[Elecraft] Elecraft Service

[Rick Bates, NK7I]

One simple question (with no implied or stated answer):

What would make a K3 a poor choice now, compared to other (used) brands?

It still works better than many (most) other brands, the only real risks 
are lack of parts when repairs are needed, as with any other brand and 
no more updates (which only a FEW brands offer at all, if ever).

With the jump to the K4, some K3 are available for sale and STILL sold 
within minutes to hours of posting.

The question is simple; the answer is personal and complex.

73,
Rick NK7I
K3, P3, KPA500, K4, KPA1500 (and Kenwood, Icom, others)



On 4/21/2022 10:33 AM, Bill Davis via Elecraft wrote:
>   This is my first post since I became an Elecraft owner back in 2009. I made the move to Elecraft after visiting with Gene Zimmerman the then QST VHF editor at the Elk Grove IL Central States VHF convention. Gene was a friend and was "over the moon" with his K3 and I had been looking for several months. I liked that it was American made, plugin boards that should assist in making the radio more maintainable and the history of the company. Then there was the performance! K3 SR #3460 arrived shortly after that followed some years later by K3s SR#10644.
>    I have been a ham for 63years and was very late joining into the solid state world when it came to my ham gear. I had a TS-700 from Kenwood that was solid as a brick! That rig is 46years old and still works like the first day it was purchased back in 1976. I bought my first Icom in 1991 followed over the years by 3 other Icoms rigs. Every single Icom I ever had , had issues. Always fixable except for a mysterious 2m SSB distortion issue in a IC-746Pro that haunted me from the first 2m SSB QSO I had with it to when I gave up on it 9yrs later.
>    I was convinced that Elecraft was "THE ANSWER". How naïve I was. I expected a longer run for the K3 in years and the same with the K3s. Software upgradeable, never obsolete, a "new" radio every update! But technology marched on and "everyone" wanted the latest bells and whistles even if the bottom line performance improvements were minimal.
>     How can we be to a point where a $4,000 radio should be considered a toss and replace? Do the K3 and K3s really contain components that are truly unobtainable? If that is the case, why would we expect the K4 to be any more maintainable? Did Icom, Kenwood and the rest stockpile more of the non-run of the mill components where they could be more maintained for a longer period of time?
>     IF SOMEWHERE the parts are out there, it looks to me like an independent shop repairing Elecraft gear could fly. It sounds like depending upon Elecraft to keep us on the air is close to a thing of the past. Looking at my Elecraft "investments", much smaller than many, that is a very hard pill to swallow.
> 73  Bill K0AWU (Weak signal VHF and above for 63 years)
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