K3 - Initial Thoughts

[Craig Smith]

WOW, what an announcement.  Before going any further, CONGRATULATIONS to the
Elecraft team for an awesome-looking product.  I didn't expect the K3 so
soon, and obviously it has been a monumental and well disguised effort.

As Background, I am a 95% CW operator who now has a K2 (15 W) and an Icom
IC-7000.  I think that both rigs are excellent in their own regard.  My
long-range plan is to use the ICOM for mobile/portable, build a K1 for
backpacking and get a new 100W class rig for permanent installation in the
shack.  I was leaning toward the FT-2000 for the shack rig, but may need to
rethink things now.

It is too soon for a meaningful analysis, but here are my first impressions
of what I like and don't like about the K3:

Like:
General Coverage
6 Meter coverage
Very versatile filter selection, both roofing and DSP IF
Hope for first-class noise blanker(s)
Hopefully excellent CW receiver specs
Modular construction
Well thought out computer I/F
PowerPole DC connector

Don't Like:
No Analog meter
No color LCD display
UHF connectors rather than BNC
Not enough dedicated knobs
Still too small (see "knobs")

When I first read the Elecraft K3 announcement, I was still thinking
FT-2000.   Then later Elecraft mentioned that a panadaptor would follow in a
few months.  I think that the panadaptor design will, for me, be the
deciding factor between FT-2000 and K3.  If it contains/supports a large
color LCD, has good features, is reasonably priced and also supports large
color display of K3 front panel info (ala IC-7000 remote display), then it
could have LOTS of appeal to these aging eyes and swing things back towards
Elecraft.  I don't think that price alone will be the deciding factor
between these two rigs for most folks.

Before closing, another word or two of praise for the modular construction
approach in the K3.  I like building things and totally enjoyed all the
soldering (yes, even the toroids) when building my K2.  But time marches on.
To make a competitive rig, SMD is the way to go, and the multiplicity of
fine-pitch SMD devices for a rig like the K3 would be tiresome even for me.
So the Elecraft K3 approach is an excellent decision.  If enough built-in
test and diagnostics are included so that failure isolation down to a single
board is possible, then this could be a new paradigm for the entire
industry.  Why ship a 50 pound rig to the west coast to repair a 4 ounce
circuit board???

I look forward to making an informed decision within the next year.  In the
meantime, I KNOW I will enjoy building and operating my K1  ;>)

73
         ... Craig AC0DS


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[wayne burdick]

Craig D. Smith wrote:

>
> When I first read the Elecraft K3 announcement, I was still thinking
> FT-2000.   Then later Elecraft mentioned that a panadaptor would
> follow in a
> few months.  I think that the panadaptor design will, for me, be the
> deciding factor between FT-2000 and K3.  If it contains/supports a
> large
> color LCD, has good features, is reasonably priced and also supports
> large
> color display of K3 front panel info (ala IC-7000 remote display),
> then it
> could have LOTS of appeal to these aging eyes and swing things back
> towards
> Elecraft.  I don't think that price alone will be the deciding factor
> between these two rigs for most folks.

Craig, our goal is to create the highest-performance panadapter
available. This project will be kicked off soon, and we may see it by
the end of the year.

>
> Before closing, another word or two of praise for the modular
> construction
> approach in the K3.  I like building things and totally enjoyed all the
> soldering (yes, even the toroids) when building my K2.  But time
> marches on.
> To make a competitive rig, SMD is the way to go, and the multiplicity
> of
> fine-pitch SMD devices for a rig like the K3 would be tiresome even
> for me.
> So the Elecraft K3 approach is an excellent decision.

Thanks. It was not an easy one!


> I look forward to making an informed decision within the next year.  
> In the
> meantime, I KNOW I will enjoy building and operating my K1  ;>)

Keep those suggestions coming. The K3 will evolve (carefully!), over
time, based on customer feedback. We'll be very cautious in adding new
features, however, making sure that they're warranted, intuitive, and
without compromising the basic functionality of the rig in any way.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


---

http://www.elecraft.com

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[Simon (HB9DRV)]

----- Original Message -----
From: "wayne burdick" <[hidden email]>
>
> Keep those suggestions coming. The K3 will evolve (carefully!), over time,
> based on customer feedback. We'll be very cautious in adding new features,
> however, making sure that they're warranted, intuitive, and without
> compromising the basic functionality of the rig in any way.
>

The panadapter should have its own PC interface, we are probably looking at
RS232 @ 115,200 bps or even higher (I am thinking 1024 bytes at 20Hz with
data compression, or 1024 x 12 bits at 10Hz. USB / firewire would be even
better in this respect but we can use RS232 for now. There are all sorts of
algorithms we can use to get the data down the wires.

The ability to get this raw data and display it on a PC will be fantastic -
for example monitoring 6m CW beacons. I would not try to mix this data with
the K3's normal RS232, keep the feeds separate.

There are many aficionados who can take the RS232 from K3 and panadapter,
then create a display similar to the IC-7800's using a PIC-based controller,
I will do this using a computer.

I suggest that the panadapter display be VGA and optional - I have many
decent VGA monitors here, I would rather use one of these than spend money
on a small LCD which can be quite expensive and potentially hard to replace
in the future.

Woo-Hoo,

Simon 'K3: Klingon-Free' HB9DRV

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[Ed K1EP]

At 4/30/2007 01:30 AM, wayne burdick wrote:

>Craig D. Smith wrote:
>
>>
>>When I first read the Elecraft K3 announcement, I was still thinking
>>FT-2000.   Then later Elecraft mentioned that a panadaptor would follow in a
>>few months.  I think that the panadaptor design will, for me, be the
>>deciding factor between FT-2000 and K3.  If it contains/supports a large
>>color LCD, has good features, is reasonably priced and also supports large
>>color display of K3 front panel info (ala IC-7000 remote display), then it
>>could have LOTS of appeal to these aging eyes and swing things back towards
>>Elecraft.  I don't think that price alone will be the deciding factor
>>between these two rigs for most folks.
>
>Craig, our goal is to create the highest-performance panadapter available. This project will be kicked off soon, and we may see it by the end of the year.

There will be a lot of debate about the display in a panadapter or bandscope.  Size, cost, color (Orion I), and resolution all will be a factor.  My opinion is, don't put one in or at least have a model available without one.  LCD displays are so plentiful these days and many have one or more in the shack already.  Make the panadapter or bandscope available with just a VGA output.  It will be smaller, cheaper and more versatile.  

My $0.02
Ed Parish K1EP
KX1# 666  K3# ??

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[Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO]

Ed K1EP wrote:

> There will be a lot of debate about the display in a panadapter or
> bandscope.  Size, cost, color (Orion I), and resolution all will be a
> factor.  My opinion is, don't put one in or at least have a model
> available without one.  LCD displays are so plentiful these days and
> many have one or more in the shack already.  Make the panadapter or
> bandscope available with just a VGA output.  It will be smaller,
> cheaper and more versatile.

Agreed. Or the integral LCD panel could be optional (or lack of it could be
optional) with a smaller enclosure for the units without.

Bill / W5WVO

>
> My $0.02
> Ed Parish K1EP
> KX1# 666  K3# ??
>
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