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K4?

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Josh Fiden

Re: K4?

Wow! Guess I was living on the other side of the tracks!

73
Josh W6XU

Sent from my mobile device

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:51 AM, W2xj <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> When I was in high school my first station was Collins S Line and a triband beam on a 50 foot tower. Also, a Viking 500.

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VE3NR

Re: K4?

I could only dream about Collins, living on the other side of the pond
at that time!

Bert VE3NR (SM7BUR)

On 3/25/2019 1:38 PM, Josh Fiden wrote:

> Wow! Guess I was living on the other side of the tracks!
>
> 73
> Josh W6XU
>
> Sent from my mobile device
>
>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:51 AM, W2xj <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> When I was in high school my first station was Collins S Line and a triband beam on a 50 foot tower. Also, a Viking 500.
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Buddy Brannan

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by VE3NR

Heh. News to me. I’ve been operating without displays for 31 years and change :-)

Although, I admit, voice-activated interfaces don’t seem to be terribly compatible with rooms full of ops shouting “CQ contest” …

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 1:31 PM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> You would still need some kind of display to verify the voice instruction
> or order to the radio, so one way or another you need something visual.
>
> I guess an audio response to your verbal instruction is possible, but nothing
> you can see/verify after the fact.
>
> A screen of some kind seems to be necessary for convenience - touch or otherwise!
>
> Bert VE3NR
>
>
> On 3/25/2019 1:16 PM, Wayne Burdick wrote:
>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Hi Phil,
>>>
>>> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see it
>>> in our transceivers in the near future. The ham radio market is probably
>>> too small to make this feature commercially viable. Again, dollars and cents!
>>> OMHO!
>>>
>>> Bert VE3NR
>>
>> On the other hand, if your radio had a general-purpose Linux single-board computer designed in, with Ethernet access, you could pretty easily include voice recognition either locally or internet-enabled at zero cost.
>>
>> Wayne
>> N6KR
>>
>>
>
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wayne burdick

Re: K4?

Administrator

In reply to this post by VE3NR

Or it could just listening all the time.

It might be like that scene in the movie "Contact," where Jodie Foster hears E.T., rips off her headphones, then drives away from the VLA (exceeding the Government's posted speed limit) while shouting instructions to the guys in the lab.

Jodie: "14020 on A, up 1.5 on B! 50 Hz bandwidth, E-W Yagi at 42 degrees. Now!!"

Lab guy, smirking: "It ain't local...."

Wayne
N6KR

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 10:37 AM, Walter Underwood <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see it
>> in our transceivers in the near future.
>
> Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.

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Bob McGraw - K4TAX

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by VE3NR

As and affluent high school kid,   I built my own 6DQ6 CW
transmitter/crystal oscillator with most of the parts recovered from
junk TV sets.   And I bought a used S-38B receiver.   I was a ham for 40
years before I obtained my Collins station.

Many years and radios later, today there is a complete K Line on my
operating desk.   It just doesn't get any better and I'm delighted in
the experience and knowledge gained along the way.

73

Bob, K4TAX

On 3/25/2019 12:41 PM, Bert wrote:

> I could only dream about Collins, living on the other side of the pond
> at that time!
>
> Bert VE3NR (SM7BUR)
>
>
>
> On 3/25/2019 1:38 PM, Josh Fiden wrote:
>> Wow! Guess I was living on the other side of the tracks!
>>
>> 73
>> Josh W6XU
>>
>> Sent from my mobile device
>>
>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:51 AM, W2xj <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> When I was in high school my first station was Collins S Line and a
>>> triband beam on a 50 foot tower. Also, a Viking 500.
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
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Peter W2IRT

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Don't laugh--I'd pay good coin for that ability! (still love that movie, too)

- pjd

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 1:47 PM
To: Walter Underwood <[hidden email]>
Cc: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K4?

Or it could just listening all the time.

It might be like that scene in the movie "Contact," where Jodie Foster hears E.T., rips off her headphones, then drives away from the VLA (exceeding the Government's posted speed limit) while shouting instructions to the guys in the lab.

Jodie: "14020 on A, up 1.5 on B! 50 Hz bandwidth, E-W Yagi at 42 degrees. Now!!"

Lab guy, smirking: "It ain't local...."

Wayne
N6KR

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 10:37 AM, Walter Underwood <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll
>> see it in our transceivers in the near future.
>
> Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.

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Lovin' my K3S (S/N 10023)
73, Peter W2IRT

Andy McMullin

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by VE3NR

No good for me. Our (electric) car is already called Ellie.

