A confession

[Jim Brown-10]

On 2/9/2014 3:08 PM, Jim Lowman wrote:
> Icom did the same with the IC-706 (the XYL has one of the originals).
> They didn't even change the model number, only the suffix, and it's on
> the third incarnation.

And it's a nasty trash generator.

73, Jim K9YC
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[Gary NL7Y]

I want to thank all that replied to my OP for their perspectives. In fairness to the ham's experimental spirit I plan to return my K3/P3 to the bench and relearn the O/S.

It appears the Utility program's features are essential, and I need to download and become familiar with that product. I own and have read Fred KE7X's work as well.

I now clearly see the point of Elecraft's business model vs others. I too went through the I-Y-K model evolutionary odyssey, and don't wish to repeat those events.

Thanks for the sound advice from where experience counts,

73, Gary NL7Y  

[Jim Low man]

Glad that the XYL claims it, although she isn't active at the time.

73 de Jim - AD6CW

On 2/9/2014 4:11 PM, Jim Brown wrote:
> On 2/9/2014 3:08 PM, Jim Lowman wrote:
>> Icom did the same with the IC-706 (the XYL has one of the originals).
>> They didn't even change the model number, only the suffix, and it's
>> on the third incarnation.
>
> And it's a nasty trash generator.
>
> 73, Jim K9YC

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[Jim Brown-10]

On 2/9/2014 4:14 PM, Gary NL7Y wrote:
> It appears the Utility program's features are essential, and I need to
> download and become familiar with that product.

While it's good to learn to use it, the radio will work forever without
it. The Utility program has three primary functions. 1) It will
automatically go to the Elecraft website, download the latest versions
of firmware, check what's in your radio, and allow you to update the rig
if it needs it. 2) It makes it easier to load CW memories and some
settings.  3) It allows you to save all of the settings in the radio so
if something breaks, you can restore your setup.

The P3 Utility has the additional functions that allow you to save
displays that you see on the screen.

As others have noted, these firmware updates expand the capabilities and
tweak the way things work. If you never did an update, things would
still work just fine, but you wouldn't have the new features.

Each product has its own Uitility -- the K3, the P3, the KPA500, and the
KAT500 -- and they all work the same. VERY easy to use. I typically open
up each one of them every 6 months to a year to see if there's anything
new. I have two complete stations, and it takes 30-45 minutes to do
everything.

73, Jim K9YC
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[Mike Reublin]

Keith -

Beta testing by definition means it may not be ready for prime time. That it's named a beta release is not an indication of sloppiness. In fact, I believe Elecraft has already done extensive unit testing, and user testing by a selected focused group. I look forward to each improvement, hoping someday to get my suggestion incorporated. I'd much rather spend a few minutes to get the latest model radio, than a few thousand dollars to do the  same. I have only a K3 and P3, so can't comment about other products.

I have always loaded the betas when they come out, and have never had a problem. I also don't do a formal test protocol (since I retired, I don't have to any more).

73, Mike NF4L

On Feb 9, 2014, at 4:55 PM, XE3/K5ENS <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I don't get where it is being said that the K3 keeps turning into a new
> receiver every time
> a firmware release happens.  There hasn't been any MAJOR improvements in the
> K3 for about
> 2 years.  Sure minor upgrades have been made.  Even one that only 1 person
> ask for????
> And now the KAT500 has been downgraded to less than what it was when
> released.  The
> slow response time for reading frequency changes has dropped the tuner down
> a class or 2.  
> And being without it for weeks while waiting for an upgrade was hard to
> take.
> I personally think Elecraft has been sloppy with firmware releases.  Too
> many betas released
> to soon with too many bugs.  That never happened 2-3 years ago.  I say use
> whatever rig
> works for YOU!  Enjoying your radio is the most important thing.  Whatever
> radio that may be.
>
> Keith
>
>
>
> --
> View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/A-confession-tp7583887p7583937.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
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[James Beitchman]

Eric,

 

I think in your message copied below you come closest to expressing and
understanding the anxiety in Gary's mail.  I am a loyal, frequent,
multi-mode user of my K3, but there is more to the hobby for many of us than
the latest software upgrades, software/hardware interface issues and bugs
that form the content of the majority of posts on this reflector. Complete
station automation through software and integrated hardware is not a goal
for many, including me, in the hobby. Although I do admit that I am
anxiously waiting for the K3/0 mini so I can remote from my home QTH to my
shack 100 miles away.

