W9OY comments about K3
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Let's be reasonable though - the Flex is not a piece of junk just because it's in second place on the Sherwood list. There's a whole lot of good radios behind the two of them further down the list. I think this W9OY, because of his obvious pro-Flex bias, should be given the same respect as W2OY was in the "olde days". (He was the "CQ CQ, no kids, no lids, no space cadets" guy). W5OV Yes you are absolutely right,the Flex-5000 is an oustanding radio and If I want to buy a backup radio it might be that but the point is that he TRASHED OUT the K3 at all with his comment and that is not fare in my opinion although I will respect his.He simply does not know what he is saying at all. AD4C "For a refined ham it is compulsory to own a k3" ______________________________________________________________ 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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I think some of you guys are really over reacting to the comment made in the link that was referenced. I read the blog and did not even see the K3 mentioned. It did say:
"Elecraft had their little answer to the pan adapter, what a joke. It was a little screen maybe 9" and made the radio look like a toy. The quality of the display was horrible." He was at Orlando, saw the Elecraft display and made comments based on his opinion. I wonder how many who have responded to the blog posting have not actually seen the P3 in person but yet are ready to defend it to the death? At this point, the P3 has not passed the acid test it will be put through by all of the fanatics on this list. The jury is still out. Based on my having owned a Flex 5000 for a few months at the same time I owned a K3, I can say that the 5000 is a fine radio. I doubt if many could hear a difference between the two. I can also say that it was not difficult to set the 5000 up with the Power SDR software. It worked very well. I actually had a bit more difficulty getting the LP-Pan setup running on with the K3. With both of these, I liked the large panadaptor display on the 22" monitor I have for the shack computer. I don't think I would like a small display like the P3. I think the size will impact the functionality. You may be able to zoom to smaller BW segments on it, but I don't think the small size would work for me. With the guesstimated price of around $700, I'm not interested at all. I'd go back the the LP-Pan solution before I would lay out that kind of money for a P3. With that said, I did not keep either my LP-Pan or Flex 5000 setup. My first radio back in 1966 had knobs and controls on the front panel and so does my K3 in 2010. As far as I'm concerned, it's not a radio if you can't spin a knob......just my own opinion and preference. As a side note, I did find that even with the panadaptor display and the ability to click on a signal to tune the radio to that frequency, you still had to fine tune it with the mouse or other means. That just wasn't for me. It was cool to see the signals across the BW of the display, but you can only work one at a time. I hope those of you who purchase a P3 enjoy it and find it useful. 73, Dave N8AG K2 K3 #414 ______________________________________________________________ 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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Those comments on the blog were over the top in my view.
I wouldn't say something like "Your blog is a joke". That would be somewhat rude. The fact is, the P3 isn't trying to compete with a 22" monitor. It is a portable and easy solution. I don't think I would drag my desktop, LP-PAN, and Firebox audio interface into the woods, just for that nice 22" HD screen. Even if I did, there would be a power supply issue. Does the P3 do the job? Yes. Is it small and ready to go portable? Yes again. Do I need it for my home station, when I already have an LP-Pan, Firebox, and 22" monitor. NO. Is it the best panadapter solution for working portable with minimum current consumption and interface cables? YES. The P3 is hardly a joke. It is a product with a specific purpose, and it fills a void that nothing else fills. I think I will start a blog that compares watching movies on my Asus netbook's 11" LCD, to my 60" Sony. The netbook is a joke, and the display is horrible. But it does fit in my Jeep, and runs for 9 hours on the internal battery. :>) Elecraft will sell a lot of P3 units, not because it is the cheapest or best for a home station, but because it is best for portable. Isn't portable a big factor in all Elecraft products? But don't listen to me, as I have Begali keys. I don't need them, but I sure do like them. :>) <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<< I think some of you guys are really over reacting to the comment made in the link that was referenced. I read the blog and did not even see the K3 mentioned. It did say: "Elecraft had their little answer to the pan adapter, what a joke. It was a little screen maybe 9" and made the radio look like a toy. The quality of the display was horrible." >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> |
