K3's physical size

[George-122]

At first, I had a concern about the K3's buttons and knobs being too close and/or small, so I ran a print of the K3's front panel from the website; making  it as close to full size as I could get it (the print is actually a bit smaller than full size).  I then "tried it on for size", so to speak, by pushing the buttons, etc, to see if my fingers overlapped other buttons or knobs.  My hands are larger than average for a man, and I could foresee no problem.  My K2 has not presented a problem for me, either, in that regard.

I now have no concern about the size being too small.  I think it will be fine, and I commend the designers for building in so many desirable features.  It has several highly desirable features which I wish my Icom 756 Pro III had come with, especially the ones having to do with CW.  I would gladly give up the Pro III's spectrum display in exchange for the K3's CW spotting feature, TX/ax EQ, and wider range antenna tuner, just for starters.  Then there's its superb receiver performance figures and whattadeal price.  

Come quickly, second batch!

George, N4YM
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[Brett gazdzinski-2]

 
I got spoiled by the band scope on the 756 pro.
I don't mind a smaller radio, but the display on the K3
seems its weak point.
Other high end radios have real nice displays, in color,
and the menu buttons and options are on it and easy to change,
plus you can display a lot more info, in a lot more detail,
all at the same time.
Some even include a real meter or two plus the screen...


I suppose the ability to do that adds lots of weight and
power consumption, and adds a LOT to the cost, but its nice.
It's a shame they put those features on expensive poor performing
boxes. Maybe the performance is poor BECAUSE they have an expensive
screen setup, and they shaved cost in other area's?

What Elecraft could do is design a home qth version of the K3
with the K3 guts inside a bigger box with a real nice color display.
I am sure they could think of all sorts of cool things to do with a nice
display, dual band scopes for the dual receivers, full page rtty display
or even a TV decoder!

Or maybe the future band scope option will include lots of the usual
screen stuff....

Sure is fun to think about what could be...

Brett
N2DTS

>
> At first, I had a concern about the K3's buttons and knobs
> being too close and/or small, so I ran a print of the K3's
> front panel from the website; making  it as close to full
> size as I could get it (the print is actually a bit smaller
> than full size).  I then "tried it on for size", so to speak,
> by pushing the buttons, etc, to see if my fingers overlapped
> other buttons or knobs.  My hands are larger than average for
> a man, and I could foresee no problem.  My K2 has not
> presented a problem for me, either, in that regard.
>
> I now have no concern about the size being too small.  I
> think it will be fine, and I commend the designers for
> building in so many desirable features.  It has several
> highly desirable features which I wish my Icom 756 Pro III
> had come with, especially the ones having to do with CW.  I
> would gladly give up the Pro III's spectrum display in
> exchange for the K3's CW spotting feature, TX/ax EQ, and
> wider range antenna tuner, just for starters.  Then there's
> its superb receiver performance figures and whattadeal price.  
>
> Come quickly, second batch!
>
> George, N4YM
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[Thom LaCosta]

On Fri, 27 Jul 2007, Brett gazdzinski wrote:

>
> What Elecraft could do is design a home qth version of the K3
> with the K3 guts inside a bigger box with a real nice color display.
> I am sure they could think of all sorts of cool things to do with a nice
> display, dual band scopes for the dual receivers, full page rtty display
> or even a TV decoder!

Since I am neolithic, I have no experience with fancy displays..but it seems to
me that with all the features the K3 has, at some point Elecraft, or others,
might offer external whathamacallits and whoziees that would allow someone to
have a trick pony at home.

>From some of the posts, it appears to me that the Aptos folks did a LOT of
research and are offering a product that a large number of folks who want a high
end radio will buy...

Now what I would like to have is a "swing" emulator in the keyer logic (g).
There are some options that might be considered at
http://www.zerobeat.net/qrp/qrpretro.html

>
> Sure is fun to think about what could be...

How about a direct interface to the buggy whip holder?  That way, Amish hams
could go mobile....and actually copy cw via whip waves?

Thom,EIEIO,k3hrn
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[Julian, G4ILO]

I had a 756PRO years ago which I sold after I got the K2. The band
scope was a nice toy, but I really didn't miss it. It made no
difference to my signal at the other end, and it didn't help me copy
people better either. As for helping to spot activity on a dead band,
well, the K2 has a nice scanning feature that will do that and you
don't even have to be in the same room to be alerted by it. I guess
the K3 has something similar (perhaps you will even be able to program
in the computer birdies so it doesn't stop on them?)

I'm not saying those who want a band scope shouldn't have one, but why
does it have to be an integral part of the radio? An external option
is a much better idea. I might even buy one myself in a few years time
if I have money burning a hole in my pocket after I've filled up the
K3 with filters. Better than having a radio with too many empty holes
for options you don't want or can't afford, right from the start.

--
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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[Brett gazdzinski-2]

I would say because the display can be used for
lots more then JUST a band scope.
The band scope is most useful in AM mode that I
operate frequently, a bit harder to read when using ssb
and cw maybe...but it can tell you if a band has any
signals on it at a glance.

If you remember, you could punch the menu button and
get listings and displays of the options and their
settings, like 25 things on one screen.

That's sort nice to have. I think it can make a radio simple
to learn and operate if its done right.
I don't think I ever needed to open the manual when using the 756 pro.
I would need to with the K2, and likely would with the K3.


In my industry, we seem to have two types of equipment, one
with multi menus, and one with buttons.
One particular piece of test equipment I hated was a phoenix?
that had a screen, 4 arrow buttons and an enter button.
It also had about 5000 menu and sub menu locations, all unknown
unless you searched using the arrows and enter buttons.
Whoever designed that should have been fired.

They should have used the screen to display gobs of info
and menu choices, with buttons to select things.
Instead they just displayed the one menu spot you were at.




Hey, except for the K2, all my gear is home brew tube stuff,
so I don't need modern gizmo's but I DID find the big
display very useful and nice to have.
Besides the user interface and band scope, the 756 pro was
a poor performer though...


Brett
N2DTS

>
> I had a 756PRO years ago which I sold after I got the K2. The band
> scope was a nice toy, but I really didn't miss it. It made no
> difference to my signal at the other end, and it didn't help me copy
> people better either. As for helping to spot activity on a dead band,
> well, the K2 has a nice scanning feature that will do that and you
> don't even have to be in the same room to be alerted by it. I guess
> the K3 has something similar (perhaps you will even be able to program
> in the computer birdies so it doesn't stop on them?)
>
> I'm not saying those who want a band scope shouldn't have one, but why
> does it have to be an integral part of the radio? An external option
> is a much better idea. I might even buy one myself in a few years time
> if I have money burning a hole in my pocket after I've filled up the
> K3 with filters. Better than having a radio with too many empty holes
> for options you don't want or can't afford, right from the start.
>
> --
> 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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> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
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> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>

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