[Elecraft] New Elecraft Product: K-Pod Control Panel for K3S and K3 Transceivers

[Wayne Burdick]

On Apr 14, 2016, at 11:55 AM, "Dauer, Edward" <edauer at law.du.edu> wrote:

> 
> Very nice addition to the lineup. Congrats to the team.
> 
> I never thought I needed such a thing; but now I see that it is absolutely
> indispensable.  Of course I¹ll buy one.
> 
> Having said that, and not at all meaning to be critical or ungrateful, I¹d
> like to wonder aloud why we still need cables - and the K-pod will add two
> more to the unruly collection already hiding behind my desk, as I read
> what¹s been printed so far.  (Do I have that part right?)  Computer
> hardware manufacturers pretty much gave up on inter-unit cabling long ago,
> thank goodness.  Is there a reason why RF equipment couldn¹t do the same?
> Please take this as a serious question, not a complaint.  I¹d be
> interested in knowing the technical challenges to making it happen.

Hi Ed,

It can be just a single cable if you make the simple mod to the rig's front panel that provides power to the pod.

Wifi or bluetooth would have added a lot to the cost, not to mention the requirement to put a battery in the pod. The optical encoder uses 30 mA so you'd end up charging it a lot -- by connecting a cable.

Wayne
N6KR