[Elecraft] K3: 7.2 pound tuning knob

[Brett Howard]

I don't understand your argument at all about the power supply and
bandscope being something the user still as to absorb.  You don't see
that as better?  As I go right now I already have a power supply and I'd
be annoyed if I had to pay for a power supply again just cause one is
built into the rig.  Plus thats an extra huge schwack of weight that I
have to pack around when I take the radio anywhere.  Not to mention the
fact that I don't get the choose the type of supply that I use.

As for the pan-adapter I'd rather have the ability to choose if I want
one on the computer or if I want one on an LCD or how I want this
option.  I'm sure there are people who have already purchased
panadapters and are happy that they are going to be able to just
interface that unit to the K3 and save money.  What about the guys who
don't want/need a panadapter?  Should they have to pay for the feature
that was built into the rig already?  I'm sure they'd rather have the
feature taken out and get a savings realized.

And honestly if the biggest "reasonable" gripe that is being thrown
around is shipping status updates and having to push a button a few
times to cycle through bands and modes rather than separate buttons for
each one then thats pretty good.  You know a product is great when the
only gripes people have are nit picks!


On Sat, 2008-04-05 at 12:31 -0400, S Sacco wrote:
> Before someone calls for a big Elecraft Group Hug...
> 
> As long as I have my K3, I'll wish that it allowed me to directly
> switch to the band I want, rather than have to sequence up/down, or
> program memories, which still requires two keystrokes.
> 
> Same with the mode.
> 
> Although the knobs aren't as close together as I thought they'd be, I
> still wish there was a bit more space between them.  All said, the UI
> (including menu system) is excellent and very intuitive, and MUCH
> better than I thought it would be.
> 
> I'm still wondering why/how Elecraft gets away with such little
> surface cooling area for the PA.  It must work, but I've always
> wondered why the other manufacturers seemed to put more into that
> area.
> 
> It doesn't have a built-in power supply, which shifts the
> size/weight/cost away from the K3, but are nonetheless expenses the
> owner must bear.  Along with that, it also doesn't have band-scope,
> which is something I grew to like quite a bit when I had my ProII's.
> Again, the size/weight/cost for this has been shifted away from the
> K3, but is an expense the owner must absorb.
> 
> The K3 was shipped 8-9 months too soon, given the immature state of
> the firmware.  This behavior would have been wildly and viscously
> attacked if exhibited by a Japanese manufacturer.
> 
> Elecraft consistently failed to provide accurate shipping status.
> 
> Elecraft has already been well rewarded for their efforts:  If we
> assume they've shipped 650 K3's @ $2,200 (I thought I'd err on the
> lower-end of the range), they're received $14,300,000 in revenue.
> Revenue NOT = Profit, obviously.
> 
> That said, I like my K3, and have a 2nd on order, and I'd do it all
> over again...but, no doubt, better radios are on the horizon (they
> always are).  The K3 is not protected by any patents, so the hardware
> is easily cloned.   It's the firmware and UI which will be Elecraft's
> competitive advantage going forward.  Time will tell if they're up for
> the challenge.  I like to think they will be, but if they're not, oh
> well.
> 
> Time to go back outside, and finish my South 4/4 10M stack.  Next up:
> the 4/4 20M stack.
> 
> 73,
> Steve NN4X