[Elecraft] K3S as mid-life kicker

[Walter Underwood]

The K3S looks like a well-executed “mid-life kicker” for the K3. The new synthesizer was a major performance upgrade (Elecraft was surprised by the sales for that). It is a nice package when you add new frequency coverage, integrating popular options, component upgrades (new PA transistors, I think), a facelift, and the USB.

For me, the only mistake on the KX3 was not using USB.

A mid-life boost for a product is a very smart move. For moderate engineering and marketing cost, it maintains competitiveness and boosts sales. This is a sign that Elecraft is maturing as a company. Since 2012, they’ve released a new radio (KX3), major accessories for it (KXPA100, PX3), and now the K3S. That is a solid product plan, not just two guys in a garage making radios.

I first heard the term “mid-life kicker” used when describing the PDP-11/40,  about adding the writable control store. See pages 25 and 26 in Gordon Bell’s paper.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/um/people/gbell/CGB%20Files/What%20Have%20We%20Learned%20From%20the%20PDP-11%201977%20c.pdf

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