[Elecraft] Date, bugs, and features

[Ed K1EP]

I don't want to add to all the noise about deliveries and delays, but 
I do want to make a suggestion.  First, as some of you know, I was 
lucky to receive my K3 early on.  While I was able to enjoy it sooner 
than most, my K3 had more problems and "features" to deal with than 
the K3s that are being delivered now.  I accepted that in return for 
what turned out to be a great radio.   The radio does perform as a 
radio, it's just that it is not 100% of what was promised on the 
datasheet.  Virtually all of us bought the radio sight unseen based 
on this documentation.   However altruistic you think Elecraft is, it 
is still a for profit business.  Part of the cult, mystique, mojo, or 
whatever you want to call it about Elecraft is that eventually, 
everything will be right and work itself out.   But we are a customer 
and we are purchasing a product from them.   The angst seems to be 
about the definition of "eventually" and whether that "eventuality" 
is two weeks, two months, two years or even at all.  Some of us can 
put up with two years by not ordering a K3 now and some feel that the 
wait since last May has been long enough.  But as K3s are shipped 
from Elecraft, we all would like to know what we are getting when we 
get our K3 or what we get when we upgrade our firmware.  Datasheets 
and flyers list all the great features and outstanding performance 
specs of the K3.  We all know that some of what is listed does not 
exist as of today.  The firmware update site lists *some* of the new 
features and bug fixes, but not all of them.  Most of us, if not all, 
believe that "eventually" they will be delivered and existing bugs 
will be fixed.

The point of all this is, I would like to see a list.  An enumerated 
list of specific features that are working as described (e.g. QSK), 
features that are implemented but are still in process (e.g. DSP NR), 
features that are not available (e.g. KDVR3), new features that are 
coming but not being worked on (e.g. CW sidetone on Line Out), and 
bugs that are known, waiting to be fixed (e.g. having a different 
band on VFO B).  A realistic delivery date should go with all of 
features yet to be implemented and a status and/or completion date 
for all the bugs.  I believe that Don is maintaining some ad hoc list 
of bugs on zerobeat.net (only two active bugs are listed right now), 
but I think that this list should come direct from Elecraft itself, 
contain all the reported and known bugs, and updated whenever any 
status changes.   Some may say that this might impact development 
work as it takes time to maintain this list.  I know of no 
development group that doesn't already maintain a list of bugs and 
ongoing projects.  When I discovered the VFO problem earlier this 
week, I don't think that it had been documented in any public 
forum.  And if it was on this mail list, I probably missed it due to 
all low signal to noise ratio.   One thing I don't like to see is 
someone replying to an bug inquiry with the phrase, "Oh, it's a known 
bug, they are working on it."  If it is known to someone, it should 
be known to all owners or to everyone.

Yes, the K3 was probably released sooner than it should have been, 
but Elecraft made the decision, it has been released and we can't go 
back in time.  As an engineering manager or company owner, you would 
like to have your product on time, within budget, and performing to 
spec.  But if you talk to the engineer developing the product, he or 
she will tell you that you can have only two out of the three.  You 
pick which two.   It seems we are debating the on time vs. spec part 
of the K3.  Some of the items have come out on time but not fully 
implemented to spec and some have been delayed in order to meet the 
specs.  But in all cases, the price point has been met.   I, as 
probably many, would like to see which items are considered delivered 
to spec and which items are still in development or need to be 
fixed.  Sort of a dynamic datasheet.

This doesn't directly address the question of when will I get my 
K3.  And since I stated above, I already have my K3, why should I 
care?  Well, I don't have my second receiver and I do have another K3 
(with deposit) on order.  Yes, I too am disappointed, but I believe 
it will be delivered, the exact date at this point is beyond my 
control and not worth the anxiety.  I have way too many other things 
in life to worry about :)