A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton

[Bill K9YEQ]

Ed,

Glad I never discussed the same issue with the wife when I bought the K2.  I
now own the K3 and KX3.  The K2 is my hearty backup in case of issues.  The
Kx3 is my living room radio, if you can believe it.  The KX3 can be routed
through my THP 2.5 for a 300 watt signal provided I have selected and tuned
for the correct band while in the living room. The wife, pretends to be
somewhat oblivious....  She's a keeper, esp. after nearly 40 years.

73,
Bill
K9YEQ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Edward R Cole
Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2013 3:04 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton

I agree with Fred and with Elecraft's position on product support.

When I went "hat in hand" to appeal with my wife to agree to spend roughly
$3K for a new ham radio, it was with the understanding that it was the last
(major) ham purchase I would make.  The continuous improvement and support
of the K3 make it possible for me to keep that promise, as I see the radio
evolving for  long time.

This is the "promise" that SDR makes (but only Elecraft actually does).  I
did squeak out buying the KX3, but the cost was largely offset by the sale
of my Yaesu radios (FT-847 & FT-817).

Already several firmware improvements for the KX3, as well as the K3.  How
could you not like that (rhetorical question)?

73, Ed - KL7UW
BTW when I bought the K3, I also paid off my wife's new Toyota Van loan (me
no dummy).


-----------------------
Date: Fri, 7 Jun 2013 12:13:48 -0500
From: "Fred Smith" <[hidden email]>
To: "'Wayne Burdick'" <[hidden email]>,      "'Keith-K5ENS'"
         <[hidden email]>
Cc: 'Elecraft Reflector' <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton
Message-ID: <002901ce63a2$60751260$215f3720$@com>
Content-Type: text/plain;       charset="us-ascii"

Yup, Yup and Yup that's the reason I have Elecraft gear. Not buying new
radio gear every 2 years like I did with my Yaesu and Icom gear. I for one
agree with the business model and great equipment.

73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
[hidden email]
"Kits made by KL7UW"

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[k6dgw]

On 6/8/2013 3:09 PM, Bill K9YEQ wrote:
> Ed,
>
> Glad I never discussed the same issue with the wife when I bought the K2.  I
> now own the K3 and KX3.  The K2 is my hearty backup in case of issues.  The
> Kx3 is my living room radio, if you can believe it.  The KX3 can be routed
> through my THP 2.5 for a 300 watt signal provided I have selected and tuned
> for the correct band while in the living room. The wife, pretends to be
> somewhat oblivious....  She's a keeper, esp. after nearly 40 years.

My K2 serves two purposes:  It's my QRP field radio, and I use it in
occasional CW contests, sometimes in QRP entry class, sometimes in LP.
The "coefficient of usability" of the K2 is exceeded only by my K3, but
sometimes it's a slam dunk for the K2 if I want to work a CW Sprint out
on the deck [if you really think it's "wireless," peek behind my
K-line].  Sometimes, I just turn to it because I like to use it ... a
lot.  I've given up getting a mic for it.

Shortly before I retired [2000], Andrea took up Needlepoint, and became
as addicted to it as I am to ham radio.  She proposed "Equal Hobby
Allowances," I agreed, not knowing much about the economics of
Needlepoint.  The kids are long gone, one of several grandsons comes up
and drives the tractor to mow the place [and we leave some cash in his
car, he'd come anyway but he's the one who does], the house and vehicles
are paid off, and there's money left in the checking account at the end
of each month.

Economics of Needlepoint:  Most of my stuff is somewhat more expensive
than hers.  She needs waaay more of her stuff than I do of mine.  It was
a good deal. :-)

45 years and counting.  New grandkids have ended [he says with hopeful
certainty], they're making great grandkids now.

Firmware for the K2 is embedded in the chip, there have been a series of
small hardware mods over the years.  The radio is pretty stable.  I
doubt seriously Elecraft will ever tell us they won't talk to us about
it.  A chip might not be available anymore, and my K2 may become
e-trash, but I'm not thinking anytime soon.  I'm at the point where its
life expectancy may exceed mine.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2013 Cal QSO Party 5-6 Oct 2013
- www.cqp.org


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[RobertG]

Fred...
With the K2 on the back deck, do you run batteries or commercial AC? If
batteries, do you use the internal battery pack or run off of external
batteries? If external, which one(s)? Life is never simple... Thanks.
...robert


>the K2 is exceeded only by my K3, but
> sometimes it's a slam dunk for the K2 if I want to work a CW Sprint out
> on the deck
>

--
Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY
[hidden email]
Syracuse, New York, USA
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[k6dgw]

I run with batteries, outside my radio.  I use these times as tests for
when I'm going to go to the field [that could be a local park :-)] to
practice for  real field efforts.   I will admit, sometimes on the deck,
I run a coax out from the tribander.  Most of the time, I do it now with
the AlexLoop.

