[Elecraft] Smile

[Brian Wood]

Well, that message certainly got mangled. Let's try again...

I'd like to take this opportunity to say that I appreciate all your comments about the Sienna. I have talked to Eric, and I respect the
folks at Elecraft greatly. It is largely because they took the gamble to start a new kit company when everyone was saying it couldn't be done that the doors have been opened for others. I don't see us as competitors, but rather as two sides of the same coin, hopefully growing the industry so that both companies can prosper, and giving you more choices. In fact, this is one reason the Sienna is not positioned to compete with the K2/100 but to give you a cheaper alternative to the big, expensive Japanese boxes while still being able to build it yourself. At least until Elecraft comes out with a high-end rig, we are in two completely different niches. The Sienna is most definitely not a backpacker's rig!

Dave Packard, in his book "The HP Way", said that in the early days of the electronics industry (the 20's and 30's), businesses like HP, Varian, General Radio, Fluke and others shared resources, equipment and techniques so that they could all prosper. Once, when engineers told Dave how HP's board testers had clobbered Genrad's market share, he said he was sorry to hear that, because he and the founders of GR had been friends. I hope you all can see that it should be good for America (and the world) to have more American ham radio companies. We all benefit from the increased "buzz".

Just as there was once room for Heathkit, Eico, Dynaco, Knight and others, there is room for all of us today. Frankly, rather than grumbling about competition and how crazy an idea it is to put a PC (easily  upgradeable, by the way, to answer one objection) in a radio, we should all be more concerned with the state of amateur radio today and doing all we can to attract new hams - true, died-in-the-wool, build-it-yourself hams - so that we can all continue to enjoy this great hobby.

73,
Brian, W0DZ
Founder, DZKit