[Elecraft] Fun To Use

[Gary Gregory]

I have read all the posts to date and FWIW I have this personal view.

All the major manufacturers make Fun transceivers. By this I mean many here
in VK simply use amateur radio on 40/80M daily to chat with friends and
acquaintances on a daily basis and do little if no other operation and
therefore many use older transceivers and enjoy what they do obviously.
Then there are those who for whatever reason feel a need to have a 'new'
transceiver, be it high end or low varies greatly but they too appear to be
having fun with their chosen transceiver.

I have also listened to 'other' operators who seem to want a technically
superior transceiver and will not be put off by a higher dollar value if
they are convinced that their choice of model/manufacturer will give them
what they perceive to be the best transceiver. Then there are those that
are Brand Loyalist and by this I mean it must be from one manufacturer that
they feel is the only one that does it right and all others fall short.

Finally there is the group of avid contesters who often don't care what the
brand is but they do care greatly what the receiver can do for them and
they are results oriented and usually do not swap transceivers all that
often when compared to the 'other' style of operators I mentioned above.


I have had many and varied models/brands over the years too and I am a DX
chaser and part time contester as I enjoy the personal challenge of
contesting but I do not participate in every contest. I have had some
'dogs' along the way too as well as a couple of the so called high dollar
models and when I discovered Elecraft by accident (fat finger web browsing)
and the soon to be released K3 I wondered what all the hue and cry was
about. I dove in early and have never been more happy with a choice. Is it
fun for me to use my K3...you betcha sweet bippy it is.

I don't vary my settings very often at all and yet I was told just the
other day by a "Collins Owner/Lover" that he thought the K3 was 'too
fiddly' to use. He sat down on 40M with my K3 hooked to his 40M beam and
worked several EU stations and a few NA stations and announced that he
thought it was not nearly as difficult as he had first thought. He never
once objected to the lively receiver and enjoyed the Hi/Lo Cut settings and
he didn't even whine about the small speaker some have commented on. He had
me reset the RX EQ for his ears and I thought it sounded better than the
external speaker he uses with his Collins gear. All of this is of course
purely subjective on my part.

My opinion is certainly biased otherwise I would not be posting this,
however, I just wanted to say I have fun every time I turn the K3 on and
hear the bands occupied. My idea of fun is to wave the aluminum in the air
around a bit till I find another operator wanting to have a chat. A one on
one for an hour, a pileup into EU, 24 hours in a contest...it doesn't
matter for me, I reckon I am having fun every time I hit the Power
button(s) on the K-Line and that is what it's all about...for me.

I have wasted a lot of money over the years looking for a 'keeper' and
Elecraft and the K-Line have done what no other previous choice I made has
done and now I can really have Fun on a daily basis operating what I now
see as a simple to use transceiver. Yes I agree with those who suggested
the learning curve can be steep for some. There are those I am sure who
tried a K3 and just didn't 'get it' and moved on to yet another
transceiver. Sadly, we do make mistakes or let ourselves down by not being
more determined to try all the features of a new transceiver over time.
Many jump to an early belief and never get passed that point and so for
them the search goes on.

Like many I suspect, I have been fortunate to have had my K3 long enough
that it has proved it's worth every day with many contacts and for that I
am thankful to Wayne, Eric and all the fine engineers both at Elecraft and
those who contribute to them. Thanks to all.

73
Gary
-- 
*Gary - VK1ZZ
Motorhome Portable
The Shack*
*Elecraft K3
P3 Panadapter
KPA500FT
KAT500FT**
KX3-K
*