[Elecraft] Parting shot

[Guy Olinger K2AV]

I'm right there with you.

I find the schematics to be of more use for the fine elements of the
HARDWARE aspects of the K3.  But the real meat of the K3 is in the
firmware, which is not going to be published in any way to allow, for
example, to tweak the APF code to suit ourselves.  So for those of us
who have always done our own prying in the hardware and maintained a
degree of independence back in the old world, SMD, high degrees of
functional integration on SMDs, and Software Derived Radio have made
us dependent on the radio manufacturers to a degree with which we are
getting INcreasingly UNcomfortable.

It's kind of like having a fine topographical/photographic map of
everywhere around Area 51, with of course fences and security at the
boundary, heavy penalties for trespassing, and also of course, having
Area 51 itself blanked out on the map.  It's regretfully, necessarily
a non-negotiable boundary between insatiable public curiosity, and an
armed need for government security.

And, while I know Eric is trying to shut down this long, long, long,
long multi-paralleled thread for procedural reasons and has been
fairly forgiving of it, I hope Elecraft has noticed some things about
THIS thread that sets it starkly apart from the likes of "true north"
and other famous endless, everybody-weighs-in thread.

1) It is NOT being advanced by a NARROW slice of the user base (as in
CW contesters or 2M digital moonbounce operators).

2) The usual futzglop of it's-never-good-enough'ers does NOT dominate
the cast of posters.

3) ALL aspects of the documentation have been questioned, not focused
on one thing.

4) Those with professional documentation training or involvement are
questioning the state of affairs of documentation in general, and
regretfully see the K3 in the same state as documentation in general.

It seems to be what the Klingon Ruler called the "undiscovered
country" in one of the Star Trek movies.

Despite all kinds of good faith effort by Elecraft and their
most-excellent volunteer cast, there is clearly an unmet need that
current state of documentation art does not meet.  Sort of like radio
front ends before TenTec, huh?   Oh, yeah...

5)  A serious documentation methodology breakthrough certainly IS a
patentable offering.

73, and I'll try to pay attention to Eric's end-of-thread.

Guy.


On Thu, Dec 9, 2010 at 11:22 AM, Mel Farrer <farrerfolks at yahoo.com> wrote:
> FWIW, the user manual is fine.  What you are describing, is a service manual.
>
> Mel,
>
>
>
>
> ________________________________
> From: eric manning <eric.manning at engr.uvic.ca>
> To: Jim Garland <4cx250b at muohio.edu>
> Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net; "Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft"
> <eric at elecraft.com>
> Sent: Thu, December 9, 2010 7:42:08 AM
> Subject: [Elecraft] Parting shot
>
>
> Precisely!!!
> I'm trying to diagnose a K2 fault at the moment. I'm largely acting as a robot
> directed
> by Don Wilhelm, thank goodness for Don&  Gary.
>
>  I would be
> even more at sea, out to lunch,  if I were trying to cope with a fault in the
> far more complex K3.
> I've read the K3 manual carefully [fb user manual!] and I still don't have a
> clue as to circuit level function, sufficient to infer fault from malfunction.
>
> [I did my PhD thesis on electronic fault diagnosis&  co-wrote the first
> book on the subject . . .]
>
> ERIC
> VA7DZ
> [PhD in EE, F.IEEE, FEIC, P.Eng., etc etc]
>
> ________________________
>
> I'd like to see a K3 service manual, or at least a comprehensive circuit
> description. Without some explanation, the downloaded schematics are pretty
> worthless to somebody trying to understand the radio. In particular, the
> published K3 block diagram is an exercise in obscurity. In my opinion, it's
> nearly impossible for someone even to follow the receive or transmit signal
> path.
>
> 73,
>
> Jim W8ZR
>
>
>
> --
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