[Elecraft] Elecraft K4 and Accessibility

Sun May 26 15:58:40 EDT 2019

If the K3 is too lightweight, one could always go retro.  My SX28 
weighed in right at 100 lbs and it was only a receiver.  The DX-100 was 
yet another 100.  On the serious side, I'm approaching 79 next month and 
I can still manage the K3 buttons although I wouldn't want them any 
smaller or closer than they are.  The KPod helps a lot, and reading the 
K3's legends is becoming an issue for me.  On the other hand, an 
FT1000MP won't fit on my desk but a K3 does.

73,
Fred ["Skip"] K6DGW
Sparks NV DM09dn
Washoe County

On 5/26/2019 11:55 AM, Rick Tavan wrote:
> Wow. Your preference seems to be in a minority, Harry, although I have to
> admit that my opinion is subjective and based mainly on what I've read on
> this reflector which may well be biased by folks like me who *like* the K3.
> I think Elecraft retained in the K4 many of the design points that made the
> K3 very successful and enduring, including its light weight and small size
> which are two major complaints on your list. So it may be a chocolate vs.
> vanilla situation - some people (like me) value those characteristics while
> other people (like you) dislike them. Of course, you're right that many
> prospective buyers are aging and some may come to dislike smaller knobs, I
> for one still find the knobs and buttons plenty big enough and I'm now 70
> years old. I once measured the K3 button size and spacing against my prior
> favorite rig, the FT-1000MP, and found them practically the same. I never
> had trouble operating the K3 and its menu structure was logical, rarely
> needed, and self-documenting. The new K4 screen is plenty large enough for
> me and comparable to many current, competitive radios'. It can also be
> blown up to as large as you like through the addition of an in expensive,
> external, HDMI monitor or a tablet. I've seen it and it was gorgeous.
>
> So you're certainly correct that some people like big, heavy radios with
> "substantial" knobs and they may not buy the K4. Others like radios they
> can lift without back strain, carry to vacation homes and field sites,
> operate remotely with minimal external hardware, and expect to survive
> through upgrades for a decade. Many of them, like me, have been K3 fans for
> 12 years or so and will be delighted to buy the K4. The market will decide.
> I think the K4 will be highly successful and I'm rooting for it. We'll see.
>
> 73,
>
> /Rick N6XI
> --
>
> Rick Tavan
> Truckee, CA
>
>
> On Fri, May 24, 2019 at 5:00 PM <hwhite1 at maine.rr.com> wrote:
>
>> Wayne and interested others,
>>
>> Way back when, I bought a loaded K3. I believe the S/N was around 4K? It
>> was back in the day when almost every DXpedition was using K3's so it was
>> obviously the radio to own. (Around 2009?) It was at the top of the
>> Sherwood ratings. Owner's bragged, incessantly, about its Sherwood rating.
>>
>> After a period of time I grew to really dislike that radio. The audio was
>> just plain awful and the man/machine interface was the worst I have ever
>> seen. I detest bar graphs. I suppose if you play at ham radio 8 hours a
>> day, seven days a week, the interface is "normal", even usable. For those
>> of us who might get on the air for an hour or two a week, the controls were
>> a mystery. Tap this button to do this, hold the same button for three
>> seconds to do that, the list goes on. NOTHING was intuitive. It did not
>> help that it was an incredibly ugly, too light and unsubstantial, radio.
>> It's looks may have been barely acceptable when first introduced but it
>> aged badly, rapidly. Over a ten year period it's price has become a real
>> problem.
>>
>> There were many, many questions on this reflector regarding the controls,
>> the same questions about the same controls, over and over and over again.
>> That should have been a very large hint that the controls should be
>> massively improved in any new radio.
>>
>> I sold my K3 and moved on to the big Japanese three, ANAN, and Flex, over
>> the years. All had many, fairly easy to understand, controls. All were far,
>> far more usable than the K3. Both the ANAN and Flex service departments are
>> as good as Elecraft's.
>>
>> Eventually I left the Elecraft reflector, and that is a whole other
>> story.....
>>
>> Last week the K4 was announced so I rejoined the reflector. It sounded
>> like a really great radio. Sadly, I have concluded it will be a dud, mostly
>> because it is designed with the same philosophy as the K3 was, a small,
>> compact, easily transportable radio, "a hallmark of Elecraft transceivers",
>> to quote you, Wayne. From all that I have read, the controls will be even
>> more complex.
>>
>> Ham radio operators are an aging group. Some suffer from the "fat finger"
>> syndrome, others have vision problems, to name just two. The last thing
>> they need or want is a tiny radio with minimal controls, each of which
>> serves two or three or four or five purposes. They favor a radio that has
>> many single or dual purpose knobs. They want bigger screens, the K4 screens
>> are too small.
>>
>> I suggest you double the size of the radio and change your design
>> criteria. Enlarging the physical size would not be a huge cost driver.
>> Remember who your customers are.
>>
>> And when the Flex 6700 kicked the K3 out of first place in the Sherwood
>> ratings in 2014, the Koolaid drinkers on this reflector were heard to say,
