K3 front panel assembly

[.hank.]

John Huggins wrote:
> Another question is, for the contester, which transmitter and receiver
> parameters deserve their very own control knob?
>
> John
>
That's a great question!
Main tuning - large
Second VFO/Receiver - smaller
AF & RF gain for each - the AF gain being the most used, so AF/RF main &
AF/RF Sub.  
      AF---())---RF    for each
I dislike having to use the concentric, or "inner" control without
disturbing the the other.
Those are the most used in a contest.

Then there is the RIT for the "non-zero-beaters"!
And next would be the filter width on a knob rather than buttons you
must cycle through.

Then keyer speed, but lately that is controlled by the PC / K1EL Winkeyer.
The Bandswitch used to be right up there, but that's controlled by the
PC now with contest and logging programs!

Power, Mic gain, Compression, are nice, but pretty much "set & forget"
in a contest.  You don't have a lot of time to be messing with them when
you are running or S&P.

I'd think most everything else can be buttons .... as long as they don't
bounce!

73    Hank    K8DD

--
---
If God intended you to be on single sideband,
he would have given you only one nostril.
- Steve, K2PTS (SK)
---

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[Vic K2VCO]

Simon Brown (HB9DRV) wrote:

> Indeed - I have a K3 on order and would pay $1,000 more for a nice 19"
> big panel. Same as we have now, just bigger. Bigger buttons, bigger
> labels, nice 4" tuning knob (like the FTDX-9000).
>
> The age profile of Hams who can afford new radios must show that we're
> suffering from the age-related problems such as poor eyesight, less
> flexible fingers and easy confusion when presented with lots of small
> buttons (one reason why I like my TS-480SAT).

I have a K2, a TS850s and a beta version K3. I more or less got used to
the K2, but I complained a lot about it being too small for my age.

My experience with the K3 is that it does not feel smaller than the
TS850s (a 'normal size' radio), although it is. The number and layout of
the controls seems right for the size of the panel. I don't feel cramped
using it.

I have an HRO-5 which is 19" or so wide. It wouldn't fit on my desk with
the other stuff, like the computer and monitor that I didn't have in 1956.
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
K3 no. 00007 ('James', of course)
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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[.hank.]

hank k8dd wrote:
>
> AF & RF gain for each - the AF gain being the most used, so AF/RF main
> & AF/RF Sub.       AF---())---RF    for each
> I dislike having to use the concentric, or "inner" control without
> disturbing the the other.
I think what I meant for the AF/RF might be better visualized as

   AF ------o)-------RF/SQ main      upper control

   AF ------o)-------RF/SQ sub        lower control

I have never seen much use for a squelch on an HF radio, but I don't
operate FM on 10 or 6 M

And while I'm opening myself up .....
I liked the PF1, PF2, PF3 instead of the Pitch, Text Dec, Data MD .....
Make the next two to the left  XIT   RIT   and PF4, PF5 under them
...... Put the RIT at the edge - easier to press after 6 hours in front
of the radio ..... Guess I'd rather define what I want for that row of
switches!

Besides ..... It's all "soft" isn't it?  Maybe we could change them in
the future!

73    Hank    K8DD


--
---
If God intended you to be on single sideband,
he would have given you only one nostril.
- Steve, K2PTS (SK)
---

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[Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO]

This is a great idea -- but I wonder if you're actually thinking of it in
terms of PHYSICAL controls, rather than SCREEN IMAGES of physical controls?
The former would be the ideal, really -- a custom-designed UI with physical
controls that suit the individual user.

Think about how high-performance aircraft cockpits are designed. Lots of
knobs, switches, lights, and other "analog" controls -- except they aren't,
mostly. They're digital behind the front panel, but they behave as if they're
analog. Why? Because human beings are analog! That's how our bodies and brains
work. For the highest real-time efficiency, you need an analog user interface
to control the machine. Not just the familiar knobs and buttons, either, but
creative, highly adaptive analog controls as well.

Now, here's the idea. You provide a kit that consists of knob, button, switch,
lever, screen, light, and other analog control and display modules. These
modules (including various sizes of space-filler dummy modules) are shaped and
sized such that they can function as plug-in building blocks. You plug them
into the connection panel and do some very simple point-and-click programming
(with a PC temporarily connected) to tell the controller what each one is and
how it is to function, and voila -- custom analog control panel. The whole
thing then plugs into the radio, which is a black box situated somewhere out
of sight.