Sent from my iPhone

On 25 Mar 2019, at 17:37, Walter Underwood <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
> Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.
>
> wunder
> K6WRU
> Walter Underwood
> CM87wj

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Peter W2IRT

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

I'm not a fan of touch screens personally. Never have been, never will be. I
prefer transceivers with discrete controls. When the money became available
for a top of the line transceiver it was down to two: K3 or Yaesu FTDX 5000.
The only reason I bought the K3s at the time was the Yaesu was about 2"
wider than the opening in the desk (it previously held a Mark-V). I loved
the plethora of physical buttons and the nicer display on that radio, but
the extreme performance of the K3s, coupled with its size, ultimately sealed
the deal.

Take the guts of a K3s, make some improvements as needed, add discrete band
buttons, TCP/IP remote control, and I/Q out and that's all I'd ever want or
need from a radio.

- pjd

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] <[hidden email]> On
Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 12:56 PM
To: Bert <[hidden email]>
Cc: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K4?

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:10 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Touch screens are unavoidable!

The trick is to provide a full complement of "hard" controls for functions
accessed most frequently, "in the heat of battle," as they say, while
leveraging the touch screen for its versatility.

Touchable fields can be added as a backup/shortcut to hard controls. A touch
screen inherently offers immediate context-sensitive feedback and in many
cases reduced time/effort. Examples include signal selection, zooming, etc.
Zooming should also be done right, by resampling at narrower resolution --
is shouldn't just be a "blow-up" of the original pixels, as implemented on
some existing radios.

Ultimately, get what you pay for. That said, current prices for "high-end"
super-radios are ridiculous; they're two to four times higher than
necessary. Not only that, they're not configurable or upgradeable. Very
un-Elecraft like.

Wayne
N6KR

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Lovin' my K3S (S/N 10023)
73, Peter W2IRT

Terry Schieler-2

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by VE3NR

Or, perhaps....."Hey ELMER" ;o)

Terry, WØFM

-----Original Message-----
From: Walter Underwood [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Monday, March 25, 2019 12:38 PM
To: Elecraft mail list
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K4?

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see
> it in our transceivers in the near future.

Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.

wunder
K6WRU
Walter Underwood
CM87wj
http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)

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W2xj

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by Peter W2IRT

I’ve read a lot of interesting ideas relating mostly to features. Here are some cutting (or should I say bleeding) edge ideas.

The most radical would be to eliminate linear amplification on transmit. Instead, go with a class E design and in DSP generate EER compatible signals. This is how very high powered commercial transmitters do SSB but any waveform can be generated that way. Efficiency goes to nearly 90% as opposed to less than 50% for a linear. IMD can be lower than -80 db while power consumption is reduced and there is less heat to remove. This would be a radical departure from the competition and work well in portable operation.

Bluetooth audio in and out.

As previously discussed, a built in webserver that is compatible with all devices adhering to HTML standards along with SNMP compatibility.

And, of course, the well discussed touchscreen.
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Jim Brown-10

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by Josh Fiden

Me too -- my first station was a surplus BC-459 Command set for 40M,
modified and given to me by one of the hams in the club that taught me
CW and radio theory, and an S38D receiver. On a trip to Manhattan, my
dad later bought me an ARC5 for 80M for which he paid about $15 from a
shop on "radio row" in lower Manhattan that advertised in the back pages
of QST. He described it as pretty rough territory. A few years of
saving from summer jobs got me much better receiver, a BC348.

73, Jim K9YC

On 3/25/2019 10:38 AM, Josh Fiden wrote:

Grant Youngman-2

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by W2xj

It is of some note that (except for a niggle here or there including the elimination of all possible noise — good luck with that) there hasn’t been much said about basic performance of the radio. That’s for good reason.

I would like to see a feature that would eliminate all “shouting at the K3” anytime one’s attached Windows-something computer running 15 ham radio apps gets confused and can’t talk to the radio or screws something up :-)

Most of the feature requests seem to be related to contesting or remote operation or the furthering of the evolutionary enhancement of the index finger — but not being a gamer myself, I’m perfectly happy with a radio being just a … ah … um … compact, lightweight, transportable (and portable) high performance radio. Bogged down into a larger and heavier box? — not so much. I replaced several of those larger, heavier, and perfectly adequate boxes with a K3 for a reason. It would be hard to go back.

