[Elecraft] Announcing W8FGU Servicing Elecraft's Classic Line of Products

[Dave Van Wallaghen]

Announcing W8FGU Services, LLC now providing build, repair and alignment 
services for the Elecraft Classic Line of
transceivers and accessories as well as the mini-module line.

Hi fellow Elecraft list members, this is Dave, W8FGU and I’m announcing 
(with Elecraft’s blessing) that I am now
providing support services for the Elecraft Classic Line of products 
(K2, K1, KX1, associated transceivers and accessories)
and their mini-module line of products.

As you may or may not know, our legendary guru Don Wilhelm, W3FPR is 
retiring this month from providing these
services for the past 20 years or so. Although Don is retiring from the 
physical support of these fine products, he has
assured all of us that he will continue to provide guidance and advice 
via the Elecraft email reflector for the foreseeable
future.

Through Don’s guidance and encouragement and the numerous discussions 
with Don and senior management at
Elecraft over the last few weeks, I have decided to continue Don’s 
legacy in the Elecraft support arena. Don has been
gracious enough to share with me his business model, pricing, policies 
and procedures so that I may continue to try and
provide the same services he has provided for so many years. I am 
committed to providing the same high quality and
timely service at the same standard Don has set during his tenure.

As this is an ambitious venture on my part, Don has assured me that he 
is only a phone call or email away for when I
need his assistance. And of course, I have the complete support of the 
fine folks at Elecraft. It is with their spirit and
support that we believe we can carry Don’s legacy of servicing these 
fine products of Elecraft engineering, well into the
future.

Elecraft has always been more than supportive of my enclosure business 
since 2006. In that time, I have sold hundreds
of poly-carbonate and acrylic enclosures for their mini-module line of 
products and dust covers for the KX3, PX3 and
KX2. These are all produced by hand in a modest workshop in my basement. 
I have been invited and worked in their
booth in Dayton for the past 12 years. I’ve enjoyed a great working 
relationship with Eric, Wayne and many of the sales
and support staff and look forward to continuing that relationship with 
this new venture.

As many of you know, I am still working full time as a Lieutenant (fire 
fighter/medic) for the Brownstown Fire
Department here in SE Michigan. I will be able to retire in a little 
over two years. But my background has been technical
since high school. My grandfather (the original W8FGU SK) taught me 
about ham radio as a child. He passed away when I was a teenager, but he 
encouraged me to continue my education and I obtained an Associates in 
Electrical Engineering in 1982 and soon began a career as an electronic 
tech that turned into a 20-year programming and IT career in the PC 
software development arena. Although I have been a firefighter since the 
age of 14, my full-time career did not start until October of 2000.

With that said, blowing off the dust on my tech skills and with support 
of Don and all the folks at Elecraft, I am very
confident I will carry on the high support standard that Don has 
established well into the future and for the life of these
products. Please contact me at this email address for any comments, 
questions or concerns. Also please visit my
website: www.w8fgu.com for details of the services I provide and more 
details in how to contact me.

Thanks for the bandwidth,
Dave W8FGU
(This announcement has been posted with the expressed permission of Eric 
(list moderator) and Elecraft management)