[Elecraft] RE: Preview of coming attractions.

[Lyle Johnson]

>  Wouldn't the KRX3 be considered a "coming attraction"? No word on its status as of today, the 25th, and the projected "shiping" date. Was this just a carrot being dangled in front of those who have waited almost a year? I would hope not, but..... I believe the KRX3 was being offered along with the K3 last year at about this time.....yes? Patience is one thing, but when it's the same old thing over and over it becomes frustrating. At the very least we should have seen an update today.

Let me jump in.

Eric does the web updates and he is on a long delayed and much deserved 
vacation until the end of the month.  Wayne is at Visalia.

The first batch of KRX3 board sets are in fact manufactured and tested. 
  As are the auxiliary DSP boards - the KRX3 has its own dedicated DSP. 
  The special shields were due in a couple of days ago and were delayed 
slightly because the custom tooling was delayed from the toolmaker.  I 
do not know if this is 2 or 3 days or 5 or 6 days and don't care to 
guess.  I am expecting my shield to be shipped any day now.

Once the shields are received, the first batch of KRX3s will be shipped 
to the field testers so they can look for subtleties in operation that 
Wayne and I may have missed.

Meanwhile, KRX3s will be manufactured and held pending any mods that may 
arise from the expanded tests.  This is to minimize the wait time 
between the "green light" from testing and shipment to our customers who 
have waited too long for this product.

The firmware for controlling the KRX3 is complex.  It is working well, 
but it really needs to be hammered on by the field test group to help 
uncover things that Wayne and I might have overlooked.

The manual for installing the KRX3 must be field tested and revised as 
necessary so you'll be able to install the KRX3 into your K3 with 
confidence.

Once we're confident that all is well, we'll ship.

I can state unequivocally that the KRX3 in my K3 is working, and working 
very well.  All modes ( CW, SSB, DATA, AM, FM).  All bands (160m - 6m). 
  Audio goes to LINE OUT.  If I tune it to a frequency and have the same 
filter and filter offset selected in both receivers, they are "locked." 
  I can, for example, listen to WWV USB on one receiver and LSB on the 
other and combine the audios (set SPKR=1 and unplug the headphones) and 
there is no "beat" between them.

I'll be happy to demo it to anyone who lives close enough and wants to 
come to my shack and see it.  Just email me to set up a time.

The KRX3 is real and it is coming soon.  It is not vaporware.  Please, 
just hold on a little longer...

73,

Lyle KK7P