[Elecraft] K4 Ergonomics etc

[Doug Turnbull]

Dear OMs and YLs,
      I had a chance to see the new K4 at Friedrichshafen.    It was like
visiting flowers with bees swarming to have a go.    I am impressed and have
a few points perhaps not mentioned previously.

 1) Ergonomics:

a) The Main tuning know is raised and has clustered directly around it
certain LEDS and Switches of particular use in tuning.

LEDS are TX, Delta Freq, SUB (RX), and DIV for diversity.    Having "Delta
Freq" directly adjacent to the tuning know may help me remember to stay off
a DX frequency.     

Switches are Freq Ent, Scan, Lock A/B and Sub/Div.   Positioning these
switches right at the main tuning know seems to me an improvement over the
K3/S.

b) Having the Spectrum display directly in front and on the radio itself yet
also giving a good size for the spectrum display is also to my liking.

c) Because the spectrum display is built in, the radio is not as wide as a
K3 and P3 combination.    The HDMI port still allows me to have a 24 inch
monitor for the frequency display so the slightly smaller display will not
cause me difficulties.

d) A built in P3 should reduce the number of external cables.

e) The tactile feel of the switches has been improved.

2) Economy, Many accessories of the past are built in.

a) No need for a DVK CW, voice recorder card as this function is built in.
b) No need for a more stable oscillator as this too is built in.
c) No need for a wide band filter to allow general coverage because if you
switch out the superhet front end, you already have a general coverage RX.
Eric confirmed that the Superhet front end can be bypassed.
d) No need for a 4 kHz filter for FT8 as you can just switch out the
superhet front end.    FT8 is normally not a mode used in contesting so
should be pretty robust without the superhet front end.
e) No separate P3
f) No need for an accessory board in the K3 to enable an external monitor.

3) Ease of installing updates for diversity and also superhet front end; I
understand that it will no longer be necessary to unplug the front control
panel in order to install these options.    This was always a bit of a
worrying moment for me though I have assembled three K3 radios and removed
the front panels on a number of occasions for updates such as installing the
DVK.   I am an old goat with shaky enough hands and deteriorating eyesight. 

 I should go through the specs to compare total weights of a fully equipped
K3 and P3 combination to the fully equipped K4.   This data is probably not
yet available.  How will the power consumptions compare?  It will be
interesting to see the full specifications and Sherwood test results.   No
matter, my plans are to purchase in the next twelve months.   I like the
Elecraft philosophy of keeping the radio relatively small, light and most
importantly allowing for future enhancement.

  Agreed you will work anything with the K3 that you can work with the K4.
Most likely the 7300 will work 99.9% of what the K3 works but a VW Beetle
will do what a Porsche does but just maybe not with the same style.

        73 Doug EI2CN
PS Sadly there will be no Fred Cady, KE7X book this time to further inform.