[Elecraft] Re: Competition for Elecraft???

[Craig Rairdin]

This thread is getting repetitive (price being the main objection) but for
the purpose of improving future Elecraft designs its worth noting that
embedding a PC is a Bad Thing. For one thing, the 1GHz PC in the Sienna is
already obsolete due to the lengthy design and manufacturing time associated
with the rest of the radio. I bought a 2GHz PC last weekend for $299. I bet
you pay more than that for the older technology in the Sienna.

The only time it makes sense is if there's a fully integrated software
package that controls the user interface and hides the fact that it's really
an XP machine in the box. And even then you could accomplish the same thing
using the cheaper Windows Embedded or even Linux OS. 

For example, the multi-function display in my airplane that shows traffic,
weather radar, lightning strikes, and moving map is really a Windows NT
computer running a program that takes over the system when it boots up. I
don't care how much memory is in it and I have no idea how fast the
processor is. It just works. If there was something like that in a radio I
suppose I wouldn't care. 

Personally, I'd rather have a great software suite already in the radio
rather than loading up an embedded computer with a bunch of freeware and
letting me pick from among lots of mediocre options. I mean, you don't give
me a piece of aluminum and tell me to punch holes for the buttons wherever I
want. You design the front panel to optimize space usage, usability, parts
placement, etc. I would expect the radio designer to do the same with the
software. I wouldn't, for example, want to have to go to several places on
the Web to download the software that runs the various controllers in the K2
and have to pick my preference from among several programs, some free and
some for sale. 

All that said, I would love it if the K3 had a nice LCD color display with a
bandscope, CW/RTTY/PSK/etc. coder/decoder built in, ability to display both
A and B freqs at the same time, etc. And in true Elecraft tradition it
should have a probe built in that I could move to various places so I could
use the built-in display as an oscilloscope and logic analyzer for signal
tracing. Not that I've ever made a mistake that required signal tracing, but
it would be cool. (In my best Homer Simpson voice: "mmmmmmm, technology for
its own sake!".)

Craig
NZ0R
K1 #1966
K2/100 #4941