[Elecraft] Soon to be an Elecraft(er)!

[Don Wilhelm]

Brian,

I suspect you will *gain* performance with the Elecraft gear. Especially 
if you equate performance with being able to copy weaker signals and the 
ability to "saddle up" closer to other stations when working in a pileup.

Another thing to consider with Elecraft is "upgradability". Elecraft 
provides firmware upgrades for the K3, K3S, KX3 and KX2 at no cost, and 
with those being a SDR transceivers, the capability exists to change the 
behavior of the rig dramatically (although a firmware upgrade will not 
likely be a drastic change, but improved or added function).  Elecraft 
offers those upgrades rather than insisting you trade in your rig for 
the "latest and greatest" - so you will have a transceiver that will 
last you for many, many years with no additional outlay of cash.  Any 
hardware mods that may be offered will also available at modest cost.  
The premier example of this is the Elecraft K2 which was released to 
customers in 1999 and even the very earliest K2 can be upgraded to the 
current level (with the exception of a few non-performance related 
mods).  My upgraded Field Test K2 (1998) is just as good as a newly 
built one, and that is 18 years later than the original.

Elecraft has "jumped through hoops" lately to continue to support their 
legacy gear even though the availability of thru-hole parts continues to 
dry up as component manufacturers switch over to SMD parts leaving the 
users of thru-hole parts to scramble.  We may see the day when critical 
thru-hole parts will come to an end, but until that time, Elecraft will 
continue to support their legacy products.  I repair those legacy 
products and have been involved in a number of "parts scrambles", but 
Elecraft support continues with equivalent parts substitutes (usually 
SMD parts mounted on DIP socket carrier boards).

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/12/2016 3:39 PM, Brian ve3bwp Pietrzyk wrote:
> Hello All,
>
> Not an Elecraft owner yet but making plans to be one soon. I’m just starting the research.
>
> A close friend is all Elecraft and I'm impressed. Even meeting the company owners and designers at Dayton has me sold on them.
> <snip>
>
> Is it safe to assume i won't be loosing any performance by making this chance and even gain some?
>
>