Shipping status page has been updated

[Don Rasmussen]

"New K3 orders received after Dec. 10th are targeted
March delivery."

Alrighty then, if you were wanting to believe that
what has been a 6 month wait up until now will turn
into a 3 month wait for orders placed today - I guess
this news is good for you! ;-)

For someone that expected his May 11 order in August,
November, and December - it means standby while we get
the rest of the May 4 kits out, then we're gonna
make some built units, then we'll get right back to
you. My guess about 7 months of wait total.

No whining, complaining, or unhappiness here - just
the facts m'aam!

(notice - a "recycled" apostrophe from the Apostrophe
Bank is contained in an informal contraction within
this message.)
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[Rajiv Dewan, N2RD]

Don't feel so bad Don.  I put down 50% on May 2 and I am yet to see the
shipping invoice.  I am leaving next week for Xmas and probably will not
see the rig until next year.

Raj, N2RD


Don Rasmussen wrote:

> "New K3 orders received after Dec. 10th are targeted
> March delivery."
>
> Alrighty then, if you were wanting to believe that
> what has been a 6 month wait up until now will turn
> into a 3 month wait for orders placed today - I guess
> this news is good for you! ;-)
>
> For someone that expected his May 11 order in August,
> November, and December - it means standby while we get
> the rest of the May 4 kits out, then we're gonna
> make some built units, then we'll get right back to
> you. My guess about 7 months of wait total.
>
> No whining, complaining, or unhappiness here - just
> the facts m'aam!
>
> (notice - a "recycled" apostrophe from the Apostrophe
> Bank is contained in an informal contraction within
> this message.)
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
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>
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> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>  

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[Bill Johnson-9]

I am not taking this out on anyone personally, as there have been so many
emails on this topic so let me speak my peace....  Please, please!!!! keep
these off the reflector.  The explanations have been more than adequate.
If you have issue, either email or call Lisa, etc., or cancel your order.
ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!


72,

Bill

K9YEQ
K2 #35, K2 # 5279, KX1 #35, Mini Modules, etc.  


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[Bill Johnson-9]

Let me also add:

Replies to this message to the reflector are not wanted.  If you have issue
please email me direct off list!!!

Previous message:

I am not taking this out on anyone personally, as there have been so many
emails on this topic so let me speak my peace....  Please, please!!!! keep
these off the reflector.  The explanations have been more than adequate.
If you have issue, either email or call Lisa, etc., or cancel your order.
ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!


72,

Bill

K9YEQ
K2 #35, K2 # 5279, KX1 #35, Mini Modules, etc.  


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[Jim-170]

I totally agree.

We are all tired of hearing about personal shipping complaints and the
selfish motives of disgruntled hams who put themselves in front of the
remainder of the K3 buyers that are not complaining, and who are in the same
situation.

Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
service to our Amateur Community......

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]]On Behalf Of Bill Johnson
Sent: Wednesday, December 12, 2007 8:29 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] Shipping status ...ENOUGH ALREADY!!!! Please: Drop
thecomments and go direct to Elecraft to resolve!!!!

I am not taking this out on anyone personally, as there have been so many
emails on this topic so let me speak my peace....  Please, please!!!! keep
these off the reflector.  The explanations have been more than adequate.
If you have issue, either email or call Lisa, etc., or cancel your order.
ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!


72,

Bill

K9YEQ
K2 #35, K2 # 5279, KX1 #35, Mini Modules, etc.


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[Thom LaCosta]

On Wed, 12 Dec 2007, Jim wrote:

> I totally agree.
>
> We are all tired of hearing about personal shipping complaints and the
> selfish motives of disgruntled hams who put themselves in front of the
> remainder of the K3 buyers that are not complaining, and who are in the same
> situation.

But I'm sure you don't mean those operators who paid a deposit to be in the
first batch.


Thom,EIEIO
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[.hank.]

So I take it you want anything to do with the K3 off the reflector?
Or are you just picking on one subject?
Uummmm what can we talk about?
Only K1, K2, KX1 problems, but not K3 problems (which would include
shipping).
Please let us know so we know what to talk about don't offend you guys.

