[Elecraft] wherefore art thou, K3?

[Stephen W. Kercel]

Doug:

Discussions about a prospective K3 have always 
struck me as a bit curious. I'm not sure just 
what it is that people are looking for. I get the 
impression that you're talking about more 
operational features rather than improved engineering characteristics.

As you note, there are lots of wish lists of 
features, but probably not enough overlap among 
the lists to create a market for a rig with a 
single list of extra features for which all the 
wishers are willing to pay an extra $1200.

The closest you come to specifying how a K3 might 
differ from a K2 is that a K3 would be two K2s in 
a common box, and a bit of hardware to make them run smoothly in concert.

Rather than come up with something like that, 
maybe the N4PY strategy is a better solution for 
the serious contester. Buy two K2s and tack them 
together with a "contest box" containing the 
interfacing electronics. If there are that many 
people looking to run two K2s simultaneously, 
perhaps Elecraft could develop a "contest box" 
accessory specifically for that purpose.

I would also comment that those $10K radios tend 
to be a human factors nightmare. There are so 
many features that human cognition is literally 
overwhelmed by all the possibilities. I suspect 
that the serious contester using one of these 
fancy rigs identifies (probably unconscioiusly) 
the features actually needed (with perception of 
what is needed varying among operators) for 
contest operating, arranges things (with perhaps 
some very tricky programming ahead of time) to 
bring those few needed features to the fore, and ignores everything else.

As you mentioned, SDRs are the wave of the 
future, but for "go for blood" contesting, they 
have not yet arrived. From that standpoint, it 
looks like a possible mod for the K2 would be for 
Elecraft to make the internals a bit more 
accessible to computer interaction, and let the 
aftermarket take care of the software.

73,

Steve
AA4AK








>So
armed with 6 years of history, let's see what the prospects might
>be for a K3.
>
>First, what would be different than the K2?  I've seen lots of "wish
>lists" but mostly they would be a K2 Mark II
not really strategic
>thinking launched by a long range vision.  And, probably more
>importantly, what would be the target market?
>
>
>
>If the loaded K2 is $1800 (kit), I am thinking that an "upgraded" (whatever
>that might be) K3 would at least be $3000
putting it into direct
>competition with these other radios in terms of 
>price.  .......And what would the "selling feature" be for a
>K3 compared to these other radios (remember, we are talking in terms
>of marketing).  Clearly, not price.
>
>
>So just what would the motivation be for Elecraft to come out with a
>K3?  I don't know!  I think it would be neat to "smoothly" be able to
>conjoin a pair of K2's (either externally or within a single box).
>Some say N4PY and N1MM can effectively do that.  When directly asked
>about such a feature, the "boyz" will even direct one to N4PY (at
>least they used to).  But would that be a K3?  Maybe.
>
>I think the dream of a K3 is something necessary to the group.  I
>think the reality might be something different.  I would love to be
>proven wrong!!!!
>
>de Doug KR2Q
>K2/5285 ala W3FPR
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