded  
band conditions.

I don't mind the few spurious responses in the receiver. The few  
things I'd like to see in the K2/100 are a short list: better SSB  
filters, better VOX, 100% duty cycle amp, dedicated buttons for the  
DSP, filter mode indicators, Tracking of XFIL and AFIL (another  
firmware change).

As to the title of this thread -- I don't think that Elecraft can  
"take over". Consider: in their heyday, Heathkit didn't "take over"  
the ham radio market. Certainly they were wildly popular -- but there  
were plenty of companies that sold built equipment. And that was in  
an age when completely homebrew stations were the norm.

Today, things are different. Appliance operators rule, and the kit- 
built rig is an exception. It would be difficult to overcome that  
bias in order to "take over".


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