>> "People put too much faith in numbers". Hypocrisy is thy name. I haven't
>> stopped laughing.
>>
>> This email pertains to only the second and third paragraphs of Wayne's
>> reply below.
>>
>> I wish Elecraft well with the K4 but I really think your minimalist/too
>> complex way of designing needs to change. You've probably already guessed
>> that I won't be a customer of the K4 as currently proposed. And you really,
>> really ought to improve this reflector...........
>>
>> 73,
>>
>> Harry K1RSA
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net <elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net>
>> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
>> Sent: Friday, May 24, 2019 2:03 PM
>> To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>; KX3 at yahoogroups.com;
>> Elecraft-K4 at groups.io
>> Subject: [Elecraft] Elecraft K4 and Accessibility
>>
>> Hi Buddy et al,
>>
>> We've definitely been thinking about this.
>>
>> There's a paradigm shift going on in transceiver design, and we reached a
>> point where we needed to embrace it. This shift is not entirely aligned
>> with accessibility, as you know. I'll address alternatives in this email.
>>
>> As for the K4 specifically, its user interface is dependent in part on use
>> of the touch screen. This was simply the only way to integrate an
>> equivalent of the K3S, P3, and all of the new hardware/software required to
>> implement a direct-sampling radio. The use of a touch screen allows context
>> sensitivity (physical overloading) for controls, making the K4 the
>> equivalent of a much larger radio without touch. The resulting compact size
>> is still compatible with portable use (4.5" x 13.5" x 11", 10 pounds, and
>> power-efficient), a hallmark of Elecraft transceivers.
>>
>> Regarding accessibility, there are three possible approaches:
>>
>> 1. The K4's entire complement of controls, both hard and touch, will be
>> represented by a set of "2-letter" commands. This API will be fully public
>> as it is for our other transceivers. Presumably external devices or
>> computers will be able to immediately make use of these commands to effect
>> a flexible accessible interface.
>>
>> 2. In theory we could implement a large-target version of the LCD's touch
>> controls, with proximity-based audio feedback and no panadapter. This would
>> be a very ambitious project requiring ongoing support, similar to that
>> needed for mobile/fixed app development. We don't have the staff to support
>> this, so we'd need to engage the wider community to find a developer with
>> suitable skills and motivation. The API or spec for such an effort doesn't
>> exist at this time.
>>
>> 3. The K3S has very similar strong-signal performance and similar basic
>> features, without touch. Since many of the added features of the K4 are
>> panadapter-centric, a blind ham may very well find that the K3S is a viable
>> alternative. No doubt there will be more used K3's and K3S's on the market
>> over the next year. The KX3 and KX2 provide audio CW feedback on most
>> controls and are another non-touch alternative.
>>
>> I hope the alternatives I've suggested to use of the K4's normal UI will
>> be helpful in most cases.
>>
>> 73,
>> Wayne
>> N6KR
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>> On May 24, 2019, at 9:20 AM, Buddy Brannan buddy at brannan.name [KX3] <
>> KX3-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>> [Sorry, sent this to Gary instead of the list] Hey Gary,
>>>
>>> I’m curious about this as well, as are others…see K8HSY’s post on the
>> blind-hams list. See also my response full of speculation (below). Wayne,
>> please feel free to comment on my comments and correct me where I erred:
>>> I’ve been beating the accessibility drum on the Elecraft reflector for
>> ages, and Wayne has assured that they would not go to all touch screen
>> access, for that very reason. Elecraft has, in the person of one of their
>> tech support people in the past, and Wayne in emails to me, committed to
>> doing what they can in design parameters to make accessibility attainable,
>> and they have been super cooperative with people like the Hampod folks and
>> others who want to design accessibility tools.
>>> The K4 has a full GNU/Linux computer built into it, and it’s got a
>> client/server architecture, with network access available, so it seems to
>> me accessibility should be possible, even relatively easy, to implement.
>> Especially given that there are still a wide range of physical buttons and
>> knobs on board.
>>> And, unlike Yaecomwoodlincotec, the principals at Elecraft are not only
>> available by email, but very responsive besides. If you’re really
>> interested in a perspective direct from the horse’s mouth, write to Wayne
>> directly at n6kr at elecraft.com. He really does answer email.
>>> Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV - Erie, PA
>>> Email: buddy at brannan.name
>>> Mobile: (814) 431-0962
>>>
>>>> On May 23, 2019, at 1:47 PM, Gary Lee kb9zuv at arrl.net [KX3] <
>> KX3-noreply at yahoogroups.com> wrote:
>>>> could someone describe the front panel of the k4 with reference to
>> that of the k3? With the added touch screen, I am wondering about usability
>> for the blind operator.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>>> __._,_.___
>>> Posted by: Buddy Brannan <buddy at brannan.name>
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