[Bulk] Re: [Elecraft] OT: foot switch - why?

[Darrell Bellerive]

Bingo!

In the analog world getting a VOX to work properly was a difficult task. It 
required an audio delay line. In todays DSP world VOX should be perfect.

The problem is that there are no minimum standards for a VOX. People got used 
to VOX's that took a half second or more of audio to activate and added 
another second of delay to keep the transmitter on to avoid repeating the 
process. BT on CW was replaced with Ahhhhh on phone. After all this is just 
how VOX works, isn't it?

A VOX can be designed and built that will follow speech without losing as much 
as a millisecond of audio and have full QSK, activating the receiver between 
words and even some syllables. The user set delay becomes one of preference 
not one of necessity to reduce lost chunks of speech.

The problem is really one of cost and price. How many would be willing to pay 
more for a well designed VOX. Not many. I find the VOX on my K2 to be 
useless. I will bet that the majority of people think it is just fine. If 
Elecraft had not included a VOX then the multitudes, and especially the 
reviewers, would have been criticizing them for building a radio without a 
VOX. So add a VOX that will satisfy 60 or 70 percent of the users and keep 
costs and the end price down.

Those of us who view high quality and high performance as desirable over a 
multitude of features are in the minority. Just look at most consumer 
electronics. Thirty years ago I was in the home audio industry for a few 
years. Ten years ago I decided that I wanted a new stereo system. Was I in 
for a shock! First of all there were very few manufacturers that even built a 
stereo receiver. Everything on the market was for "surround sound." Then the 
specs; The audio specs on the average surround sound receiver were worse than 
the worst of the stereo receivers from 20 years earlier. I bought a high 
priced Rotel stereo receiver just to get the average specs of the receivers 
of two decades earlier.

Most people want all the bells and whistles and fancy displays they can get 
for the lowest price possible. Most features are never even used, and few 
people even notice the lack of performance or bugs. If they do, they just 
live with it. After all that is just the way these things work...

Ask a cell phone dealer for the MDS or IMD specs of a cell phone. Even though 
the radio performance is essential, the specs only list the number of pixels 
in the camera or the number of bytes of storage for MP3's and ring tones.

Thank you Elecraft for catering to those of us who value quality and 
performance. From what I have read about the K3 VOX, it would appear that 
Elecraft has gotten it right. Now if they could just get back to refining the 
K2.... Let's see add a new VOX and noise blanker and updated firmware and fix 
the synthesizer clicks and.... The K2 may not be perfect but it is still my 
choice over any other radio made except perhaps for a K3.

73,
Darrell   VA7TO   K2 #5093

On Friday 21 March 2008 16:58, Bill W5WVO wrote:
> All good reasons. My #1 reason, though, is that I've never used a VOX that
> didn't suck.
-- 
Darrell Bellerive
Amateur Radio Stations VA7TO and VE7CLA
Grand Forks, British Columbia, Canada