I think this might actually work, with a little development brainstorming...
:-)

Bill / W5WVO


Julian G4ILO wrote:

> That would be the advantage of a CAT program software interface - at
> least, a theoretical advantage since I haven't seen a program that
> actually does this. You could allow the user to design their own
> interface. Give them a palette of knobs and buttons and displays, let
> them set properties to say what parameter they controlled or showed.
>
> I actually thought of writing a program like this, but it is easier
> said than done and programming is not much fun, especially when it's
> more or less what you do all day for a living, so the idea never got
> off the drawing board.
>
> On 9/7/07, John Huggins <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> Another question is, for the contester, which transmitter and
>> receiver parameters deserve their very own control knob?
>>
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[Julius Fazekas n2wn]

Matt,

I would like to see a SM Elecraft kit as well. Some of
the devices are pretty easy to work with, although
even some of them may be "too big" these days.

The AmQRP micro908 was my first SMD kit. I was worried
about being able to work with the small devices. But
after the first couple of components, it was actually
fun and easy.

Maybe not for everyone, but I don't think it is as
hard to do as folks fear. Requires some new tools and
a bit more patience, and GOOD magnifying visor/loop.

Cheers,
Julius
n2wn
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[Matt Palmer-4]

It seems to me the old guys want things to get bigger, i want them
smaller, there is no reason with advances in technology and smaller
components that you cant fit a radio with the performance of the k2
(basic anyway) into an altoids tin, look at the AT-Sprint i think its
a great example of what can be done. If you want a better example i
spent the summer building and prototyping a power supply for military
radios, we shoved 350 watts with 9 outputs and red/black isolation
into a 3U conduction cooled compact pci card, which with the height
restriction that imposes i think was a pretty amazing feat. If i had
the free time to actually study the k2 and "figure it out" on the
level that don has it down, i wouldn't mind designing my own, but alas
i never have enough time to finish any of my dream projects, only to
start them and then to leave a bunch of parts and sketches in a box
somewhere.

Matt
KD8DAO

On 9/7/07, J F <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Matt,
>
> I would like to see a SM Elecraft kit as well. Some of
> the devices are pretty easy to work with, although
> even some of them may be "too big" these days.
>
> The AmQRP micro908 was my first SMD kit. I was worried
> about being able to work with the small devices. But
> after the first couple of components, it was actually
> fun and easy.
>
> Maybe not for everyone, but I don't think it is as
> hard to do as folks fear. Requires some new tools and
> a bit more patience, and GOOD magnifying visor/loop.
>
> Cheers,
> Julius
> n2wn
>

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[N2EY]

In a message dated 9/6/07 1:32:40 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
[hidden email] writes:


> Jim N2EY wrote:
>
> >Ancient Ones is a term of respect.
>
> Understood. In this part of the UK this usually refers to those who lived
> here some thousands of years ago, whereas Elders are still living.


I did not know that! TNX

In amateur radio usage, mostly among glowbug types, it has come to mean those
who did things "back when" and are no longer with us to explain *why* they
were done.

>
> >Consider the age of anyone who actually operated an amateur station 75+
> >years ago....
>
> Indeed.
>
>
> >A lot depends on how the comparison is made.
>
> There is no doubt in my mind that the availability of "plug and play" rigs
> and the growth of the ham population has increased interference levels from
> what they were in 1946.
>

Perhaps.

But OTOH, the quality of affordable rigs available to most hams today is far
above what it was then.

73 de Jim, N2EY


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[N2EY]

In a message dated 9/6/07 8:56:36 AM Eastern Daylight Time, [hidden email]
writes:

> On Thu, 6 Sep 2007 [hidden email] wrote:
>
> > All of the improvements in our
> > methods, rigs and antenna systems since then have been the direct results
> of radio
> > competition of various kinds.
>
> All of the improvements are direct result of competition?

Competition *of various kinds*.

 So none of them were
>
> made simply to satisfy the creator, or give him/her what he/she wanted that
> was
> not driven by competition?
>

When one wants something better than what already exists, and works to get
it, that's a form of competition.

> There are most likely a small number of folks who go about life meeting or
> exceding their own standards, and don't gague their happiness or suceess on
> the
> basis of "beating" someone else.
>

Meetin or exceeding one's own standards is a form of competition, even if it
is competing with oneself.

I've been a distance runner since 1981. I've never been very fast, yet I
entered many races simply to see how well I could do. Often I ran the same race
several years in a row, in competition with myself, trying to set a "PR"
(personal record).

I've also designed and built many ham rigs, from my first 1 tube transmitter
of 40 years ago to the rig currently on my webpage. All were an attempt to do
better than I'd done before, and I learned an enormous amount from each of
them. That's another form of competition. (One of the tests of whether New Rig is
an improvement over Old Rig is how many points I could make with it in
contests like Sweepstakes).

73 de Jim, N2EY



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