[Elecraft] Happy But Very Sad

Sat Jun 23 13:55:08 EDT 2012

I am very fortunate in that I have both a K3 and an FT 5000 MP.  Both radios
have their strong points and some weak points.  But frankly I have never had
a report of either splatter or key clicks from the K3.  I run it with an
amplifier at which time the K3 output is around 20 to 30 W.  When I use it
barefoot at 100 W it also seems very clean with no adverse reports.  The FT
5000 certainly has a fine main receiver but the secondary receiver is not as
good since it does not use the front end roofing filters.  That is in
contrast to the K3 whose secondary receiver is identical in performance to
the main receiver.  As for as I know, that is the only radio that offers
that feature.  Also, the K3 weighs only about 8 pounds as contrasted with 55
pounds for the FT 5000.  Obviously, I will not be doing much traveling with
the FT 5000.  Someone mentioned what they perceived as inferior feel to the
vfo on the K3.  Again I must dispute that.  It feels quite adequate to me.
The FT 5000 vfo is very smooth but is also much more complex in its
construction.  It is also much easier to change the tuning rate on the K3 as
compared to the FT 5000 where one must go into the menu system to do that.
The K3 requires only a push of a button or two.  I really think it is
pointless to endlessly argue the finer points of either radio.  They will
appeal to different folks for different purposes.  I think we are very
fortunate to have them both available.  Of course, Elecraft wins hands down
for customer support.  No one does that better than Elecraft.

Bruce-W8FU

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Robert Vargas
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 7:14 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Happy But Very Sad

Love my K3 as I know I will love my KX3 on order and I love
Elecraft customer support and the fact that the owners stand behind their
products and are real gentlemen. However, if I had $5K to spend and the
difference between a fully loaded K3 and the FT-5000 was around $500-$700, I
would blindly go with the FT-5000. The specs are close for me and I have
operated the FT-5000 and believe that it also has a great receiver. The
difference I believe lies in the construction/workmanship of both radios and
I'm reminded about that every time I turn the K3 VFO. I believe that the KX3
pricing is more inline with what you are getting but the K3 is IMHO slightly
overpriced for a kit. But, I then have to realize that someone has to pay
for the magnificent intellectual work that Wayne and Eric have done in the
development of the K3's firmware, and that is worth the money. I really look
forward to better construction/workmanship for the K4...

Robert, KP4Y  

________________________________
 From: Scott Manthe <scott.manthe at gmail.com>
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2012 6:54 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Happy But Very Sad

I said the K3's transmitter was superior to the FT-5000, not perfect. 
The ARRL review lists the 3rd order TX IMD numbers at -30db for the 5000 and
-29 dB for the K3, but those numbers alone don't tell the whole story. Take
at look at the ARRL's phase noise numbers and spectral display
characteristics for the FT-5000's transmitted signal and compare them to the
K3 and then get back to us. To be fair, the K3 tested does seem to have an
issue with inferior 9th order IMD numbers, though.

These figures were without the FT-5000's processor turned on, which of
course, dirties up the 5000's signal quite a bit, unless that "feature" 
has been fixed. If it has, many contesters will be tearing up, because that
and the key clicks help FT5000 ops get higher scores.

Re: your other post, my K3 is rated at 100 watts output, so I'm sure someone
running one at 120 watts will notice that the performance does degrade. I
find the slightly higher PS voltage an intriguing idea.

The FT-5000 is a fine rig, and is fairly clean in class A mode, with the
processor turned off, but most people don't run them that way.

73,
Scott, N9AA

On 6/22/12 5:48 PM, Adrian wrote:
> K3 a superior transmitter in imd product results? Your kidding right?
> Out in the real world the K3 has a bad rep for splatter and imd3 product.
> See;
>
> http://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,75182.0.html
>
> Those of us with K3's running 15v PS with heavy cable inputs, driving 
> clean amps escape the wrath of the imd police.
> The 5000 is way better esp in class A operation.
>
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