[Elecraft] On the advisability of selling kit radios

[Bob - W0GI]

<<<<<<<<< Certainly there is no good reason to start a company selling a 100
Watt 
kit SSB/CW rig....OTOH Elecraft bet it could and it would appear that they 
are successful. >>>>>>>>>>

There are some flaws in the logic. The K2 wasn't just another 100W HF and it
still isn't today.

A base K2 was and is a CW QRP rig with a top-end receiver and very low
current draw. There was nothing competing with it then, and there isn't
anything competing with it now.  If you want a QRP rig with a top-end
receiver and the lowest current consumption possible, then even the K3
doesn't complete as it draws 4 times the current on receive. the K1 and KX1
don't have the top-end receiver, but current consumption is a fraction of
the K2. I love my K1, and the receiver is plenty good enough for the "wire
in a tree". With the internal batteries and tuner, I don't need to carry
more then a paddle and wire to operate for a long time.

Yes, you can add all the options to a K2, and have a excellent 100W rig, but
if it had been introduced as an "all options only" 100w kit, it would have
been expensive, and I don't know if Elecraft would be around today.

Elecraft started out making a rig that was like nothing else available.
There was a big void to fill.  Amplifiers are a different story. Where is
the void?  If you have the money, there are amps that do the job
automatically, without any user input needed, other then the ON/OFF switch.

As for a loss leader, high power SS amps are great, but those transistors
aren't rugged like tubes, and oscillation problems and other issues blowing
very expensive transistors could become a big drain on Elecraft's profits.

With the design issues and expense, and after the sale expense, I think
Elecraft would be wise to stay out of the amp business. It would be a big
risk.


 

  


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