K8DD


Bill Johnson wrote:

> I am not taking this out on anyone personally, as there have been so many
> emails on this topic so let me speak my peace....  Please, please!!!! keep
> these off the reflector.  The explanations have been more than adequate.
> If you have issue, either email or call Lisa, etc., or cancel your order.
> ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!!
>
>
> 72,
>
> Bill
>
> K9YEQ
> K2 #35, K2 # 5279, KX1 #35, Mini Modules, etc.  
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
>  http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>
>  

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[Thom LaCosta]

On Thu, 13 Dec 2007, hank k8dd wrote:

> So I take it you want anything to do with the K3 off the reflector?
> Or are you just picking on one subject?
> Uummmm what can we talk about? Only K1, K2, KX1 problems, but not K3 problems
> (which would include shipping).
> Please let us know so we know what to talk about don't offend you guys.

Those that feel a need to communicate without wanna-be list censor comments and
interference could always visit http://www.zerobeat.net/smf/

Is it possible that some keyboards have been shipped that do not have a delete
key?


k3hrn
Thom,EIEIO
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[Julian, G4ILO]

Jim-170 wrote

Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
service to our Amateur Community......

And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly of me!

[Julian, G4ILO]

Bill Johnson-9 wrote

Replies to this message to the reflector are not wanted.  If you have issue
please email me direct off list!!!

Which bit of "If you have a complaint about someone or a thread please email it directly
to me ( eric(at)elecraft.com ) and I'll address it" from the list guidelines do you not understand, Bill? If people feel the need to raise this issue in the reflector it is not for you to tell them not to.

[Thom LaCosta]

At 06:55 AM 12/13/2007, G4ILO wrote:


>Jim-170 wrote:
> >
> > Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
> > service to our Amateur Community......
> >
>And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and
>entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly of
>me!

Thou Blaspheme!  Contracts? What a strange notion.

Thom

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[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ]

Hi Julian,

I apologize for the delays getting you (and everyone else) your K3. We
are absolutely working as hard as possible to get K3s out the door
quickly. Every time I see a complaint here (and elsewhere) about
delivery delays, status accuracy etc., I take every posting very
personally (especially those criticizing our veracity) and agonize over
how we can improve things further.

To be totally, and brutally, honest, we were absolutely amazed at the
amount of orders we received at introduction of the K3. (We're not a
venture capital financed company that can staff up and spend millions of
dollars before shipping our first K3.) We certainly underestimated the
ongoing response and have been playing catch up as we have added staff
and vendors to meet the demand. This has strained not only our own
staff, but that of our vendors too. They are doing a great job
responding, but we are continually looking for additional resources. My
day starts out -very- early with a review of what new issues and
problems have to be addressed to keep production rolling and how we can
improve our run rate. The term 'fire drill' is now permanently engraved
on the back of my head ;-) Fire drills encompass everything from vendors
not delivering parts and assembled PCBs on schedule, wrong or faulty
parts received, key employees out sick, test and alignment taking longer
than expected, pcb assembly errors at a vendor (requiring rework here),
customers who personally want to talk with me etc. etc. All of this is a
normal part of any product ramp up (I've been there before..), and it is
getting better and more predictable daily. But it takes a lot of effort
to make sure we increase our output -and- maintain our admittedly high
quality standards.

As we go forward our shipping estimates will continue to both increase
in volume and get more accurate. I'm trying to be as honest and as
conservative as possible with my current shipping estimates, and so are
Lisa and her crew. But we're human too and will make mistakes or be over
optimistic from time to time. It is very hard to accurately estimate
delivery out past a 3-4 week window and I'm sure Lisa and crew have been
pressured into guessing on some estimates. I'm actually trying to get to
the point where we will regularly exceed our posted estimates. If my
'fire drill' threshold is not exceeded this month I think we'll be there
soon! :-)

Our new order rate is strong (and increasing!) and we have had very few
cancellations (I can count them on one hand), which has given us the
confidence to spend even more on staffing, inventory and other
resources. As K3s have gotten out into the field people are showing
their rig to their friends and we're getting a lot of referral orders.
We've now been able to increase our daily production rate ahead of the
order rate, so my confidence is increasing that we're on the right track
to keep everyone happy.

As always, we will refund any deposits (and still keep an order active)
and/or cancel anyone's order without delay should they feel the need to
do so.

Lastly, please stop arguing with each other here about what should or
should not be said about K3 deliveries. We want the feedback. But also,
please tone down the rhetoric and personal criticisms - we are human
here too and we lose sleep over these postings.

We're doing our best to make the K3 a superb rig and to get it out to
you as quickly as possible. As always, please feel free to email me
directly if you feel we have done or said anything you take issue with )
or just want to vent! :-)

73, Eric   WA6HHQ
------

G4ILO wrote:

> Jim-170 wrote:
>  
>> Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
>> service to our Amateur Community......
>>
>>    
> And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and
> entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly of
> me!
>
> -----
> Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
> G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
> Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
>  

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[Stewart Baker]

Eric,
Thank you for such a "Spot On" email.

