K3 repair

[N1IX-2]

I  sent my K3 to Elecraft in California after I and tried and failed to fix
the problem using Elecraft's support process.

I finally called them after hearing nothing for over a week. The nice lady
who answered the phone told me that the radio wouldn't even be put on the
repair bench for at least a month.  

Is this the normal turnaround time? I'm sure that there are lots of techs
unemployed in CA. Maybe Elecraft should put them to work.

 

Dave N1IX

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[Gary, W7TEA]

Dave, I sent in my K3 for hardware updates that I was unable to perform.  It was in Aptos just over a month. It arrives home tomorrow!!!!  When I inquired earlier this year, I was told that the waiting period was approximately two weeks. So, I believe they are experiencing a rush of new work lately.  Some folks may be doing just what I did, updating in preparation of the release of the P3.  

73 Gary W7TEA

[WA6L]

I sent my K3 in about 2 months ago for some mods and updates.  I was originally told it would be a 2-3 week turn around.  After 3 weeks I contacted them and was told it would be 5 weeks.  After 5 weeks, I contacted them again and was told that it would go on the bench the following week.  It did go on the bench the following week and was returned quickly after that.

All told I was without my K3 for 7 weeks.  

The only real complaint I had with the entire process is that there was no proactive communication.  I had to inquire each time a deadline passed in order to get an update.

73,

John, WA6L

[Don Wilhelm-4]

John,

While such proactive communication would be a good thing, please
understand that it takes a person -who is knowledgeable of the process
and estimated time - to create the emails for that communication.  The
person with that kind of knowledge is most likely the tech himself, and
if everyone wants their radios back as quickly as possible, it is best
to keep him working on the radio currently on his repair bench.

Even the tech cannot give a good answer if he has several radios in the
queue.  He never knows how long each radio will take until he gets it
open and makes some progress on it.

Bottom line is that all you really can get is an educated guess, and
even though an educated guess, it is usually wrong - Murphy says so.

The only real answer you can get is how far back in the queue is your
radio.  When I have more than 5 radios in line here, things get a bit
hectic, and I don't do the K3 repairs, just KX1, K1, K2, XVseries and
the rest of that line.  With the advent of the K3 DSP Board upgrade, I
believe the queue at Elecraft has grown substantially.  Unfortunately,
they cannot grow their repair staff quickly, it takes some learning and
experience before a new tech can become proficient.

But yes, 7 weeks is a long time.  I get uncomfortable if I cannot hold
my turnaround time to less than 2 weeks, but sometimes "stuff" happens.

73,
Don W3FPR

WA6L wrote:
> The only real complaint I had with the entire process is that there was no
> proactive communication.  I had to inquire each time a deadline passed in
> order to get an update.
>
> 73,
>
> John, WA6L
>
>  
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