K3 Status Update 8/29/07

[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ]

K3 Status Update: August 29, 2007

Note from Eric:
I apologize for not posting earlier. I planned on posting an update for
everyone before I left town for the JA Ham Fair last week, but ran out
of time. So you can blame this delay in status on me (and the Marketing
dept.) instead of the Engineering dept.


Our revised target for the beginning of K3 shipments is now September
17th. The K3 shipping date is now primarily determined by delays in K3
part deliveries, PC boards and completed assemblies from our vendors.
The remaining handful of delayed parts are scheduled to arrive this week
and early next week. There are less than ten different parts in this
category, but it only takes one part not arriving (or arriving with the
incorrect value) to delay production. Every time this has happened our
PCB stuffing operation has had to halt working on one board and move to
another while the part problem is resolved. The final four raw PC boards
took 2 weeks longer than expected and they arrive tomorrow. (There are a
total of 16 PC boards in the basic K3/10.) Also, our sheet metal
fabricator has taken several weeks longer than they projected to supply
us with painted and silk-screened K3 chassis parts. Final K3 sheet metal
is now scheduled to arrive in Aptos on Friday.

Our field testers and engineering team have done an excellent job over
the last four weeks thrashing out the K3's design, assembly manual and
operational features. (Thanks guys!) Wayne, Lyle and the rest of our
engineering team have been working 7 day weeks incorporating the Field
Tester's suggestions and making sure the K3 meets their expectations and
hopefully yours. We've field tested the first release of the assembly
manual and we are now testing the latest update.

The KNB3 noise blanker was the last core board completed for the K3. It
was released to production last month and is one of the best performing
noise blankers I've used. It includes 8 different NB gain levels and has
two stages of internal AGC, along with three separate widths of
blanking. The net result is that I have been able to remove almost
anything my local power company, electric fences and noisy autos and can
throw at it. And combined with Lyle's latest version of the DSP NB, we
have a formidable tool for interference reduction. (The hardware and DSP
noise blankers can be used simultaneously to reduce a wide range of
pulse type interference.)

We are receiving assembled K3 boards in Aptos now and are testing them
in preparation for their inclusion in K3 kits and assembled units. So
far we have received, or will receive this week, initial shipments of a
number of the K3 board assemblies, including the front panel, mixer,
audio and digital I/O, PLL, crystal filter and transverter I/O boards.

We appreciate your patience as we get the final pieces in place to ship
your K3s. From now until we ship we will post weekly updates on K3
shipping here on the Elecraft list and on our web page. We'll also be
posting the pre-release version of the K3 assembly manual on our web
site later this week to give you a feel for what is coming.

73,
Eric  WA6HHQ
Wayne, N6KR
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[Simon (HB9DRV)]

----- Original Message -----
From: "Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
>
> We appreciate your patience as we get the final pieces in place to ship
> your K3s.
>

Thanks Eric, main thing is that you and Wayne stay same. I've had friends
crack up running similar operations to yours - best ship late and stay sane.
The Ham Radio community needs you and the K3 :-)

Simon HB9DRV

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[dj7mgq]

Hallo Eric, Wayne & the rest of the Gang of K3,

Thank you very much for the detailed update!

While the new delay is a pity, I much prefer that you take your time, do it
right, get some sleep, spend time with your loved ones and continue find delight
in doing what are doing.

vy 73 de toby
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[Julian, G4ILO]

Thanks for the update, Eric. I know the K3 is going to be worth the
wait. Anticipation is part of the pleasure, like thinking about that
cool pint of beer after a long walk in the mountains, when you can see
the pub in the distance but it takes longer than expected to actually
get there.

--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Ham-Directory: www.ham-directory.com


On 8/30/07, Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft <[hidden email]> wrote:
> K3 Status Update: August 29, 2007
>
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[Ed Muns, W0YK]

One example of many pleasant discoveries for K3 owners, and unique to the
K3, is the feature of receiving and transmitting data modes wholly with a
stand-alone K3.  No external hardware or software specific to FSK or PSK is
needed.  Moreover, the user interface to carry on a digital mode QSO is
incredibly simple.  In a telegram, received text is scrolled in the VFO-B
display area and transmission is encoded CW from the paddle or message
memories.

The value of this to me personally is that I can easily work a quick QSO,
say a DXpedition getting on RTTY or PSK for a short while, by simply turning
on the K3 and "doing it".  No PC to boot, no RTTY or PSK application to
load, no special cables or software configuration to get working again since
my last digital foray.