Now, all that might change if the new one was truly “spectacular” and made the K3 look like a DX-20 by comparison — the right radio could be better than food on the table :-). And I do like the EER idea.

Grant NQ5T
K3 #2091 KX3 #8342

> On Mar 25, 2019, at 2:35 PM, W2xj <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
> I’ve read a lot of interesting ideas relating mostly to features. Here are some cutting (or should I say bleeding) edge ideas.
>
> The most radical would be to eliminate linear amplification on transmit. Instead, go with a class E design and in DSP generate EER compatible signals. This is how very high powered commercial transmitters do SSB but any waveform can be generated that way. Efficiency goes to nearly 90% as opposed to less than 50% for a linear. IMD can be lower than -80 db while power consumption is reduced and there is less heat to remove. This would be a radical departure from the competition and work well in portable operation.
>

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Jim Brown-10

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

Things I would like to see in a K4:

Fix the Pin One Problems on the I/O board and front panel mic input and
ditch the transformers, which are not required if proper bonding is
implemented in the station.

Pure Signal.

Greatly improved noise reduction. The best I've ever heard was
demonstrated to me by former neighbor NR0V (author of Pure Signal) in
software he wrote for ANAN SDR radios -- it is an order of magnitude
better than anything I've ever heard.

Ethernet and USB interface for audio and control.

I/Q output.

Improved P3 functionality -- greater amplitude resolution, ability to
interface with contest logging software like N1MM. It would be great to
have the electronics inside the transceiver, with output to a computer
monitor.

Maintain the small footprint, keep the spectral display in a separate
box if necessary to make it fit so that it can be above, on either side
of the radio, or even somewhere else. All of this can be very important
in making a lot of functionality fit on an operating desk. My P3s sit
on top of the K3s.

As much as possible support for remote operation built in.

73, Jim K9YC

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Doug Person-5

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by wayne burdick

What is most desirable when combining analog controls and digital
interfaces is the ability to assign functions to various switches and
buttons. These can be arranged around the screen so that the control
labels can be "soft" while the controls themselves are "hard". E.g., not
everyone uses squelch, or rarely change cw sending speed. Being able to
customize your control configuration would be very desirable. Different
modes, different functions assigned to controls. This way, the number of
controls are minimized while providing the best combination of hard
controls for a particular mode or operating environment.

Doug -- KJ0F

On 3/25/2019 11:56 AM, Wayne Burdick wrote:

>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:10 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> Touch screens are unavoidable!
>
> The trick is to provide a full complement of "hard" controls for functions accessed most frequently, "in the heat of battle," as they say, while leveraging the touch screen for its versatility.
>
> Touchable fields can be added as a backup/shortcut to hard controls. A touch screen inherently offers immediate context-sensitive feedback and in many cases reduced time/effort. Examples include signal selection, zooming, etc. Zooming should also be done right, by resampling at narrower resolution -- is shouldn't just be a "blow-up" of the original pixels, as implemented on some existing radios.
>
> Ultimately, get what you pay for. That said, current prices for "high-end" super-radios are ridiculous; they're two to four times higher than necessary. Not only that, they're not configurable or upgradeable. Very un-Elecraft like.
>
> Wayne
> N6KR
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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>

--
73 de Doug -- KJ0F

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Doug Person-5

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by VE3NR

It's actually very cheap to do. You could program a voice chip with an
arduino or raspberry pi. It's more "should you" rather than "could you".
And then consider people with a handicap. A voice option would be a
God-send for the sight impaired and those with poor hand/eye
coordination or who suffer from conditions that make manipulating small
knobs difficult.

Doug --KJ0F

On 3/25/2019 11:57 AM, Bert wrote:

