[Elecraft] K3V - another new product speculation

[Erik Basilier]

Olli,

I have personal experience in the past of how popular weak signal work on 2m
is in Europe.
Judging from QST columns there is also a lot of 2m dxing on the U.S. East
Coast. 
So, there is definitely a significant market for good V/U gear, but I cannot
judge whether it is big enough by itself to be profitable. 
My current personal perspective is a little different. My QTH is in Arizona.
Look at the diagrams of VHF DX QSO paths in QST. Almost never does such a
QSO involve Arizona. It must be the Rocky Mountains acting as a barrier. I
have decent 2m weak signal gear, but in practice it is quite useless because
there is noone to qso with, at least until the day I make a serious effort
at moonbounce. Not suggesting that my situation is typical of the
prospective market for a V/U rig, but I could not justify the purchase by
the V/U capability alone.
On the other hand, if the rig were a fully functional K3/10 capable of being
my all-band HF backup rig, then I could see maybe buying an optional, high
performance internal transverter or two as upgrades. It would have to be
high performance and high flexibility, not forcing me into single feedline
or RF switching of the mast mounted preamp. I reject the latter because it
usually limits max power, and maybe just because I am old school. The rig
might even have enhancements in the area of frequency accuracy, although
today's K3 already looks good in that respect. The transverters would
definitely need to put out enough power to drive kilowatt amplifiers. 

73,
Erik K7TV

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Oliver "Olli" Dröse
Sent: Sunday, April 10, 2011 1:04 PM
To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3V - another new product speculation

> That is an extremely small market. There is a reason the rigs you
> mentioned are no longer around. Serious ops go the transverter route.

The problem is that there are NO good VHF/UHF radios anymore! That's why the

serious OPs MUST go the transverter route. Believe me, there's quite some
market 
in Europe for really good VHF&up equipment. We have a high population
density 
here with lots of active stations. Especially during contests were the big
guns 
do > 1.000 QSOs alone on 2 m in a 24 h contest. Ever wondered why companies
like 
DB6NT technologies can sell monoband 20 W transverters for 1.400 EUR?
Because 
there is demand for extra-ordinary performance.

To my mind a "K3V" incl. 10, 6, 2 m with 100 W, crossband capability 
(satellites) and with optional internal 70 & 23 cm and 4 m modules would be
a 
really good seller as long as it could be produced for a price as the stock
K3 + 
100 W amp ranges today. But surely the market is smaller than that for a K3
as 
is today. External transverters are rather a pain, again some extra boxes, 
cabling needed, a.s.o., not really portable/mobile friendly. Put it all into
one 
package and it will be a real plus.

Unfortunately this will never happen, I fear. :-((

Vy 73, Olli - DH8BQA



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