My main Ham radio interest is CW contesting and also, as of three years ago,
RTTY contesting.  Occasionally, I'll chase an interesting DXpedition and
several times I've tried to get PSK working well enough to make one QSO with
them.  But, not normally operating PSK, I've never gotten it fully working
here and the effort for one QSO has been more than I was willing to invest.

Take the N8S Swains Island DXpedition earlier this year.  They operated a
fair amount of RTTY and had a few runs on PSK31.  Three fellow contest club
members were on that trip and I had fun trying to work as many band-modes as
I could.  CW and SSB were easy, but RTTY was a hassle and PSK31 never
happened for me.  Despite my often setting up for a full-blown SO2R RTTY
contest, it requires some rewiring and re-configuration of my station, not
to mention booting a PC and loading MMTTY or whatever RTTY application.
And, then when I wanted to work another CW band QSO, I'd have to reconfigure
the station back again.  Not a big deal, but annoying.  For PSK31, I
actually tried WriteLog's PSK capability and couldn't get it to work.  AA5AU
recommended DigiPan and I downloaded that and tried to get it to work, but
again to no avail in the short time I fooled with it.

Had the K3 been available to me, I would have simply turned it on, set the
frequency, set bandwidth and tapped MODE into DATA mode.  Next, I would have
held DATA MD and then rotated VFO-B to select FSK (and VFO-B to select 45
bps), held TEXT DEC and rotated VFO-B to select ON, and finally selected the
tones by holding PITCH and rotating VFO-A to select a 915 Hz Mark tone with
a 170 Hz shift.  I then would have tuned in N8S, tapping CWT to enable the
FSK tuning indicator if desired, and their FSK text would have scrolled
across the VFO-B display area.  Easy!  Wonderful!  And, there's more!

To answer N8S's CQ, I would have sent 'DE W0YK W0YK' with the CW paddle.
The K3 would have translated my CW to FSK with the Mark frequency zero beat
to N8S and the Space frequency shifted 170 Hz.  Since I seldom send CW at 60
wpm to keep up with the 45 baud RTTY rate, I might have loaded some message
memories with the 2-3 messages needed to have a DXpedition QSO.  If the N8S
operator knew me and took a minute to rag chew and ask about the latest
Giants results, I'd have just carried on by sending CW to the K3 which in
turn sends FSK to N8S.  In the monitor, I'd hear my CW for feedback and also
the RTTY Mark and Space tones at a more subdued volume so I'd be completely
aware of what is going on.

And, had the K3 been available to me during the Swains operation, I would
have easily worked them on PSK31 using the same technique.  

Let me be clear.  This capability will not replace my
PC/Soundcard/WriteLog/MMTTY/HAL DXP38/etc. serious contesting setup.   (...
yet.  I can foresee the day when the K3 decoder might be as good as the best
external decoders and it will interface to my CW logging program while
running RTTY.)  What the K3 now provides me is the ability to work the
occasional digital mode QSO with the ease of operating a CW QSO, and no
additional hardware or software.  I suspect the K3 will be responsible for
getting more people introduced to digital mode operation.  Already several
of the K3 field testers, in fact chief engineer N6KR himself, have worked
their first RTTY QSO ever with the K3, because it was so easy to get on the
data modes.

K3 owners will each have their own similar experiences with the other rich
and robust capability built into the K3, not only at initial release but via
future releases as well.  This, on top of an exceptional performance basic
radio makes the K3 the hot rig to have on your operating table.

73,
Ed - W0YK

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Does the K3 decoder decode CW?

--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Ham-Directory: www.ham-directory.com
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[David Pratt-2]

In a recent message, Julian G4ILO <[hidden email]> wrote ...
>Does the K3 decoder decode CW?

Yes, and PSK31, RTTY and Hellschreiber.
--
David G4DMP
Leeds, England, UK
------


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[oz5abo, Per Brix]

It's great that we are closing in on the first deliveries now. Being in
the line for the 2nd production run I can't wait to hear for all you
lucky First-Production-Run-Guys.

I am actually quite satisfied with the delays! In my daily work in a
production company with R&D as an important parameter for us I know that
projects of a certain complexity and size normally presents you with
hick-ups delaying the plans. Either you deal with them up front (which
might delay the project) or you end up spending 10 times the resources
fighting with "after-sales issues".

