[Elecraft] Fwd: New Sherwood report

Al Lorona alorona at sbcglobal.net
Thu Dec 2 00:38:56 EST 2010


Tables like this one mean almost nothing to me. Dynamic range is so good across 
the board that it's now overrated. When you're talking about differences of a 
few dB other details start to matter much more. For instance, the chief factor 
that pushed me off the fence toward a K3 was it's diversity reception scheme; 
you don't see that listed anywhere in the table.

What about how the radio *sounds*? Where in the table is that? How about it's 
macro and programming capability? Is that in the table? Or its effect on your 
psyche after 24 hours of a contest? These things are much harder to measure.

(Another pet peeve is the dozens of videos on YouTube with two radios set up 
side by side as the camera operator switches the antenna between them, while the 
built-in mic on the camera picks up all of the room noise. What in the world are 
these videos supposed to prove?)

To paraphrase what Wynton Marsalis said about technique-- that all it does is 
get you "in the door"-- about all these numbers prove is that a particular rig 
is worthy of closer scrutiny. By no means is it a stamp of approval. This goes 
for the K3 as well as any other rig.

Al W6LX


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