[Elecraft] Full kits,

[George Thornton]

Constructing my old K2 was one of the most fun and challenging things I have done with electronics.  Before that I built a few things long ago with Heathkit.

Top end modern transceiver technology has moved beyond the K2, which is why Elecraft did a complete redesign with the K3 and K3s.   The K2 is a nice rig, but the K3s is so much more.

Modern electronics is all about miniaturization.  Nearly all the components are smaller, they have to be installed at the surface instead of via through-board solder holes.   The result is that you can now create transceivers that have top notch performance yet fit in the palm of your hand.  Witness the K3s and K2s.

To work with miniaturized surface mount components you need specialized equipment and specialized skills.  A simple $100 soldering station and some rework tools is no longer good enough for this kind of work.  There are relatively few amateurs who could or would tackle a kit where the great majority of the components are tiny and surface mounted.

I imagine Elecraft could re-engineer the K3 with non-surface mount parts.  I imagine the box will have to be a lot bigger.  Same performance?  Perhaps, perhaps not.  That will be a significantly different beast.

I think the added cost of re-engineering would probably make the kit prohibitive.

There are still kits around, and smaller projects are still reasonable using traditional construction methods and parts.  However, the era of solder-your-own kits is definitely in decline.

Or we could all lease some equipment and learn how to surface mount.




From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Norm Lee
Sent: Sunday, February 12, 2017 3:30 PM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: [Elecraft] Full kits,

Harry, you betcha the's a market for full kits! As I write this, I have a Bitx-40 on the bench, just completed a Kn-q7a, and the rest of my gear ranges from MKARS-80 through to three MST-xx. On top of this, I've modified a Codan 7727 to vfo. Never happier than when I have a soldering iron in my hand (by the handle of course......)
Cheers
Norm
McLaren Vale
South Australia

Sent from my iPad
______________________________________________________________
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 gthornton at thorntonmostullaw.com<mailto:gthornton at thorntonmostullaw.com>

________________________________