[Elecraft] K rig's longevity?

[DolfinDon at msn.com]

Hi

I am an OEM supplier of controllers used in the waste water business. I have 
needed to do a redesign at least 3 or 4 times in the last 10 years because 
the MPU's or other IC's are fazed out and no longer made by the manufacture. 
They will usually spec a replacement but it is usually not pin or software 
compatible.

This is the problem I see with all ham radios that use large scale IC's and 
or custom IC's. As long as the radio is working I don't see any problem with 
it lasting 15 to 35 years. But if you get a lightening hit or some part just 
fails you you be out of luck unless it is just some discrete part like a 
resistor, capacitor or transistor (even some transistors are no longer made 
although you can usually find something that will work)


Don Brown

KD5NDB


----- Original Message ----- 
From: <N2EY at aol.com>
To: <Keith.Darwin at goodrich.com>; <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 6:52 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K rig's longevity?



<SNIP>

> That last one is a biggie. A lot of vintage gear survives on the air 
> because
> it's easy to keep going. A lot of newer gear is relegated to the heap 
> because
> you can't get parts, or the skills/tools/test gear/documentation needed to 
> fix
> it are rare and expensive.
>
> Will it be possible to keep a K2 working 35 years? I don't see why not, 
> given
> that almost all the parts are readily available, the documentation is wide
> open and free, and expert assist is available from several sources. Plus 
> when
> you get right down
> to it, the hardware part isn't all that complicated because so much is 
> done
> in software.
>
> 73 de Jim, N2EY
>
>