[Elecraft] KIO3B pricing (was: Re: K3IOB)

[Charlie T, K3ICH]

You make a very good case for buying a new K3s.  
I chose that route, and after all the finagling and swapping, it cost me under $500 to go from a 2007 K3 to a brandie new 2015 K3s.  
Heckuva deal if you axe me. 

I must add that the recovered audio is absolutely THE best I've heard from any transceiver.
Even with a pair of mediocre speakers, it sounds great.

Chas

-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft
Sent: Saturday, December 19, 2015 3:50 PM
To: Oliver Dröse <droese at necg.de>
Cc: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] KIO3B pricing (was: Re: K3IOB)

Hi Olli,

Yes, 389.95 is the correct price. 

This is not a single board. It is a three board set that costs much more than our old KIO3B to manufacture.  The board set also now contains a new USB Codec, USB Comm port, Internal USB hub and additional logic to handle routing of data between the USB and RS-232 paths (all fitting into the same space as the old boards). The upgrade kit also includes two external cables (one custom), new hw etc.  These boards are also manufactured at a much lower volume than those in the PC market, with the subsequent increased cost on our end. A $200 price would be selling at a significant loss.

Our goal is always to price our products as reasonably as possible after taking into account our production and support costs while making enough profit to continue to exist and serve the amateur radio market. We walk that line carefully every day. And its always a challenge! :-)

73,

Eric
elecraft.com