[Elecraft] The Big Three...

[donovanf at starpower.net]

Hi Jim, 


You're probably correct about design compromises made with technologies 
available and affordable 14 years ago. Its probably not a coincidence 
that all of the top-shelf modern radios have a leg up on the K3 in 
the most severe competitive contest environments 


Think about what less than 14 years of improvement brought to the market 
in the post-World War II environment and the vast performance differential 
between the offerings from Collins and every one of their competitors: 
- 75A-1 1947 
- 75A-4 1956 
- KWM-1 1957 
- S-Line 1958 


Its amazing that the amateur radio HF transceiver market continues to drive 
significant performance improvements after all these years, just as it did 
from the earliest days of HF radio. 


73 
Frank 
W3LPL 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Jim Brown" <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com> 
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net 
Sent: Monday, March 30, 2020 5:45:21 AM 
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] The Big Three... 

On 3/29/2020 10:02 PM, donovanf at starpower.net wrote: 
> You would have to seriously compete in an SSB contest with some of the 
> more modern radios in very crowded bands to fully appreciate how much 
> better the more modern technologies are for both transmit and receive signal 
> quality. The latest Flex radios are almost shockingly good, but all of the 
> top-shelf modern radios are significantly better performers than the 
> 12 year old K3 or even the K3S. 

Thanks Frank. Soon after he got his Flex 6700, his two key impressions 
were 1) it was the best radio he'd ever owned; and 2) the designers of 
the radio and it's software/firmware didn't have a clue about USING 
radios on the air. #2 was so bad that they didn't even understand the 
problems. Thankfully, guys like N6WM, K9CT, and I'm sure others, stepped 
in to educate them. :) 

I'm not a digital guy, but having worked in pro audio most of my 
professional life, some concepts have rubbed off. If I were to speculate 
on the shortcomings of the K3/K3S you've noted, it would be that the 
system wasn't designed with enough bits and bandwidth. But that all 
depends on the parts you can buy for a product that must sell for a 
price that customers can pay, and, as you've noted, those design 
decisions were likely made in 2006. And from where I sit, I've always 
viewed Wayne and Eric as marketing geniuses (in the best sense of that). 

73, Jim K9YC 
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