I never put batteries inside my radio.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2013 Cal QSO Party 5-6 Oct 2013
- www.cqp.org

On 6/8/2013 6:59 PM, Robert G Strickland wrote:
> Fred...
> With the K2 on the back deck, do you run batteries or commercial AC? If
> batteries, do you use the internal battery pack or run off of external
> batteries? If external, which one(s)? Life is never simple... Thanks.


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[Fred Smith-2]

All 3 just depends how I feel the battery is a 7ah one.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Robert G Strickland
Sent: Saturday, June 08, 2013 9:00 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton

Fred...
With the K2 on the back deck, do you run batteries or commercial AC? If
batteries, do you use the internal battery pack or run off of external
batteries? If external, which one(s)? Life is never simple... Thanks.
...robert


>the K2 is exceeded only by my K3, but
> sometimes it's a slam dunk for the K2 if I want to work a CW Sprint
>out  on the deck
>

--
Robert G Strickland, PhD ABPH - KE2WY
[hidden email]
Syracuse, New York, USA
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[Bill W4ZV]

Bill K9YEQ wrote

Glad I never discussed the same issue with the wife when I bought the K2.  I
now own the K3 and KX3.  The K2 is my hearty backup in case of issues.

The K2/10 remains a very capable rig for portable use and SOTA activating.  While the KX3 has several advantages including weight and size, I've not yet been compelled to get one.  If I really want light weight (3 ounces) and small size (Altoids tin), I take my ATS-3.

Part of my love for the K2 is from building it myself in 2004...it might be for sale after I leave planet Earth.  Here's a little story about SOTA activating using the K2 in the recent QRPTTF event:

http://www.uwharrieqrp.com/2013/04/qrpttf-and-rocky-knob-w4cem-047.html

73,  Bill  W4ZV

 

[Fred Smith-2]

I have all 3 radios a K2/K3/KX3 the K2 was pretty much set aside when the K3
came home to me. Everything the K2 did the K3 did much better from QRP up
and all modes I loved the radio and for a while the K2 sat till I decided to
use it again for QRP. It is a keeper because I built it and built and
rebuilt it till it finally worked fine with some help from Don.

That was the case till I decided to buy the KX3 with all options at 1/4 the
size of the K2. It blew my K2 away with all it had packed into such a small
package and the really great receiver. Again the K2 was not being used for
months till I loaned to a new ham to use that I knew for a month or so (now
a Elecraft K3 owner) as of last week.

When I got it back I decided to make better use of the radios that I own and
that the K2 would be devoted to digital modes only. JT65HF/JT-9/PSK/RTTY is
where most all the traffic is at any more so why not take advantage of them
with a dedicated radio/computer have 3 in the shack.

It seems most all of my contacts in the last couple of months have been QRP
my amps haven't even been turned on.


73,
Fred/N0AZZ
K3 Ser #'s 6730/5299--KX3 # 2573--K2/100--KAT100
P3/SVGA--KPA500--KAT500--W2




-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Bill W4ZV
Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2013 5:22 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton

Bill K9YEQ wrote
> Glad I never discussed the same issue with the wife when I bought the K2.
> I
> now own the K3 and KX3.  The K2 is my hearty backup in case of issues.

The K2/10 remains a very capable rig for portable use and SOTA activating.
While the KX3 has several advantages including weight and size, I've not yet
been compelled to get one.  If I really want light weight (3 ounces) and
small size (Altoids tin), I take my ATS-3.

Part of my love for the K2 is from building it myself in 2004...it might be
for sale after I leave planet Earth.  Here's a little story about SOTA
activating using the K2 in the recent QRPTTF event:

http://www.uwharrieqrp.com/2013/04/qrpttf-and-rocky-knob-w4cem-047.html

73,  Bill  W4ZV

 




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[k6dgw]

Is a KX3 REALLY 1/4 the size of a K2?


On 6/9/2013 3:54 AM, Fred Smith wrote:

> That was the case till I decided to buy the KX3 with all options at 1/4 the
> size of the K2. It blew my K2 away with all it had packed into such a small
> package and the really great receiver. Again the K2 was not being used for
> months till I loaned to a new ham to use that I knew for a month or so (now
> a Elecraft K3 owner) as of last week.


