[Elecraft] K3 - Ergonomics

[Richard]

Is there a rig out there that doesn't require a learning curve? Are hams 
mere  plug-and-play guys and too lazy to "read the manual"? Can anyone 
break a pileup the first hour after purchasing an FT5K or IC7800? I 
remember a comment I read just after I got my previous rig (an FT1000MP) 
in 2001: "carefully study he manual, as with this rig, it is easy to 
turn buttons until you don't hear a thing!"

The K3 has 44 buttons. My FT1000MP had twice as many, which would hardly 
accommodate the size of a K3...

During the first K3 DXped (to Ducie Island), I read on their website 
that none of the op's had had any problems using the K3, although most 
probably not everyone of them - if at all - had one in his own shack at 
the time. And now, it seems to have become the standard rig for many 
DXpeditions! That tells a lot.

Gary's comment is right on target:
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder somebody once told me!
Performance to me IS everything....eye candy has never helped in a pileup."
I second that...

Maybe they could get an empty enclosure "with curves and swirls or 
plastic molding" from one of the K/I/Y and place it next to the K3 so 
they get both: performance AND eye candy...

73
Richard - HB9ANM