[Elecraft] What is next from Elecraft?

[Hop - AC8NS]

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Brian Denley" <b.denley at comcast.net>
To: "george fritkin" <georgefritkin at yahoo.com>
Cc: "El" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Monday, August 19, 2013 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] What is next from Elecraft?


>I may be in the minority but I would like another high end kit that will 
>provide as much fun and satisfaction as the K2 gave me.
>
> Brian KB1VBF

Elecraft makes other kits besides transceivers: dummy loads, baluns, RF 
signal sources, etc.

What I would really like Elecraft to offer is a VNA kit patterned after the 
N2PK design. There would also be the opportunity to offer kit versions of 
the usual accessories normally used with a VNA, as well as single versus 
dual detectors. Please don't misunderstand me: I do plan to purchase the 
boards and parts to build my own VNA if Elecraft doesn't beat me to it. 
Check out N2PK-VNA at yahoogroups.com for more information on this subject. Or 
just Google "N2PK VNA" for lots of information and links.

A potential "deal breaker" is the amount of inventory necessary for an 
intial production run of, say 100 to 1000 units. A market price near $500 
for a basic VNA with the surface mount components re-flow soldered into 
place would probably sell like hot cakes, but a more realistic price might 
be closer to $1000. Clearly an in-depth market survey would be necessary 
before embarking on such a project, with initial units available perhaps two 
or three years from now if a go-ahead production decision were made.

Except for the requirement for extremly low phase noise in the Master 
Oscillator, the N2PK VNA bears a close resemblence to the circuits used in 
the KX3!

73 de AC8NS
Hop