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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Actually it is a bit less than 1/4 the volume of the K2.
The Front Panel is about 1/2 inch less in length and about 3/16 inch
greater in height (width for the KX3).
The K2 is 8.5 inches deep, and the KX3 is a bit less than 1.75 inches deep.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 6/9/2013 3:18 PM, Fred Jensen wrote:

> Is a KX3 REALLY 1/4 the size of a K2?
>
>
> On 6/9/2013 3:54 AM, Fred Smith wrote:
>
>> That was the case till I decided to buy the KX3 with all options at
>> 1/4 the
>> size of the K2. It blew my K2 away with all it had packed into such a
>> small
>> package and the really great receiver. Again the K2 was not being
>> used for
>> months till I loaned to a new ham to use that I knew for a month or
>> so (now
>> a Elecraft K3 owner) as of last week.
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>

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[Fred Smith-2]

Yes very close.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Fred Jensen
Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2013 2:19 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton

Is a KX3 REALLY 1/4 the size of a K2?


On 6/9/2013 3:54 AM, Fred Smith wrote:

> That was the case till I decided to buy the KX3 with all options at
> 1/4 the size of the K2. It blew my K2 away with all it had packed into
> such a small package and the really great receiver. Again the K2 was
> not being used for months till I loaned to a new ham to use that I
> knew for a month or so (now a Elecraft K3 owner) as of last week.


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No virus found in this message.
Checked by AVG - www.avg.com
Version: 2012.0.2242 / Virus Database: 3199/5894 - Release Date: 06/08/13

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[Edward R Cole]

Hey, Don.

I like the sound of my old 1950's metal National Speaker.  True is
has a bit more bass than needed but the K3 sounds much mellower than
the internal speaker.  For really tough to hear signals I use
headphones, anyway.  I eventually will replace the cheap HK computer
speakers used with my KX3 with probably the West Mountain comm
speaker (immune to RFI).

73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
[hidden email]
"Kits made by KL7UW"

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[Mike Harris-9]

However, this needs expansion.  The QRP K2 and the QRO K2 are the same
size.  The QRP KX3 is small as described but to make it QRO by adding
the 100W amp it will probably be a close comparison. Comments on the
list indicate that the amp is not tiny.

With respect to features, that's altogether another story.

Regards,

Mike VP8NO
K2 #1400
K3 #345

On 09/06/2013 17:59, Fred Smith wrote:

> Yes very close.
>
> 73,
> Fred/N0AZZ
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email]
> [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Fred Jensen
> Sent: Sunday, June 09, 2013 2:19 PM
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton
>
> Is a KX3 REALLY 1/4 the size of a K2?
>
>
> On 6/9/2013 3:54 AM, Fred Smith wrote:
>
>> That was the case till I decided to buy the KX3 with all options at
>> 1/4 the size of the K2. It blew my K2 away with all it had packed into
>> such a small package and the really great receiver. Again the K2 was
>> not being used for months till I loaned to a new ham to use that I
>> knew for a month or so (now a Elecraft K3 owner) as of last week.

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[KE6BB]

...and I love the sound of the speaker for my old 1947 RME 45 receiver, but its steel cabinet is over 60 times the size (volume) of my KX3, and weighs at least 10 times more, so I just can't see using it with the KX3. ;-)

Mark
KE6BB



________________________________
 From: Edward R Cole <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Sent: Sunday, June 9, 2013 2:25 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A Rob Sherwood's talk in Dayton
 

Hey, Don.

I like the sound of my old 1950's metal National Speaker.  True is
has a bit more bass than needed but the K3 sounds much mellower than
the internal speaker.  For really tough to hear signals I use
headphones, anyway.  I eventually will replace the cheap HK computer
speakers used with my KX3 with probably the West Mountain comm
speaker (immune to RFI).

73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
[hidden email]
"Kits made by KL7UW"

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[k6dgw]

On 6/9/2013 3:06 PM, Mark Petiford wrote:
> ...and I love the sound of the speaker for my old 1947 RME 45
> receiver, but its steel cabinet is over 60 times the size (volume) of
> my KX3, and weighs at least 10 times more, so I just can't see using
> it with the KX3. ;-)

Prior to getting the SX-28 at 15, I had an RME45.  Both were very good
protection against gravity outages.  Although I've solved the problem
now, for quite awhile I had a real problem with my K3 and P3 being too
light ... "tapping" and "holding" pushed them rather than the buttons
around.  How time changes things!

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2013 Cal QSO Party 5-6 Oct 2013
- www.cqp.org

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