[Elecraft] Re: K3 - Initial Thoughts

[wayne burdick]

Craig D. Smith wrote:

>
> When I first read the Elecraft K3 announcement, I was still thinking
> FT-2000.   Then later Elecraft mentioned that a panadaptor would 
> follow in a
> few months.  I think that the panadaptor design will, for me, be the
> deciding factor between FT-2000 and K3.  If it contains/supports a 
> large
> color LCD, has good features, is reasonably priced and also supports 
> large
> color display of K3 front panel info (ala IC-7000 remote display), 
> then it
> could have LOTS of appeal to these aging eyes and swing things back 
> towards
> Elecraft.  I don't think that price alone will be the deciding factor
> between these two rigs for most folks.

Craig, our goal is to create the highest-performance panadapter 
available. This project will be kicked off soon, and we may see it by 
the end of the year.


>
> Before closing, another word or two of praise for the modular 
> construction
> approach in the K3.  I like building things and totally enjoyed all the
> soldering (yes, even the toroids) when building my K2.  But time 
> marches on.
> To make a competitive rig, SMD is the way to go, and the multiplicity 
> of
> fine-pitch SMD devices for a rig like the K3 would be tiresome even 
> for me.
> So the Elecraft K3 approach is an excellent decision.

Thanks. It was not an easy one!


> I look forward to making an informed decision within the next year.  
> In the
> meantime, I KNOW I will enjoy building and operating my K1  ;>)

Keep those suggestions coming. The K3 will evolve (carefully!), over 
time, based on customer feedback. We'll be very cautious in adding new 
features, however, making sure that they're warranted, intuitive, and 
without compromising the basic functionality of the rig in any way.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


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