73
Stewart G3RXQ
On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:53:23 -0800, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote:

> Hi Julian,
>
> I apologize for the delays getting you (and everyone else) your K3. We
> are absolutely working as hard as possible to get K3s out the door
> quickly. Every time I see a complaint here (and elsewhere) about
> delivery delays, status accuracy etc., I take every posting very
> personally (especially those criticizing our veracity) and agonize over
> how we can improve things further.
>
> To be totally, and brutally, honest, we were absolutely amazed at the
> amount of orders we received at introduction of the K3. (We're not a
> venture capital financed company that can staff up and spend millions of
> dollars before shipping our first K3.) We certainly underestimated the
> ongoing response and have been playing catch up as we have added staff
> and vendors to meet the demand. This has strained not only our own
> staff, but that of our vendors too. They are doing a great job
> responding, but we are continually looking for additional resources. My
> day starts out -very- early with a review of what new issues and
> problems have to be addressed to keep production rolling and how we can
> improve our run rate. The term 'fire drill' is now permanently engraved
> on the back of my head ;-) Fire drills encompass everything from vendors
> not delivering parts and assembled PCBs on schedule, wrong or faulty
> parts received, key employees out sick, test and alignment taking longer
> than expected, pcb assembly errors at a vendor (requiring rework here),
> customers who personally want to talk with me etc. etc. All of this is a
> normal part of any product ramp up (I've been there before..), and it is
> getting better and more predictable daily. But it takes a lot of effort
> to make sure we increase our output -and- maintain our admittedly high
> quality standards.
>
> As we go forward our shipping estimates will continue to both increase
> in volume and get more accurate. I'm trying to be as honest and as
> conservative as possible with my current shipping estimates, and so are
> Lisa and her crew. But we're human too and will make mistakes or be over
> optimistic from time to time. It is very hard to accurately estimate
> delivery out past a 3-4 week window and I'm sure Lisa and crew have been
> pressured into guessing on some estimates. I'm actually trying to get to
> the point where we will regularly exceed our posted estimates. If my
> 'fire drill' threshold is not exceeded this month I think we'll be there
> soon! :-)
>
> Our new order rate is strong (and increasing!) and we have had very few
> cancellations (I can count them on one hand), which has given us the
> confidence to spend even more on staffing, inventory and other
> resources. As K3s have gotten out into the field people are showing
> their rig to their friends and we're getting a lot of referral orders.
> We've now been able to increase our daily production rate ahead of the
> order rate, so my confidence is increasing that we're on the right track
> to keep everyone happy.
>
> As always, we will refund any deposits (and still keep an order active)
> and/or cancel anyone's order without delay should they feel the need to
> do so.
>
> Lastly, please stop arguing with each other here about what should or
> should not be said about K3 deliveries. We want the feedback. But also,
> please tone down the rhetoric and personal criticisms - we are human
> here too and we lose sleep over these postings.
>
> We're doing our best to make the K3 a superb rig and to get it out to
> you as quickly as possible. As always, please feel free to email me
> directly if you feel we have done or said anything you take issue with )
> or just want to vent! :-)
>
> 73, Eric   WA6HHQ
> ------
>
> G4ILO wrote:
>> Jim-170 wrote:
>>
>>> Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
>>> service to our Amateur Community......
>>>
>>>
>> And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and
>> entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly of
>> me!
>>
>> -----
>> Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
>> G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
>> Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
>>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
>
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

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[w0mu]

Thanks Eric!

Keep up the great work!  It is appreciated.

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ,
Elecraft
Sent: Thursday, December 13, 2007 10:53 AM
To: G4ILO
Cc: Elecraft List
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Shipping status ...ENOUGH ALREADY!!!!

Hi Julian,

I apologize for the delays getting you (and everyone else) your K3. We
are absolutely working as hard as possible to get K3s out the door
quickly. Every time I see a complaint here (and elsewhere) about
delivery delays, status accuracy etc., I take every posting very
personally (especially those criticizing our veracity) and agonize over
how we can improve things further.