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In reply to this post by AD4C2009
Bob,
Have you seen the P3 in person? You seem to know a lot about it. I'm not aware of any official published specs that define how much current draw it requires or anything else. The point I was trying to make in my post was that this guy saw it in person and expressed his opinion. Why does that get everyone's knickers in a twist? If you've seen it, then you're entitled to your opinion too. Might it be better to wait until you have one and have used it before declaring it as the best thing since sliced bread? I didn't purchase my K2 or K3 with portability being very high up on the list of "whys". Once again, I didn't see anything negative or otherwise about the K3 in that post. (I haven't figured out what Begali keys have to do with anything or the 60" Sony.) 73, Dave N8AG ______________________________________________________________ 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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How to be famous: Write a blog and make a comment on a new Elecraft device... :-) 73 Arie PA3A ______________________________________________________________ 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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<tongue-in-cheek>
Minor correction - 'Write a 'negative' comment on a new Elecraft device..." </tongue-in-cheek> ;-) 73s, -rick, K7LOG ______________________________________________________________ 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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In reply to this post by Dave Agsten
<<< Have you seen the P3 in person? >>>
I don't have to see it in person, to make the comments I made. It is obvious from the pictures and video, as to what the P3 screen looks like. It is also obvious, that a 22" monitor is going to look better. My knickers aren't in a twist, I am just pointing out that calling the P3 a joke, because it doesn't look like the 40" monitor at the Flex booth is not an opinion, but meaningless dribble. My reference to the 60" Sony compared to a netbook is an example of more meaningless dribble, as we all know the 60" Sony is going to look better the the netbook screen. Does that make the netbook screen a joke? I watch movies on my IPOD Touch, and it has a really small screen. Is it a joke? In reality the comments on the blog are the joke. That wasn't a review, just a quick jab at the P3. As for current comsumption, it is also obvious that the P3 will have less then a PC, 22" monitor, LP-Pan, and soundcard. It will also have fewer cables. As for the reference to Begali keys, it relates to some that say the P3 is overpriced compared to a softrock unit into soundcard. Yes, there are cheaper keys, and cheaper ways to have a panadapter. But, some of us will pay more for what we want. Buy the way, I don't have to have your permission or play by your rules, to have an opinion, and whether or not portability was on your list for the K2 or K3, it is pretty obvious that portablility and low current consumption was a big part of the designs. :>) I really don't want an argument over this, but W9OY took a cheap shot, and I and others responded. Simple. |
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On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:44:56 -0800 (PST), Bob - W0GI
<[hidden email]> wrote: I looked at the video of the P3 and I couldn't make a comment on the quality of the display because the video was poorly focused and shaky. Perhaps someone will soon have some well focused videos of it with the camera mounted on a tripod. Trying to make a video at a Hamfest is hard to do with all the jostling from the crowd. 73, Tom, N5GE [hidden email] K3 #806 with SUB RX, K3 #1055, PR6, XV144, XV432, KRC2, W1, 2 W2's and other small kits 1 K144XV on order http://www.n5ge.com http://www.swotrc.net > ><<< Have you seen the P3 in person? >>> > >I don't have to see it in person, to make the comments I made. It is obvious >from the pictures and video, as to what the P3 screen looks like. It is also >obvious, that a 22" monitor is going to look better. [snip] ______________________________________________________________ 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
Amateur Radio Operator N5GE
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Re: W9OY comments about K3
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The P3's display is extremely sharp and is quite bright. It is much
