[Elecraft] Comparison: K3 and SDR 5000A

[Richard Smith]

Hi Bill,

I would like to balance the scales here a little bit.  First of all, I am 
not only an Elecraft fan, but a Flex-Radio fan as well.  I own a K2 as well 
as an SDR-1000.  I love what all these guys have done for Amateur Radio in 
the past few years.  We are all the beneficiaries of their excellent 
engineering and competitive spirits.

After some long and hard thinking, I chose the SDR-5000A over the K3.  I 
think the specs are very close and either rig will do better than anything 
I've ever owned before, including the K2, the SDR-1000 and an Icom 756PRO. 
And all of those rigs were more than adequate in my location.  Of course, 
your mileage and mission may vary.  I think the K3 and 5000A will both blow 
away the Icom - Yaesu competition costing many thousands more.

I think your cost analysis is a bit overstated.  I don't understand why Flex 
Radio priced the 5000C so high.  I think a fairer comparison is with the 
5000A plus a stand alone computer.  I imagine that most hams would be able 
to use the computer currently in their shack.  I upgraded mine to a dual 
core AMD Athlon 64 X2 by throwing in a new motherboard, etc. for a few 
hundred dollars when I got the SDR-1000.  The CPU runs at less than 20% when 
running the SDR-1000 full bore.  For the $600 you mention for a PC, you can 
get more than enough machine off the shelf to run an SDR-5000A plus 
everything else in the shack simultaneously (e.g., logging program, PSK-31, 
etc.).  So now the calculation looks like:

    SDR-5000A    $2799
    Computer           $600

    Total                $3399, not $5098.  I don't think you need the $99 
knob.

    In my case I already have the computer, and I bought the radio just 
before the October 1 price increase, so my cost is $2499, or actually $2798 
with the ATU.

Ergonomically, I must say that I really like the computer GUI of the 
PowerSDR.  I was skeptical at first, and was reluctant to give up my knobs, 
but I don't even reach for them anymore.  Tuning is very smooth with a 
mousewheel, and its very easy to "reach" for other programs on the screen 
while operating by just simply moving the mouse.  I also like the fact that 
you can connect various programs to the PowerSDR program through virtual 
audio and port connections - that is you can, for instance interface a PSK31 
program to the radio audio and com port without any cables, etc.   You can 
have many such channels running simultaneously.  The radio should also 
improve over time as the software continues to evolve.  Very cool.

But most of all for me, its about the bandscope.  I got hooked by the 
756PRO, and the SDR-1000 brought my addiction to a whole other level.  Its 
not just seeing, its doing.  Point and click tuning.  Point and drag tuning. 
Visual bandedge filter adjustments by dragging an edge.  Etc.  For me, this 
was the key deciding factor for going with the SDR-5000A rather than the K3, 
where to me, the other specs are very close.

But in a perfect world, I'd own both.

    73,

    Rich W1EZ




----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Bill Tippett" <btippett at alum.mit.edu>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, October 06, 2007 3:52 PM
Subject: [Elecraft] Comparison: K3 and SDR 5000A


> Form Factor:
>
> This is a religious issue with some.  Knobs versus
> no knobs.  "Real Radios Don't Need Knobs" (Flex's slogan).
> I suppose the K3's corollary slogan is "Real Radios Don't
> Need Computers".  :-)
>
>
> Cost (for the 5000 it depends on whether you already have
> a fairly high-performance computer dedicated to your shack.
> I'm going to compare the 5000C which includes the computer
> and will assume $200 for an LCD display):
>
> 5000C $5098 (no ATU, $200 display plus a $99 knob option)
> K3    $2825 (assembled K3/100, KXV3, KRX3, 2X 500 Hz filters)
>
> Of course the K3 does not include a bandscope, but the KXV3
> provides the wide bandwidth buffered IF output to do this.
> Eventually Elecraft, Clifton Labs or someone will provide
> this.  The solution could be as simple as a SoftRock40 on
> the 8.215 MHz output to something much more exotic.  Let's
> assume $400 for something like a Clifton Labs Z91 plus
> another $600 for an adequate computer and display, resulting
> in an additional $1000 for interface hardware, computer and
> display.  I'm assuming free software based either on Rocky
> or PowerSDR.  This results in:
>
> 5000C $5098
> K3+   $3825
>
> Advantage:  K3 which will have basic RX performance
> exceeding the 5000 (see above) and a parallel SDR bandscope.
> Assuming someone like HB9DRV integrates this with his Ham
> Radio Deluxe program, I believe the K3 will maintain a
> significant price advantage over the 5000C.
>
>
>                                 73,  Bill  W4ZV
>
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com