[Elecraft] K3: remote control

[Fred Jensen]

On 7/5/2011 4:00 PM, Kevin Rock wrote:
> Plus it is only a few chips on a board to get the job done.  Firmware is
> dead simple too.  Simple solution, why hasn't anyone built it yet?

Oooh and the phrase, "only a few chips on a board."  I'll skip over the 
"dead simple."

Forgive me folks, but I got "promoted" to Division Chief Engineer ...  a 
little more money, a lot more headaches, and it wasn't worth it, I 
retired as soon as I could.

I'm jaded, I admit it, completion estimates never actually happen, ever, 
ever.  It keeps the contract techs and lawyers busy.  We once had a 
board going into a mobile radio control box.  In 4WD trucks ... in 4WD 
territory.  Our creation actually worked, and we were a week ahead of 
schedule!  All our electrical and software tests said it worked.  I was 
pretty happy as, for a final test, I gave it to our Mech E and said, 
"Stick it in your Shake and Bake, and see what comes off," expecting 
nothing, of course.

All the caps came off, at amplitudes and frequencies that coincided with 
what the 4WD trucks would subject them to.  A huge lesson for that 
Project Engineer -- which was me, and I was 45 by then.  All 0.01 mfd 
caps are not created equal.

Almost nothing really important these days that involves technology is 
done by an individual in isolation.  Engineering, all of it, is a team 
effort, and I submit Elecraft as a huge example ... I happen to 
personally know a number of the E-folks, and I respect their individual 
skills, talent, and genius.  But I respect them far more for their teamwork.

Teamwork kept me and most of my guys alive in war, it still works today. 
  It's just a lot harder than it looks from the head end, and it takes a 
lot more people to do their jobs to make it all work.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2011 Cal QSO Party 1-2 Oct 2011
- www.cqp.org