[Elecraft] Price Comparison and Comment

[Larry Phipps]

Good chart, Bill. I especially agree with some of your footnote 
statements. Being a casual DXer and contest dabbler, I ordered a K3/100 
with just the KXV3. I ordered the modular kit because I wanted to 
experience the new kit methodology, and become familiar with the boards 
and architecture in case I need to do future maintenance. I think a 
couple evenings of time spent with the manual will be well worth it.

I purposely did not make a deposit, so that my unit would fall in the 
second run. I did this in case there are any hardware revisions after 
the first run. I should be early in run 2, and I thought that if I 
waited for feedback from the 1st run guys before ordering, I wouldn't 
get it until 2008 ;-)

I also purposely didn't order any extra filters, as I suspect that the 
variable roofing filters will be out before my order is ready, and I may 
want to consider them for added flexibility (at least for CW). I totally 
agree about internal ATUs... don't like them for a number of reasons. I 
have one I home-brewed that I like anyway. I also don't need a second 
receiver at the moment. K3 allows me to have world class performance at 
a bargain basement price (relatively speaking), with only the features I 
need, but gives me expandability in case I need more options down the road.

Oh, and since I already own a Z90 panadapter, I'm covered on that front.

73,
Larry N8LP



Bill Tippett wrote:
> K0WA wrote:
> > I am sure many of you have done this already....but it is 
> interesting to me....and I thought I would share
> >
> >   1.  FTDX9000 Contest              $5699 (no extras)
> >   2.  Orion II                               $4395
> >   3.  K3                                     $3436 (Includes 5 filters)
> >   4.  FT2000D                            $3399
> >   5  Omni VII                             $3050 (with two filters)
> >   6  IC756PROIII                        $2999
> >
> >   No coupons were added or any reduction of price for this small 
> study of price.
> >
> >   As I see if, you just save $330 from putting it together.  
> HMMMMM.  That kind of makes he happy and sad.  I had the fun of 
> building the K2...but that doesn't seem worth it to build a K3.  Of 
> course, I could be (and usually am) wrong in my thinking here.
>
>         Be careful with comparisons like this!  It
> depends very much on your K3 configuration, and it also
> depends on how you value issues like the quality of the
> Sub Receiver, etc.  The beauty of the K3 is that it can
> be configured very economically depending on what your
> needs are.  Elecraft has cleverly configured the K3 to
> allow it to appeal to many different users:
>
> 1.  Budget minded DXers who need an exceptional RX.
> Include the basic K3, no ATU, KXV3 (for RX antenna
> input) plus 500 Hz filter equals $2149.  CW filter
> depends on IMD/BDR measurements but most likely
> the 500 Hz 5-pole will be entirely sufficient
> based on my experience with Orion.  Build one
> yourself for $1907.
>
> 2.  Budget minded contesters who need 2 for SO2R.
> Twice the above for $4298 assembled or $3814 kitted.
>
> 3.  Those who need truly high performance Sub RX
> for diversity or for use in very crowded conditions.
> K3 + Sub RX + KXV3 + two 500 Hz filters for $2825
> assembled or $2525 kitted.  IMHO this combination
> cannot be duplicated by any of the above rigs due
> to the quality of both K3 receivers (pending actual
> IMD/BDR measurements of course).
>
> 4.  Those who want a truly high performance
> panadapter/bandscope using the K3's IF output to
> an outboard SDR (e.g. Softrock 40, Clifton Laboratories
> Z90/91 Panadapter, etc.)  This gets tricky to price
> but it's nowhere near the $10k range of a full
> blown IC-7800 or FTDX9000.
>
>         I'm not a fan of ATUs but you can add it
> to the above if necessary.  Thank you Elecraft
> and Ten-Tec for not forcing me to pay for an ATU
> if I don't feel I need it (ditto for the 20 and
> 6 kHz filters I never use in my Orion).
>
>         I simply wanted to offer a counterpoint view
> to the pricing listed above.  I'm sure many others
> would do things differently but I believe Elecraft
> has been very clever in allowing us to configure
> exactly what we need...and nothing more.
>
>                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV
>
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