[Elecraft] [Elecraft_K3] Re: Elecraft Hats at Dayton?

[Scott Manthe]

Nice post, Jim.

Yaesu was giving mousepads this year, not hats. So apparently, even the 
new, independent Yaesu can't afford to give away hats. I bought a hat 
from Elecraft this year and didn't mind doing it. I then went over to 
the embroidery booth and spent another $10 putting my call on the hat, 
so I actually was dumb enough to spend $22 on my hat.

Elecraft is never going to be Yaesu, and that suits me just fine. 
Elecraft has sold 7100 K3s. Yaesu has probably sold ten times as many 
FT2000/5000/9000s. Plus Yaesu sells HTs and mobiles along with hundreds 
of overpriced accessories (check the price of the non-upgradable DMU2000 
to prove my point). So one cannot really compare the two companies. I 
also really like the fact that Elecraft upgrades the K3 and doesn't make 
me buy a new rig every couple of years to keep up with improvements.  
So, those people complaining about Elecraft's tight purse strings should 
take a minute to stop and think about why.

73,
Scott, N9AA


On 5/19/13 3:17 PM, Jim Lowman wrote:
> That said, a couple of things.  First of all, I'm not certain that 
> Yaesu was giving away caps.  I saw some, but they could have been from 
> a prior event.
> Second, in talking with Lisa, she said that these were not $2 caps.  I 
> can see that they are made very well, and the Elecraft name and logo 
> are embroidered.  It's a dark blue color, which is my favorite.  Third 
> (okay, I lied), Elecraft is not Yaesu -yet. I'm sure that it cost 
> quite a bit for booth space, travel, lodging and meals for the number 
> of staffers who came along, and for shipping all of their display 
> equipment both ways.
>
> The first time I stopped to talk with Lisa, a guy bought a KX3 with - 
> cash!  Wow!  The second time, Lisa gave caps to another guy and his 
> YL/XYL (or he may have paid for them; I don't know) but she said that 
> he bought $10,000 worth of Elecraft products.
>
> You know, when this discussion began, I felt a bit ashamed to be a 
> member of this fraternity.  Same for whoever complained about not 
> being able to get the convention discount when he didn't attend the 
> convention.  We hams have a reputation for being cheap, but if we can 
> afford to buy the various Elecraft products, can't we afford to pay 
> for a nicely-made cap?
>
> 73 de Jim - AD6CW
>