easier to read than many other rigs that have internal displays. There were a number of video artifacts in that video that are not present on the P3's display. 73, Eric WA6HHQ _..._ Radio Amateur N5GE wrote: > On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:44:56 -0800 (PST), Bob - W0GI > <[hidden email]> wrote: > > > I looked at the video of the P3 and I couldn't make a comment on the > quality of the display because the video was poorly focused and shaky. > > Perhaps someone will soon have some well focused videos of it with the > camera mounted on a tripod. > > Trying to make a video at a Hamfest is hard to do with all the > jostling from the crowd. > > 73, > > Tom, N5GE > > 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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In reply to this post by N5GE
I was at HamCation and thought that the P3 display was very sharp and
crisp. Nowhere have I seen what the resolution of the P3 display is. Lest anyone get too hung up on display size, let us remember that display size and resolution are two different things. Unless you increase the resolution, increasing the display size only results in large pixels. No doubt the big displays that Flex was using were HDTV at 1080 which is about the same as a good laptop. In other words using that big display resulted in no more information than using a laptop. The only thing gained was the ability to see it from 20 feet away. My recollection was also that only the lower part of the Flex display was used for the panoramic function. If only half was used, then we are down to 500 or so vertical lines. Suddenly we see that maybe the resolution in the P3 isn't at all bad in comparison. Also the P3 looks larger when you are only 12-18 inches away as you operate the K3. When you are 4 deep in a crowd it looks small. None of the videos that have shown up do the P3 justice. The resolution of the videos is so low that it just fuzzes up the image of the P3 display. As an aside, I heard Eric say the hardware was done and they are just doing some finishing touches on the software. Sounds like the only thing that could cause a delay is parts delivery. David K0LUM At 2:08 PM -0600 2/21/10, Radio Amateur N5GE wrote: >On Sun, 21 Feb 2010 05:44:56 -0800 (PST), Bob - W0GI ><[hidden email]> wrote: > > >I looked at the video of the P3 and I couldn't make a comment on the >quality of the display because the video was poorly focused and shaky. > >Perhaps someone will soon have some well focused videos of it with the >camera mounted on a tripod. > >Trying to make a video at a Hamfest is hard to do with all the >jostling from the crowd. > >73, > >Tom, N5GE > >[hidden email] >K3 #806 with SUB RX, K3 #1055, PR6, >XV144, XV432, KRC2, >W1, 2 W2's and other small kits > >1 K144XV on order > >http://www.n5ge.com >http://www.swotrc.net > >> >><<< Have you seen the P3 in person? >>> >> >>I don't have to see it in person, to make the comments I made. It is obvious >>from the pictures and video, as to what the P3 screen looks like. It is also >>obvious, that a 22" monitor is going to look better. >[snip] > >______________________________________________________________ >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 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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And as we compare the P3 to a Softrock or LP-Pan, there are some other issues to consider. Unlike man, all soundcards are not created equal.
I have a Presonus Firebox external soundcard that I use for recording. It is 96kHz/24 bit. It is not a card recommended by Larry, and for good reason. It has a spur that shows up at the center tuning. I found a mod to get the spur down a bit, and it isn't as bad now. But worse then that, is the image rejection, which means rejecting false peaks on the pan display. The Firebox isn't too good at that either. This is not an issue with LP-Pan, as the spur is there with nothing hooked into the soundcard. It is an internal spur in the card. Since I had the Firebox already, I will live with it, but there are other soundcards that work better. The new PowerSDR-IF version 1.19.3.4 should help the image rejection problem, and I will try it soon. This all may not make sense to those that haven't used this stuff, but my point is that it isn't plug and play like a P3. In my case, I will need to buy a E-MU 0202 if I want a 196kHz bandwidth scope and no spur. Another $129 dollars. What I have now is fine for my use, but it does add up, and it takes experimentation. If you want something that "just works", with a simple hookup, I imagine the P3 will be a nice unit. Comparing this vs that without taking into account your own time to make it work, is apples and oranges. I like to tinker and make stuff work. Other people just want it to work without the tinkering. Some people want a portable panadapter without the PC and assorted boxes and cables. It's all good, and the P3 definately is a great addition to the K3. Again, the P3 is not a joke, but has a real purpose, and I bet Elecraft will have a real problem filling all the orders for it. |
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