K2's Future

[Gary Reich]

As the owner of 2 K2s which I built I am curious about the future of the K2 now that the KX3 is being developed. Since the K2 is a mature radio the only viable upgrades would be in the firmware. In the distant past Wayne mentioned the possibility of a new MCU which would increase the available space available for new code. Likewise Alan Bloom mentioned the possibility of writing some code which would allow the P3 to comunicate with the K2 on a limited level. Is there a market for this type of upgrade or is the K2 obsolete?
Hopefully someday I'll upgrade to the K3 but until then I'll stick with the K2.
73, Gary YS1GR

[Don Wilhelm-4]

  Gary,

The K2 is not obsolete, but certainly is mature (there is a BIG difference).
You will continue to see the K2 supported by Elecraft - at least for
repair and the normal definitions of support.

You may or may not see any further changes to the K2 - either hardware
or firmware.  Situation - if the projected sales for P3s will be
enhanced sufficiently by modifying the K2 firmware to work better with
it, then you may see an updated K2 firmware to provide that support.  
But consider that the stock K2 has no IF output (other than the Clifton
Labs Z10000 buffer).  While that IF output works well, I would think
that Elecraft would want to pull such a K2 IF output "in house" before
working on K2 firmware to utilize the P3 functionality.  Such
combinations  of situations create a business decision process for
Elecraft (or any other company).  I for one would not want to do
development work on something that is under someone else's control (like
the K2 IF output).

If you want a bit different perspective, just look at the numbers.  The
K2 has recently hit SN 7000 over the past 12 years it has been
produced.  In a much shorter time, the K3 has already shipped about that
same number.  Guess which one gets the most attention for enhancements.

Bottom line -- Your K2s will not be obsolete, and Elecraft will continue
to provide support, but there may be no further enhancements.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 5/31/2011 6:20 PM, Gary Reich wrote:

> As the owner of 2 K2s which I built I am curious about the future of the K2
> now that the KX3 is being developed. Since the K2 is a mature radio the only
> viable upgrades would be in the firmware. In the distant past Wayne
> mentioned the possibility of a new MCU which would increase the available
> space available for new code. Likewise Alan Bloom mentioned the possibility
> of writing some code which would allow the P3 to comunicate with the K2 on a
> limited level. Is there a market for this type of upgrade or is the K2
> obsolete?
> Hopefully someday I'll upgrade to the K3 but until then I'll stick with the
> K2.
> 73, Gary YS1GR
>

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[k6dgw]

On 5/31/2011 3:20 PM, Gary Reich wrote:
> As the owner of 2 K2s which I built I am curious about the future of the K2
> now that the KX3 is being developed. Since the K2 is a mature radio the only
> viable upgrades would be in the firmware.

OK, I'm a little confused, but then that's pretty much a permanent state
for me at this age.  I have K2 #4398.  I have the KAT2, the SSB adapter
[never used], and the AF2 [used a lot once I figured out how to use it].
  Oh yes, there's a real-time clock in there too, don't know where and
never used.  I bought a KAT100 and KPA100 from another ham a number of
years ago, don't use them any more.  If anyone wants them, let me know.

My K2 is still exactly the radio I bought and built.  It still does
exactly what I bought it for.  I'm not looking for upgrades, I have a
serious aversion to upgrades after a career in engineering, HW and SW.
I can't really think of anything that would make my K2 better than it
already is.  It is my field radio, I use it for summit activations, and
field contests where I don't have to weigh my radio.  For that I use the
KX1, which also doesn't need upgrading.

I wish I had kept my S3-Line, a "mature radio."  I also wish I had kept
my 2B, another "mature radio."  Change happens, things do get better
[but not always], but how can a radio become obsolete if it still does
what it always did and all of that is still rampant on the ham bands?

73,

Fred K6DGW
"Mature Ham"
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[Julian, G4ILO]

Don Wilhelm-4 wrote

Bottom line -- Your K2s will not be obsolete, and Elecraft will continue
to provide support, but there may be no further enhancements.

I suspect you may be correct, but I suspect that more than a few people would be interested if the K2 was "supported" by the availability of a digital modes interface along the lines of the one designed and made available several years ago as a limited edition kit by Pauli EA3BLQ (SK)?