[Elecraft] Competition from ICOM?

[Jim Brown]

On Wed,2/10/2016 5:01 AM, Michael Cozzi wrote:
> My hope is that the 7300 is an excellent radio- so that it drives the 
> price down for some of the radios I want to own. 

 From my perspective, it seems like the cost of radios is driven 
primarily by what it costs to build, sell, (and with some manufacturers, 
support them). This is clearly Elecraft's biz philosophy -- prices are 
determined by those costs, and Elecraft minimizes sales costs by selling 
direct to as much of the world as practical.

Radios will get cheaper when they get cheaper to build and sell. That 
can happen when new technology makes them less expensive to build, but 
it can also happen as quality is reduced (the bottom of the barrel 
Yaesu, ICOM, and direct sampling rigs are great examples).

My advice is that if you want to spend less for a rig, look for a top 
quality used rig that's a generation or two old. My K3s were the first 
new rigs I bought in nearly 30 years; prior to that, I used rigs like a 
TS850, Omni V, and FT1000MP that I bought used, all for a fraction of 
their initial cost. Today, a used TS590 would be a great choice, or if 
you're a bit more flush, a used K3.

73, Jim K9YC