[Elecraft] More on N0SS K3 External Speaker Splitter

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:20:07 -0600, Tom Hammond wrote:

>Since the posting of the link to my K3 Speaker Splitter PC board, 
I 
>have received a number of requests (orders if you will) for PC 
>boards.

While I appalud your willingness to share, there is another good 
solution. What we really need is a "stereo to mono" breakout cable 
that has a 3-circuit male plug wired for stereo, split to two mono 
jacks. Here's the problem -- Radio Schlock, Worst Buy, and their 
ilk pushed the real connector mfrs out of the market with cheaply 
made connectors and adapter cables, but they don't sell the cable 
we need. 

The GOOD connectors are made by Switchcraft and Neutrik. In North 
America, we can buy these parts from vendors like Newark, Allied, 
Digikey, etc. The catch is that they cost more than a buck, and 
hams can be cheap, so they think they're too expensive. They're 
not -- they are of much higher quality, don't have the melting 
insulation and lousy contact material problems of the cheap 
connectors, and are far more robust mechanically. 

The solution is simple. Simply belly up to the bar and place an 
order with one of these real electronics vendors for real 
connectors and build your own adapters. 

Now a brickbat to Elecraft. Speakers are individual products, they 
don't come wired with 3-circuit plugs, and as noted above, it's 
not easy to buy parts to build adapters. What Elecraft SHOULD have 
done is provide TWO output jacks, not one. They played cheap (or 
dumb, to the extent that they were ignorant of the marketplace). 
Now to fix it? Rebuilding the I/O panel is costly. A better fix 
for their design error is to provide the unique breakout cable 
that is required.  

It has long been good practice when selling quality electronics 
products to ship unique connectors and or cable assemblies with 
the product, especially when they are not commonly available in 
the marketplace. This breakout cable is exactly such a unique 
part.  

73,

Jim K9YC