I don't know why, but I some how forgot that when I bought my FT-2000
last year... :-( Fortunately I got my money back just in time to order
the K3 ;-)

IMHO the communication from Elecraft is unparalleled and combined with
the delays it sends a clear signal that those guys are very professionel
& devoted in supplying the ham community with the best of the best more
than they care about the ever important cash flow. This is indeed unlike
some of the other players in the market...

The day Wayne, Eric & Co. decides to retire in order to catch up with the
family and actually make some QSO's as well, will be a sad day for our
community.

Well, back to work... take care!

73, Per
oz5abo

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Hellschreiber? You're kidding, right?

--
Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
Ham-Directory: www.ham-directory.com


On 8/30/07, David Pratt <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Yes, and PSK31, RTTY and Hellschreiber.
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[N8LP]

No problem guys... I'm happy to wait. I ran into the same problems on a
much smaller scale (2 PCBs, ~110 part numbers) when I launched my
LP-100. I have a special place in my heart for the guys who waited 4
months after ordering for the initial product shipments. Unless you've
been there, it's hard to understand that one seemingly insignificant
part, or bad trace on a PCB, or a thin silk screen, can delay
everything... and this can extend beyond the initial run because each
run seems to generate small random problems. In my case, on the second
run I had a distributor deliver toroids with the wrong ferrite mix,
mixed in with correct ones (these are unmarked parts as you know). I can
also state from experience, that offering a product in both assembled
and kit form adds a layer of complexity that is higher than expected.

I for one view the K3 as a breakthrough product... one which will change
the market, and am willing to wait as long as it takes. Get some sleep,
take some walks and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

73,
Larry N8LP



Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft wrote:
> K3 Status Update: August 29, 2007
>
> Note from Eric:
> I apologize for not posting earlier. I planned on posting an update for
> everyone before I left town for the JA Ham Fair last week, but ran out
> of time. So you can blame this delay in status on me (and the Marketing
> dept.) instead of the Engineering dept.
>
>
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[Ed Muns, W0YK]

> Does the K3 decoder decode CW?

Yes.

73,
Ed - W0YK

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[Goody K3NG]

Hell is easier than you think to generate and decode (easier than CW
from a machine point of view, IMO).  I considered making a PIC do it.  
The biggest challenge with that is the dot matrix LCD display code.

Julian G4ILO wrote:
> Hellschreiber? You're kidding, right?
>
>  


--
Blog: http://thek3ngreport.blogspot.com/

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[W2AGN-2]

Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft wrote:

>
> We appreciate your patience as we get the final pieces in place to ship
> your K3s. From now until we ship we will post weekly updates on K3
> shipping here on the Elecraft list and on our web page. We'll also be
> posting the pre-release version of the K3 assembly manual on our web
> site later this week to give you a feel for what is coming.
>
> 73,
> Eric  WA6HHQ
> Wayne, N6KR

Thank you. In spite of some folks who apparently can not read, my complaint was
NOT about the delay, but about the lack of communication. I think the above will
be a big help.

--
John - W2AGN
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[Greg - AB7R]

Hi Julian,

Yes...at present, the K3 can decode CW, PSK31 and RTTY.

-------------------------
73,
Greg - AB7R
Whidbey Island WA
NA-065

On Thu Aug 30  3:57 , "Julian G4ILO"  sent:

>Does the K3 decoder decode CW?
>
>--
>Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
>G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
>Ham-Directory: www.ham-directory.com
>_______________________________________________
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>
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[Tom Hammond-2]

Hi David:

>>Does the K3 decoder decode CW?
>
>Yes, and PSK31, RTTY and Hellschreiber.

I'm afraid it does not decode Hellschreiber... at least yet.  I don't
think it's even been discussed.

Cheers,

Tom   N0SS

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[Bill Steffey NY9H]

after "persisting" against Commonwealth Edison for OVER A YEAR AND
ONE HALF...  even after intervention by the FCC causing no ComEd
action, and then our state commerce commission finally got it
fixed....S9 line noise from 3 poles,

I KNOW ,,, IF YOU CAN'T HEAR IT , YOU CAN'T WORK IT,

no amount of watts help....

BUT THE K3 NOISE BLANKER  might being be able to bring back the HF
hobby to those who have given up on their power company and HF.

looks like a few more ticks waiting,,,,,,but WELL worth the wait.

bill


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