[Elecraft] K3 Complexity

[Phil LaMarche]

Wayne,

Your email response to John's honest concerns is one of the many reasons I
love owning a Elecraft K3.  There are multi layers of intellect within our
community and you try honestly to address all of us.  I personally am in the
lower tier and wish I had more experience to get full benefits from this
radio.  But, I learn every day and my level of understanding goes up daily.
In the mean time, I am happy to use the radio at my level.  Being an ex Flex
user of 4 years, I am especially happy for the LP-PAN, which allows me to
use the K3 in the Flex mode.  Smile.  I've learned to appreciate SCR and
it's workings.

Thank you for your understanding and addressing our needs.

Phil 


Philip LaMarche 
LaMarche Enterprises, Inc.
www.instantgourmetspices.com

www.w9dvm.com 
800-395-7795 pin 02 
727-944-3226 
FAX 727-937-8834 
NASFT 30210 

K3  #1605

CCA 98  00827
W9DVM 



-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of wayne burdick
Sent: Thursday, May 07, 2009 1:24 PM
To: John Lyon
Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Complexity

Hi John,

Thanks for the feedback.

> ....concerned that the K3 is becoming just another menu driven radio - 
> with so many parameters that the result is brain  paralysis.

We only add new menu entries after very careful consideration. Any new
entries come up at factory defaults, and most users who are not interested
in that function can just leave them there. Most of them are in the
"advanced" category are only visible in Tech Mode, reducing the chance of
changing them accidentally. If you do change one, you can see what the
default value is by tapping DISP while in that menu entry. 
(The default is the first thing shown, in parentheses.)

> How many AGC parameters does one person need, even with different 
> modes and band conditions?

The only AGC menu entry we've added since the pleistocene (2007) is AGC DCY,
which is used to turn on an optional soft-decay characteristic. We did lots
of lab tests, including building a highly stable 4-signal oscillator, before
we concluded that an alternative AGC characteristic would be useful in
pileup conditions. This had to be a menu entry, because we knew traditional
AGC decay would still be preferred by most users.

I recommend using all of the AGC defaults except in special circumstances.
Others are free to pitch their favored settings.

> I'd rather see Elecraft complete the original feature list. What ever 
> happened to synchronous detection?

Lyle has been working on that, but basic performance issues get attention
first. For example, there were claims of high-frequency AF artifacts that he
had to investigate. Turns out we have a lot of customers with incredibly
good hearing :)  We'll have more to report on this soon. But Lyle is getting
close to having AM sync working.

> The hope of a keyboard connection?

This was supposed to be my project, but again, I've had a lot of basic
firmware maintenance to keep up with. Everything is more time-consuming than
you think it will be. This is especially true with the K3: it has appealed
to a lot of new customers with different expectations. It isn't just QRP and
full kits anymore. We've had to broaden our scope and take many new ideas
into account in the design/refinement process.

> Or for that manner, a tightly integrated panadapter?

Now you *know* I can't talk about that :)

> An up-to-date, complete owner's manual?

I just completed a new revision last week. It's being reviewed. I'd be happy
to send you a .pdf of it.

In short, I believe we're keeping up with K3 user needs, while not making
the rig too complex. I understand your concern, though, and I'll continue to
vet new firmware ideas thoroughly before making changes.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

---

http://www.elecraft.com

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