 

For me there is the joy putting my mind and hands to work finding the "bad
guy"(or guys) among the resistors, capacitors, inductors, Rube Goldberg
mechanisms and tubes of my 75A4 (a crystal set compared to the K3) and KW-1
(not KWS-1). With a complete schematic spread out in front of me, using
logic and measurements the precise function of every one of those hundreds
of discrete components is clear. The process of understanding, maintenance
and repair is far different from finding a software bug or resolving an
interface issue and equally as rewarding, I think.

 

And one more, not so subtle point: K3 + Drake L4B (1200W; $400 with a
month's work at the bench) + Johnson KW Matchbox (no, it doesn't suddenly
re-tune on its own; got to put hands on it, but getting it to stop arcing
over was a challenge; $100) yields an amplifier + tuner cost per watt of
$0.42.  You can make that calculation with "other" amplifier/tuner
combinations that have a set of headaches that you can't fix yourself.

 

Perhaps now Gary's plaint and my, and others like me, more extreme deviation
from 2014 orthodoxy are more understandable.

 

There is fun for each of us in this hobby!

 

73,

 

Buzz

W3EMD    

 

 

 

 

Message: 26

Date: Sun, 9 Feb 2014 13:13:28 -0800

From: EricJ <[hidden email]>

To: [hidden email]

Subject: Re: [Elecraft] A confession

Message-ID: <[hidden email]>

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"; format=flowed

 

I think I get Gary, too, on some points.

 

I almost gave up ham radio 8-10 years ago. The operating had become routine
and boring. DXing was indistinguishable from post card or stamp collecting
to me.

 

What changed it was a club member bringing a bunch of QRP rigs he had built
to a meeting. Among them were a Rockmite and a K1. Next day I ordered one of
each. Since that day, I have been as immersed in ham radio as any time in
the last 57 years I've been licensed. I've since added two K2's and a KX1. I
have no qualms about opening the cases of any of them and heating up the
soldering iron to try something, though most of my ham activities involve
sitting at the bench systematically working through the homebrewer's bible,
EMRFD, and learning to program PICs in Forth (tired of C...if I stop for
lunch I need to be retrained).

 

But I could never generate the same interest in the KX3 or K3. I've come
close to buying a KX3 based on the absolutely superb specs and incredible
reviews, but something's missing for me. I said the same about the first
luxury Japanese cars when I worked in that industry; superb engineering and
build quality, but they have no soul. The KX3/K3 kit builds are mostly
mechanical not electronic. And who really knows what's going on inside that
box beyond the block diagram which is all that is provided. I don't mean
this to be critical. I don't know what hidden things are going on inside
this computer I'm typing on either.

 

SDR, with its hidden computer circuits, is where RF and ham radio is going.
It's a very natural progression for Elecraft as one of the leaders in ham
radio. Nobody could last long in this high tech age sticking with thru-hole
QRP kits.

 

But there are people like Gary, and like me, who don't see the same radio
magic in SDR that others see. I work on everything from boatanchors (Viking
Ranger on the bench right now) to homebrew original design SMT and PIC
projects, so I'm not some old f**t longing for the good ole days. (OK, maybe
old f**t, but not the longing part) I love the new technologies, but I just
can't get behind a rig that really isn't meant to be opened up and tinkered
with.

 

Hats off to the Elecraft team for producing such technological wonders, but
also hats off to them for keeping more classic rigs like the K1 and K2 in
their product line.

 

Eric

KE6US

 

 

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[W0SGM]

 Gary..
I sure wish I had a K3/P3 here. I have a TS-590 still with the plastic on the front if you want another..(hint hint..lol)

Scott W0SGM