[Elecraft] The case against touch screens

Tue Mar 26 09:28:25 EDT 2019

Folks,

I'm not an Elecraft transceiver owner and, with the present alternative radio offerings and the current state of the art, I won't be buying a K3 of any flavour.  However, I do own a KPA1500 which is nicely designed and built, and performs to expectations.  Those expectations are modest in IMD terms when compared with good tube amplifiers but far from the worst of the solid state offerings.  An Elecraft K4 with a well-implemented pre-distortion system would likely be a deal maker for me; I'd feel quite positive about finally having a contemporary system matching my classic Collins station in cleanliness.

Personally, I'm no great fan of touch screens having used them a lot in general aviation and with other amateur radios, including the IC7300 mentioned by the previous poster.  I just find the ergonomics fiddly and I'm OCD enough to always like my screens sparkling!  It's a personal choice, of course.

I also agree that a wideband baseband output (e.g I/Q) to ancillary devices and computers hosting a variety of open-source and propriety applications is a must-have.

73, Peter (VK6HP).

Sent from my iPad

> On 26 Mar 2019, at 8:09 pm, F5vjc <foxfive.vjc at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> If the latest touch screens are anything like my "Smartphone" you can keep
> them!
> Either they do not respond instantly or the processor is " Busy" doing
> something else. This to me extremely irritating and frustrating.
> How do the plethora of 7300 users find their screens work for them?
> 
> 73 F5VJC
> 
> On Tue, 26 Mar 2019 at 09:51, David Wilcox via Elecraft <
> elecraft at mailman.qth.net> wrote:
> 
>> Don,
>> 
>> I have a blind ham friend and all his touch screens talk back to him when
>> he touches something..... he can use his iPad, iPod and iPhone faster than
>> I can.  It’s in the programming as it is a special program he has for
>> each.  Another miracle for our blind brothers.  And, that is why he bought
>> Icom gear.  He said they were the only company to offer plug in “talker”
>> boards for their xcvr.  Still using his 756 Pro, 500 w Icom amp and LDG
>> talking SWR meter.
>> 
>> Dave K8WPE
>> 
>> David J. Wilcox K8WPE’s iPad
>> 
>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 12:02 PM, Don Wilhelm <donwilh at embarqmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Touch screens do not provide support for blind amateur operators.
>> Elecraft has always said they will provide support for blind operators.
>>> I just wonder how touchscreens fit into that commitment.
>>> 
>>> 73,
>>> Don W3FPR
>>> 
>>>> On 3/25/2019 11:18 AM, Buddy Brannan wrote:
>>>> While those are certainly advantages, there are several disadvantages.
>> Number 1 on my personal hit parade: they aren’t tactile. You have to look
>> at them to operate them. Which means, for you, another distraction. For me,
>> it means extra support (think VoiceOver on iOS, Talkback on Android,
>> VoiceView on the Amazon Fire things). So far, none of the ham radio
>> manufacturers has implemented anything like that, and so touch screen
>> interfaces on a lot of stuff are out of my reach, as it were. Of course,
>> knobs and switches and buttons have the advantage of being able to be
>> manipulated without having to see where they are.
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