> Hi Phil,
>
> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see it
> in our transceivers in the near future. The ham radio market is probably
> too small to make this feature commercially viable. Again, dollars and
> cents!
> OMHO!
>
> Bert VE3NR
>
>
>
> On 3/25/2019 12:23 PM, Phil Hystad wrote:
>> I believe many future electronic devices will not have a touch
>> screen. They will have a voice interface. In fact, a number of
>> devices in my home right now are voice operated and it seems to work
>> just fine and this capability is improving rapidly in the industry.
>>
>> For example, my 2018 Toyota RAV4/Hybrid has a touch screen system. I
>> also have my iPhone coupled to the RAV4 so I make calls hands free
>> merely by saying something like "Siri, call home". I also play music
>> I have on my iPhone. Instead of using the touch-screen music
>> browsing system, I merely say "Siri, play Beatles One" or whatever.
>> I have actually named my music playlists with names easy to use Siri
>> for this interface.
>>
>> And, instead of doing simple time-zone arithmetic, I have the habit
>> of saying "Alexa, what is GMT time for now". Alexa answers clearly
>> with date and time.
>>
>> phil, K7PEH
>>
>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:10 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Touch screens are unavoidable! Most future electronic devices will
>>> have have touch screens as I/O interface.
>>>
>>> You can wish whatever you want, but if the device/radio is not
>>> commercially viable, it will never happen,
>>> i.e. it always comes down to dollars and cents!
>>>
>>> BTW, the best device you have is between your ears! ;-)
>>>
>>> Bert VE3NR
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 3/25/2019 11:51 AM, Doug Person wrote:
>>>> Modern screens last a long time and don't suffer nearly as much
>>>> from burn-in. They can also be replaced.
>>>>
>>>> Doug -- KJ0F
>>>>
>>>> On 3/24/2019 10:58 PM, mrkgnthr--- via Elecraft wrote:
>>>>> I keep seeing all the desires for a big color screen. I have seen
>>>>> too many of these color screens that have burn in and failure. I
>>>>> like my nice yellow screen that is always readable, and if damaged
>>>>> can be replaced for less than the cost of a new radio. I like a
>>>>> radio that I can pick up and carry without straining my back. I
>>>>> like the separate modules that can be upgraded. The price was a
>>>>> little steep, but every time I turn it on I smile and know it was
>>>>> worth it
>>>>>
>>>>> Mark. WB7TLK
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Sent from my iPad
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Mar 24, 2019, at 20:38, John_N1JM <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> This message has no content.
>>>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>>>> Elecraft mailing list
>>>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>>>>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>>>>
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>>>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>>>>
>>> ______________________________________________________________
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>>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>>
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>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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Doug Person-5

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by Bob McGraw - K4TAX

Geeeeze! That's exactly what I had in 1962!

Doug -- KJ0F

On 3/25/2019 12:52 PM, Bob McGraw K4TAX wrote:

> As and affluent high school kid,   I built my own 6DQ6 CW
> transmitter/crystal oscillator with most of the parts recovered from
> junk TV sets.   And I bought a used S-38B receiver.   I was a ham for
> 40 years before I obtained my Collins station.
>
> Many years and radios later, today there is a complete K Line on my
> operating desk.   It just doesn't get any better and I'm delighted in
> the experience and knowledge gained along the way.
>
> 73
>
> Bob, K4TAX
>
>
> On 3/25/2019 12:41 PM, Bert wrote:
>> I could only dream about Collins, living on the other side of the
>> pond at that time!
>>
>> Bert VE3NR (SM7BUR)
>>
>>
>>
>> On 3/25/2019 1:38 PM, Josh Fiden wrote:
>>> Wow! Guess I was living on the other side of the tracks!
>>>
>>> 73
>>> Josh W6XU
>>>
>>> Sent from my mobile device
>>>
>>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 9:51 AM, W2xj <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>>
>>>> When I was in high school my first station was Collins S Line and a
>>>> triband beam on a 50 foot tower. Also, a Viking 500.
>>> ______________________________________________________________
>>> Elecraft mailing list
>>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>>
>>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
>
> ______________________________________________________________
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Elecraft mailing list

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by Doug Person-5

RE: "...They can also be replaced."

...and prices have come way down in the last 5 years or so.

Mark,
KE6BB

On Monday, March 25, 2019, 8:52:33 AM PDT, Doug Person <[hidden email]> wrote:

Modern screens last a long time and don't suffer nearly as much from
burn-in. They can also be replaced.

Doug -- KJ0F

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Kidder, George

Re: K4? Voice commands

In reply to this post by VE3NR

I have a distorted vision of the following:

Your K4 is on SSB, tuned to the net you are checked into. Your VOX is
on - you forgot.

Your K4 (VOX already activated) "Ellie, turn on the VOX"

At 13 other K4 stations, the speaker repeats "Ellie, turn on the VOX",
and these 13 rigs respond by doing so.

13 operators, not wanting the VOX on, say "Ellie, turn off the VOX",
which, since the VOX is now on, is transmitted (nearly simultaneously)
on the net frequency.

(etc. - complete or alter events to suit your own distorted imagination!)

It is enough to make a cow (Elsie) laugh.

