[Elecraft] [K3] Re： Re： K3 VS 7600 Sherwood List

[Paul Christensen]

> "Very few of the 7600,7700 and 7800 owners will recognize that K3
> costing way less is equal or superior on some cases than theirs,surely
> they feel embarrased to have spent so much in such those Icoms when
> then we with $3K or less are doing the same job they do..."

Like Johnny, I have most of the mentioned Icom rigs as well as a K3, but I'm 
not sure I've been embarrassed about the Icom purchasing decisions.  To Dave 
Yarnes' point, there are indeed some positive operating and ergonomic 
attributes of the Icoms that the K3 does not have -- but those same 
attributes also allow the K3 to be used in a manner not feasible with the 
Icoms (e.g., size and weight for grab-'n-go portable operations).   So, 
looking at the feature set requires looking beyond what one product has or 
doesn't have to offer.

>From a performance perspective, I doubt I will ever see the positive 
benefits of the K3's strong signal handling performance.  Living in a gated 
community with all its limitations mask that superior benefit -- as well as 
the other limitations already raised -- SSB Tx IMD and CW clicks from other 
stations.  But at the same time, look at how much attention has been given 
to Tx performance in the last five years.  We finally have a set of 
transceivers on the market that minimize transmitted spectrum in CW mode. 
Now that the CW keyed envelope and ALC issues have been solved, the next 
hurdle is keep pushing for better Tx IMD specs.  When that happens, then I 
suspect more ops can then take advantage of the K3's close-spaced receive 
performance.

Paul, W9AC