To be totally, and brutally, honest, we were absolutely amazed at the
amount of orders we received at introduction of the K3. (We're not a
venture capital financed company that can staff up and spend millions of
dollars before shipping our first K3.) We certainly underestimated the
ongoing response and have been playing catch up as we have added staff
and vendors to meet the demand. This has strained not only our own
staff, but that of our vendors too. They are doing a great job
responding, but we are continually looking for additional resources. My
day starts out -very- early with a review of what new issues and
problems have to be addressed to keep production rolling and how we can
improve our run rate. The term 'fire drill' is now permanently engraved
on the back of my head ;-) Fire drills encompass everything from vendors
not delivering parts and assembled PCBs on schedule, wrong or faulty
parts received, key employees out sick, test and alignment taking longer
than expected, pcb assembly errors at a vendor (requiring rework here),
customers who personally want to talk with me etc. etc. All of this is a
normal part of any product ramp up (I've been there before..), and it is
getting better and more predictable daily. But it takes a lot of effort
to make sure we increase our output -and- maintain our admittedly high
quality standards.

As we go forward our shipping estimates will continue to both increase
in volume and get more accurate. I'm trying to be as honest and as
conservative as possible with my current shipping estimates, and so are
Lisa and her crew. But we're human too and will make mistakes or be over
optimistic from time to time. It is very hard to accurately estimate
delivery out past a 3-4 week window and I'm sure Lisa and crew have been
pressured into guessing on some estimates. I'm actually trying to get to
the point where we will regularly exceed our posted estimates. If my
'fire drill' threshold is not exceeded this month I think we'll be there
soon! :-)

Our new order rate is strong (and increasing!) and we have had very few
cancellations (I can count them on one hand), which has given us the
confidence to spend even more on staffing, inventory and other
resources. As K3s have gotten out into the field people are showing
their rig to their friends and we're getting a lot of referral orders.
We've now been able to increase our daily production rate ahead of the
order rate, so my confidence is increasing that we're on the right track
to keep everyone happy.

As always, we will refund any deposits (and still keep an order active)
and/or cancel anyone's order without delay should they feel the need to
do so.

Lastly, please stop arguing with each other here about what should or
should not be said about K3 deliveries. We want the feedback. But also,
please tone down the rhetoric and personal criticisms - we are human
here too and we lose sleep over these postings.

We're doing our best to make the K3 a superb rig and to get it out to
you as quickly as possible. As always, please feel free to email me
directly if you feel we have done or said anything you take issue with )
or just want to vent! :-)

73, Eric   WA6HHQ
------

G4ILO wrote:
> Jim-170 wrote:
>  
>> Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a
great
>> service to our Amateur Community......
>>
>>    
> And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and
> entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly
of
> me!
>
> -----
> Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
> G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
> Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
>  
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[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

Hi all,
Please keep in mind that we're in a holiday season now, and all of us
have lives outside amateur radio, including all the staff at Elecraft
AND THEIR VENDORS!!!  And it's flu and cold season.

Let it go, let the people at Elecraft have a life.  If it stops being
fun, then you may just kill the goose that lays the golden eggs.

If you have constructive suggestions, please send them to Eric.

73, doug

   On Thu, 13 Dec 2007 09:53:23 -0800, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote:
   > Hi Julian,
   >
   > Lastly, please stop arguing with each other here about what should or
   > should not be said about K3 deliveries. We want the feedback. But also,
   > please tone down the rhetoric and personal criticisms - we are human
   > here too and we lose sleep over these postings.
   >
   >
   > 73, Eric   WA6HHQ
   > ------
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[dave.wilburn]

Thanks for taking the time to drop us a note.  I have a K3 or order, and
I appreciate the ability to put money down.  That lets me spread the
payment out some this year, and pay the rest when it ships next year.  I
also have the warm feeling that I am investing in a company that has
consistently impressed me.  During the build of my K2, I received input
and support from many impressive people on this list, as well as direct
emails from Wayne and Eric.  I can count on one hand, the number of
times I have experienced this level of support.