George, W3HBM

On 3/25/2019 1:37 PM, Walter Underwood wrote:

> [This message came from an external source. If suspicious, report to [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>]
>
>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see it
>> in our transceivers in the near future.
> Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.
>
> wunder
> K6WRU
> Walter Underwood
> CM87wj
> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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Doug Person-5

Re: K4? Voice commands

Mic for voice response is integrated into the radio. It is listening all
the time. Wouldn't work otherwise.

"Ellie, turn on the VOX"

"I'm sorry Dave. You aren't paying attention. The VOX is already on..."

Doug -- KJ0F

On 3/25/2019 2:46 PM, Kidder, George wrote:

> I have a distorted vision of the following:
>
> Your K4 is on SSB, tuned to the net you are checked into. Your VOX is
> on - you forgot.
>
> Your K4 (VOX already activated) New features can be added.
>
> At 13 other K4 stations, the speaker repeats "Ellie, turn on the VOX",
> and these 13 rigs respond by doing so.
>
> 13 operators, not wanting the VOX on, say "Ellie, turn off the VOX",
> which, since the VOX is now on, is transmitted (nearly simultaneously)
> on the net frequency.
>
> (etc. - complete or alter events to suit your own distorted imagination!)
>
> It is enough to make a cow (Elsie) laugh.
>
> George, W3HBM
>
> On 3/25/2019 1:37 PM, Walter Underwood wrote:
>> [This message came from an external source. If suspicious, report to [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>]
>>
>>> On Mar 25, 2019, at 11:57 AM, Bert <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>>
>>> Voice interface is OK with household electronics but I doubt we'll see it
>>> in our transceivers in the near future.
>> Instead of “Hey Siri!” we could say “Hey Ellie!” to our Elecraft gear.
>>
>> wunder
>> K6WRU
>> Walter Underwood
>> CM87wj
>> http://observer.wunderwood.org/ (my blog)
>>
>> ______________________________________________________________
>> Elecraft mailing list
>> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
>> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>>
>> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
>> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html

Dave New, N8SBE

Re: K4?

In reply to this post by Elecraft mailing list

I agree.

The radios I've seen with touch screens are a real compromise in
usability. Either the screen is too small to be useful, or it is so big
that many hard controls are sacrificed to avoid making the front panel
too large. The worst are the PC-based interfaces, where all hard
controls are eliminated.

The IC-7300 is a case in point. When I first encountered one, I gave up
trying to figure out how to change bands, and had to ask the owner. Of
course, you just touch the MHz digit on the display! Obvious, I
suppose, in retrospect.

The problem with touch displays is similar to 'hidden' mouse movements
on PCs. Unless you've read the manual or had someone show you, it is
entirely not obvious how to do cool things with the mouse.

How many folks know that on Windows 7/10 if you drag a window to the
right or left side of the screen, that it will magically re-size to fill
just the right-half or the left-half of the screen? Makes it super
simple to place two instances of the file explorer side-by-side to
assist in doing drag 'n drop operations between windows.
How many know that if you drag the winnow top edge (as in a resize
operation) to the top of the screen it will automatically fill the
screen top to bottom? And if you subsequently drag it off the top, the
window will snap back to its original size and position?
How many know that if you grab a window title bar, and shake the mouse,
that all other windows will minimize? And if you shake the window
again, they all come back?

I'd bet that at least some of you just learned something about your PC
that you didn't know before. There is a least another dozen cool things
(like using Ctl-Windows-right or -left arrow on Windows 10 to access
multiple desktops of windows).

So, how do you implement cool touch- or mouse-movements without leaving
novice users in the dust?

That's the $64,000 question.

73,

-- Dave, N8SBE

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K4?
From: Wayne Burdick <[hidden email]>
Date: Mon, March 25, 2019 12:56 pm
To: Bert <[hidden email]>
Cc: Elecraft Reflector <[hidden email]>

The trick is to provide a full complement of "hard" controls for
functions accessed most frequently, "in the heat of battle," as they
say, while leveraging the touch screen for its versatility.

Touchable fields can be added as a backup/shortcut to hard controls. A
touch screen inherently offers immediate context-sensitive feedback and
in many cases reduced time/effort. Examples include signal selection,
zooming, etc. Zooming should also be done right, by resampling at
narrower resolution -- is shouldn't just be a "blow-up" of the original
pixels, as implemented on some existing radios.

Ultimately, get what you pay for. That said, current prices for
"high-end" super-radios are ridiculous; they're two to four times higher
than necessary. Not only that, they're not configurable or upgradeable.
Very un-Elecraft like.

Wayne
N6KR
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