[Elecraft] K3: anticipated date for next "normal" FW update?

[Mitch Wolfson DJØQN]

In that case, it would be better for them to rename these "pre-release" or 
similar, instead of beta.

I worked for Microsoft for several years, and now have a complete aversion 
to the term "beta", so I will never load something using that term for 
production use. I assume I am not the only one with that problem ;-)

73,
Mitch DJ0QN

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Don Wilhelm" <w3fpr at embarqmail.com>
To: <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 2:41 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3: anticipated date for next "normal" FW update?


> Doug and all,
>
> And I also agree with Ed and Bill.  I have been downloading the latest 
> test versions of the firmware that is available to the field testers since 
> January.  No problems have been encountered.
>
> Even the 'beta' versions have been tested by the field testers, and we all 
> have agree that we have not found any problems before it is released to 
> 'beta'.  There may be subtle remaining issues that can arise with a 
> greater number of 'testers', but that is an exposure even with full 
> release firmware or software.  I encourage you to use the latest, even if 
> it is a beta version.  If you identify any problems, please report them 
> with as much detail of the conditions as possible - your problem must be 
> reproducible in order to be fixed.
>
> I too have more fear about upgrading software than I do about the K3 
> firmware, but I am running WinXP SP3 here!
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR
>
> Ed Muns wrote:
>>> DOUGLAS ZWIEBEL wrote:
>>>> I think having lots of Beta versions avaible to all is very
>>> cool and
>>>> exciting, but then there are us non-early adopters to remember too.
>>>>
>>
>> W4ZV wrote:
>>> Speaking as a field tester, I feel there is little risk in using beta 
>>> versions.  Anything publicly posted by Elecraft has already been through 
>>> some level of testing by the field test team.  It's not like there 
>>> hasn't been any testing at all, and you can always back up a version or 
>>> two if there's a problem.  You're not going to permanently "break" 
>>> anything in the rig by loading beta firmware.  I'm much more leery about 
>>> loading SP3
>>> (still!) for Windows XP than I am beta firmware for the K3.
>>>
>>> That said, even I would probably not use a very recently released 
>>> version in a contest.
>>
>> I agree with Bill, although I have to admit that I load the latest 
>> firmware
>> every time I'm in the radio room.  For over a year now, I've always used 
>> the
>> most recent firmware provided to Field Test for evaluation, even in
>> contests.  I've never had a major problem and I've actively used nearly
>> every version the engineers have churned out, including multiple versions 
>> of
>> the same version number!  If I were to have a problem, I'd simply load a
>> prior version which is trivial to do with the K3 Utility.  In one 
>> Thursday
>> night NCCC practice Sprint, I got several reports of an odd-sounding CW
>> signal and that immediately led to a firmware fix of a very subtle issue
>> that only happened on a few discreet frequencies.  So, given Elecraft's
>> responsiveness, I am very bullish about using the latest firmware and
>> helping move the K3 forward.
>>
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