[Elecraft] Radio Displays

[Bill Frantz]

I think mine are correctly aligned. Light is polarized when it 
reflects off certain flat surfaces such as water and asphalt. 
When I test my glasses, it kills those reflections best when my 
head is level.

I agree that E-Ink has some disadvantages. It will absolutely 
need an external light for night use. However, the Kindles 
(which use E-Ink) I have looked at seem to be able to update 
their screens reasonably quickly. Deciding if it is quick enough 
does need to be tested. However, when I look at the K3 and KX3 
displays, the only thing that might need speed is the s-meter. 
They don't have spectrum displays, and the other items can 
probably be handled by a peak-holding the display.

A quick glance at the Wikipedia article 
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_paper> indicates that 
these displays should be able to be made for selective update, 
or even for application specific configurations like the 
displays of the K3, KX3, FTM-10, and Icom 706 to name just a 
few. Whether they can be manufactured economically in the small 
quantities required by these applications I don't know.

The upside of the technology is an absolutely beautiful display, 
much like type on paper. It doesn't fade out in sunlight and has 
a wide angle of visibility. Since my FTM-10 is in a Miata, it is 
really hard to read the screen in strong sunlight, even without 
the polaroid problem. (And yes, the brightness is turned up to 
max.) (For my writeup of installing that radio with its 
broadcast AM/FM receive + 2M and 70cm, see the West Valley 
Amateur Radio Association Heterodyne <http://www.wvara.org/het/heterodyne_201202.pdf>.

Cheers - Bill, AE6JV

Tilting my head in all cases changes the contrast of the screen, 
from zero up to near max.
On 5/9/12 at 11:25, wconrad at yagni.com (Wayne Conrad) wrote:

>I wonder if something's the matter with your glasses.>   In my 
>experience, radios, gas stations pumps, cel phones, &c. are set 
>up to be aligned properly for viewing through polarized sunglasses.


On 5/9/12 at 12:31, kevinr at coho.net (kevinr) wrote:

>What happens if you take off your polarized sunglasses and turn 
>them 90 degrees with respect to the display?

On 5/9/12 at 14:40, phystad at mac.com (Phil Hystad) wrote:

>Please, not E-ink.  It needs ambient light so if you are 
>mobiling at night with the lights out in your mobile vehicle 
>then you will not see the e-ink display.  Also, e-ink is slow 
>and in general, I think, the entire display must be updated to 
>change anything which makes it a hassle for display of 
>real-time events such as s-meter, SWR, power out, or even 
>spectrum display.
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