[Elecraft] MFJ's new Internal K3 Tuner, anyone tried one yet?

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

On 2015-05-12 10:35 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
 > Sorry Joe, I almost never disagree with your take on things but

By "dicey" I was referring to difficult from a production viewpoint
and nothing questionable about being able to work with the K3.  I
Certainly agree that cloning the schematic is ethically bankrupt
and Elecraft should see that MFJ make some lawyers very wealthy.
Unfortunately, the effort to do so would probably divert too many
Elecraft resources from the next big thing.

73,

   ... Joe, W4TV


On 2015-05-12 10:35 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:
> Sorry Joe, I almost never disagree with your take on things but ...  my
> company lawyers always told me that engineering a design which copies or
> even draws from a copyrighted design [schematic, manual, software, etc]
> is truly dicey, the dicey-ness of which is often plays out in a
> courtroom at great expense to everyone except the lawyers.  Patent
> involvement, or even the suggestion of it, cubes the coefficient of
> dicey-ness.
>
> This is clearly something one could do by duplicating the schematics but
> I wonder, "What were they thinking?"  Elecraft will do what they choose
> to do, I believe their manuals and schematics have a copyright notice,
> but I won't guess.  I have the KAT3, it's a non-issue for me.
>
> 73,
>
> Fred K6DGW
> - Northern California Contest Club
> - CU in the 50th Running of the Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2015
> - www.cqp.org
>
> On 5/12/2015 4:25 PM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
>
>> Nothing dicey about it ... MFJ doesn't even need to know anything
>> about the tuning algorithms or controls.  The K3 CPU controls both
>> the tuner L/C values and the antenna selection via a serial bus
>> and series of serial to parallel shift registers/latches.  The only
>> "engineering" MFJ needed to do was copy Elecraft's KAT3 schematic.
>> The only "value engineering" is to do what Elecraft does at lower
>> production costs and perhaps loser cost parts.
>>
>> The real question is the ethics (and legality) of copying Elecraft's
>> schematic.  The only way the MFJ tuner works properly is if it copies
>> the L/C values and controls exactly.
>>
>> 73,
>>
>>    ... Joe, W4TV
>>
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>> Message delivered to k6dgw at foothill.net
>>
>>
>> -----
>> No virus found in this message.
>> Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
>> Version: 2015.0.5863 / Virus Database: 4342/9759 - Release Date: 05/12/15
>>
>>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to lists at subich.com
>