I have sold all of my other rigs that I had here in the house, EXCEPT
the K2 which I continue to learn and grow with.  I fully support your
effort to put out a quality product.  I am in no hurry for the K3, but
as with everyone else, I look forward to using what sounds like a superb
platform.  Feel free to take your time to fill my order, as I have full
confidence that once it arrives, the K3 will fully meet my high
expectations.  Thanks for all the great products!
-  

David Wilburn
[hidden email]
K4DGW
K2 S/N 5982


On Thu, 2007-12-13 at 09:53 -0800, Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft wrote:

> Hi Julian,
>
> I apologize for the delays getting you (and everyone else) your K3. We
> are absolutely working as hard as possible to get K3s out the door
> quickly. Every time I see a complaint here (and elsewhere) about
> delivery delays, status accuracy etc., I take every posting very
> personally (especially those criticizing our veracity) and agonize over
> how we can improve things further.
>
> To be totally, and brutally, honest, we were absolutely amazed at the
> amount of orders we received at introduction of the K3. (We're not a
> venture capital financed company that can staff up and spend millions of
> dollars before shipping our first K3.) We certainly underestimated the
> ongoing response and have been playing catch up as we have added staff
> and vendors to meet the demand. This has strained not only our own
> staff, but that of our vendors too. They are doing a great job
> responding, but we are continually looking for additional resources. My
> day starts out -very- early with a review of what new issues and
> problems have to be addressed to keep production rolling and how we can
> improve our run rate. The term 'fire drill' is now permanently engraved
> on the back of my head ;-) Fire drills encompass everything from vendors
> not delivering parts and assembled PCBs on schedule, wrong or faulty
> parts received, key employees out sick, test and alignment taking longer
> than expected, pcb assembly errors at a vendor (requiring rework here),
> customers who personally want to talk with me etc. etc. All of this is a
> normal part of any product ramp up (I've been there before..), and it is
> getting better and more predictable daily. But it takes a lot of effort
> to make sure we increase our output -and- maintain our admittedly high
> quality standards.
>
> As we go forward our shipping estimates will continue to both increase
> in volume and get more accurate. I'm trying to be as honest and as
> conservative as possible with my current shipping estimates, and so are
> Lisa and her crew. But we're human too and will make mistakes or be over
> optimistic from time to time. It is very hard to accurately estimate
> delivery out past a 3-4 week window and I'm sure Lisa and crew have been
> pressured into guessing on some estimates. I'm actually trying to get to
> the point where we will regularly exceed our posted estimates. If my
> 'fire drill' threshold is not exceeded this month I think we'll be there
> soon! :-)
>
> Our new order rate is strong (and increasing!) and we have had very few
> cancellations (I can count them on one hand), which has given us the
> confidence to spend even more on staffing, inventory and other
> resources. As K3s have gotten out into the field people are showing
> their rig to their friends and we're getting a lot of referral orders.
> We've now been able to increase our daily production rate ahead of the
> order rate, so my confidence is increasing that we're on the right track
> to keep everyone happy.
>
> As always, we will refund any deposits (and still keep an order active)
> and/or cancel anyone's order without delay should they feel the need to
> do so.
>
> Lastly, please stop arguing with each other here about what should or
> should not be said about K3 deliveries. We want the feedback. But also,
> please tone down the rhetoric and personal criticisms - we are human
> here too and we lose sleep over these postings.
>
> We're doing our best to make the K3 a superb rig and to get it out to
> you as quickly as possible. As always, please feel free to email me
> directly if you feel we have done or said anything you take issue with )
> or just want to vent! :-)
>
> 73, Eric   WA6HHQ
> ------
>
> G4ILO wrote:
> > Jim-170 wrote:
> >  
> >> Please give the fine staff at Elecraft a break. They are providing a great
> >> service to our Amateur Community......
> >>
> >>    
> > And there was me thinking they were advertising products for sale and
> > entering into contracts with people who placed orders for them! How silly of
> > me!
> >
> > -----
> > Julian, G4ILO K2 s/n: 392  K3 s/n: ???
> > G4ILO's Shack: www.g4ilo.com
> > Zerobeat Ham Forums: www.zerobeat.net/smf
> >  
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[M0XDF]

As one who has posted about delays and been waiting impatiently, I'd just
like to say, that despite disappointment in not getting the K3 out earlier
in the year (and those issues have been explained satisfactorily), the

* MOST IMPORTANT and OVERRIDING FACTOR *

in all this has been the belief in your extremely high standards.
Although I'm a first time Elecraft buyer, my friends have all praised your
high standards and commitment and I think that shows on this reflector too.

And before others start saying "so why were you complaining" and not wishing
to open up that particular can of worms again - mostly everyone who
complained NEVER said they didn't believe that they would get the rig and
that it would be a world beater or that there were concerns on functionality
and quality.

On 13/12/07 17:53, "Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ, Elecraft" <[hidden email]>
sent:
>  -and- maintain our admittedly high quality standards.
--
Sin lies only in hurting others unnecessarily. All other "sins" are
invented nonsense. -Robert A. Heinlein, science-fiction author (1907-1988)



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