[Elecraft] WRTC - Rig choices for the contest explained!

Sun Jul 18 07:28:22 EDT 2010

Sure its all meaningless!  Its only Ham Radio!  But rig
selection is such a personal thing!  The winners must be
extremely talented operators to win using FT450's!  Imagine
what they would have done with a real radio :)

On the K3, I look at it the other way.

A 7800/7700 would have collapsed my operating table.  I
really dont want to call my neighbor to help me lift it out
of the shipping crate.

I wanted something small with high performance.  I used to
have a house full of Heathkits, built all of them, and
really miss the kit building experience.  I wanted something
that resembled my Kenwood rigs which I have owned for the
past 25 years in operating logic.  I wanted something that I
would not be afraid to open up and modify myself.  I wanted
something with reasonable performance at a reasonable cost. 
Im not in this to impress my friends with my financial
ability, Im in this to make QSO's and have fun and still be
able to take my family to dinner out and go on vacation.  My
7800 owning friends all have a leather jacket they got for
"free" with their rig they cant wear in Florida.  I have a
Elecraft K3 button that I can pin on my name tag that I got
for free at the Orlando Hamcation. 

If Kenwood had had something worth using, the decision would
have been easy.  I would have looked there first.  I have a
long history with Kenwood (TS520 to TS570 over 25 years),
and I love their ergonomics.  Im not a fan of Yaesu and I
tolerate Icom and TenTec ergonomics.  If I could have bought
a TS950SDX new in the box, I would have.  But its 15 year
old technology now.  I will seriously look at the TS590 when
its released to replace my TS570.  If the performace/price
ratio is what they say it is, it will make a formidable
second rig for me (and keep me in Kenwoods).  

My club has a 7700.  Four of my friends have 7800'ds.  Nice
rigs, but I have two kids in college and I have a hard time
justifying spending eleven grand on a rig because I have to
have a "real" second receiver for my main radio.  Plus its
so damn big and heavy!

I struggled with Flex 5000 vs K3 for a long time.  Do I
really need to replace my beloved 14 year old TS850?  K3 won
out because of its form factor and its upgradeability.  I
like the fact that its small and light.  I rarely touch
knobs other than the volume, RF gain and bandwidth controls
and the VFO.  Everything else is done through my logger
computer.  But I STILL have knobs to twirl when I dont have
a computer running.  And I dont have to be at the mercy of
Windows to run my radio.  Its size is not a problem to me,
its knobs are big enough and its form factor simplicity is
beautiful in its own way.  I am still debating a P3... Do I
even need the features of a band scope?  When I use Icoms, I
hardly ever look at the scope, I use my ears and that big
knob in the center of the panel to find multipliers.

In my book, K3 was the perfect compromise between
performance form factor cost and utility.    

That is the glory of life!  We have choices!

-lu-

----- Original Message Follows -----
From: juergen <plebian99 at yahoo.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net, lromero at ij.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] WRTC - Rig choices for the contest
explained!
Date: Sun, 18 Jul 2010 03:44:24 -0700 (PDT)

>Hi Lu
>
>All meaningless really.  Whats evident from the list is
>that many still prefer the big radio layout like the FT1000
>for its ergonomics.  
>
>If rig selection was so important we should all go out and
>buy FT450's  since the winner used that radio. 
>
>I am sure if you had the hardware that K3LR has in the air,
>you could win any contest even with a IC706!
>
>Until a  bigger K4 is released the K3's small size and
>ergonomics will always be a factor in anyone's purchasing
>decision.  Everyone that I have demonstrated the K3 too,
>that person has always criticized  the radios small size
>and ergonomics for whatever that criticism is worth. 
>
>I am waiting for the K4 or K3B(BIG)! 
>
>73
>John
>
>
>--- On Sun, 7/18/10, Lu Romero <lromero at ij.net> wrote:
>
>> From: Lu Romero <lromero at ij.net>
>> Subject: [Elecraft] WRTC - Rig choices for the contest
>> explained! To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>> Date: Sunday, July 18, 2010, 1:48 AM
>> All:
>> 
>> Well, I certainly poked a rather large stick into the
>> Amateur Radio Contesting ant hill, didnt I?Â  Lots of
>> ants
>> are scurrying around wondering if my between-the-lines
>> conjecture is a seachange for some.
>> 
>> Aparently, its not.Â  
>> 
>> Tim Duffy, K3LR, personally sent me an email regarding my
>> post's questions (!).Â  He asked that I relay his
>> reasons for
>> using a K3 in WRTC to all of you.Â  I have cut them
>> and
>> pasted them in this post.Â  His reasons are certainly
>> plausible.Â  They are as follows (the enphasis is not
>> mine,
>> this is a literal cut and paste):
>> 
>> ----------- snip -------------
>> 
>> K3LR was not the WRTC TEAM LEADER â€“ K3LR was a TEAM
>> MATE of N2NT. As a TEAM MATE K3LR did not have the final
>> decision
>> on what radios would be used by our team. K3LR used the
>> radios that the TEAM LEADER selected.
>> 
>> However, it was good for K3LR to use a K3 (for the first
>> time). K3LR has been asked many times how a K3 compares
>> to the Icom IC 7800 and IC 7700. Now K3LR knows the
>> operational
>> â€œcontestâ€ differences between the Icom radios
and a
>> K3. 
>> 
>> So the result is that the K3LR Multi Multi station will
>> STAY
>> 100% Icom IC7800 and IC7700!
>> 
>> ------------ snip -----------
>> 
>> So there you have it.Â Â Â 
>> 
>> I will leave it to others in the contesting ecosystem to
>> add
>> any more conjecture to my thoughts.Â  I had valid
>> questions
>> and opinions, and I got a plausible answer.
>> 
>> This discussion has helped me remember why my wife
>> suggests
>> that I wear my wedding ring when I travel out of town and
>> elbows me in the ribs when my flirtations with other
>> ladies
>> at cocktail parties cross her "line of reasonableness"...
>> :)Â  
>> 
>> Best 73
>> 
>> Lu Romero - W4LT
>> 
>> 
>>
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