With all the problems...

[N0AZZ]

Jim

>From owning both rigs I can say right out of the box you can be on the air
working weak signal DX much easier than the K3. All base controls are right
in front of you no menu's for setup to get going in the beginning. Whereas
my K2, K3's require quite a bit of digging to setup in the beginning, don't
make the mistake of selling it short. I sold mine and kept my 2 K3's for a
SO2R setup but space limitations came into play also. I do really like my K3
but some features of the 5000 IMHO were better, but there are trade off's in
everything.

No perfect radio!......But Elecraft comes as close as you can get.

73,
Fred/N0AZZ

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jim Lowman
Sent: Thursday, November 15, 2012 12:14 PM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] With all the problems...

Thom, a couple of years ago one of the ops brought a K3 to Field Day.
At the time I thought that it was nuts to bring a transceiver of such high
value out into the elements.
But, he's brought it for the last two years and it was our workhorse on 20m,
CW and SSB.
Similarly, many a K3 has been taken on a DXpedition, with excellent results.
For home use, I don't think you have any cause for concern.
As was noted, if any problem arises, it will be quickly solved by the
collective experience of this list or by Elecraft.
I don't recall an instance when an entire piece of Elecraft equipment had to
be returned to the factory for repair.

In October I attended Pacificon, and paused for a moment to look over the
FTDX-5000.
Looks like it would take an advanced degree to operate all of the controls.
I was the only person even giving it a glance, where the Elecraft booth had
a steady stream of traffic.
I'm sure that Lisa was busy taking orders, but at least she had time for a
short chat.

72/73 de Jim - AD6CW

On Nov 14, 2012, at 6:08 PM, Thom Durfee <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> people on this list with their K3's...
>>
>> I am having apprehension about ordering one.
>>
>> Thom WI8W
>>

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[John Meade W2XS]

I've had K3 s/n 919 in operation for 4 years now. (Wow, that went by quickly.  I still remember the excitement after placing the order and the postings like "Woo Hoo. I got my shipping notice from Lisa").  I have added options over the years and have done all of the upgrades as they became available. The K3 has been reliable and in use almost daily (except for week-long power outages caused by hurricane-like super-storms - and then I used the K2). I use it mainly on CW but have also enjoyed SSB and paddle-generated data modes. The firmware has been updated more than 50 times with no issues whatsoever.

Do not be afraid.  The K3 is an incredible radio. Even if it does break, it can be easily fixed.

73,

John W2XS

KX1 (S/N 015) w/KXPD1, KXAT1, KXB30 (The one pictured in the QST review)
K2 (S/N 1116) w/KAT2, KSB2, K160RX, KIO2, KBT2, KNB2, KAF2, FDIMP (Built by Sherwood Eng)
T4X (S/N 11116) (Just a coincidence)
K3/100 (S/N 919) w/KAT3,KRX3, KBPF3, KUSB, KFL3A-200, 500, 2.7k, AM, FM
HexKey (S/N 113)
DL1, BL1, BL2, N-gen, XG1, W1, BNC-MM

[Terry Schieler-2]

Thom,

The K3 issues that you see on this reflector are here because issues can be brought here and resolved quickly.  And I think if we could categorize all of them we would surely find that many of them are simple configuration issues or operator error.

I love my K3 and, in my mind, there is no other company like Elecraft.  And, no other reflector like this one.  Dive on in.

73,

Terry, W0FM


-----Original Message-----
From: Thom Durfee [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 7:09 PM
To: [hidden email] Reflector
Subject: [Elecraft] With all the problems...

people on this list with their K3's...

I am having apprehension about ordering one.

Thom WI8W




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[Gary Smith-2]

When I was first licensed I bought a then brand new Kenwood 820S from
an Amateur Radio dealer in CT, it was boxed, never opened from
Kenwood. At the same time I ordered all the accessories to go with
it. Within a month I started having display issues and some of the
LED display would be dark. It started shifting in frequency and I
took it to the place I bought it and asked for repair. They said they
stopped selling Kenwood Amateur gear shortly after I bought it. I
took it to a local repair shop and the tech said the solder
connections were cold soldered and it should be returned for a
replacement.

I contacted Kenwood in CA and told them what had happened and they
told me I had bought it from a currently unauthorized dealer. I
explained it was new, they were a dealer at that time and it needed
to be repaired. Kenwood said I could send it to them but I would be
responsible for the full cost of repair. I asked a Japanese friend to
write a letter to Kenwood in Japan telling them of the situation and
asking for help. I never heard back.

That is my own personal experience with Kenwood and I have never
bought another Kenwood anything.

I say that here because the kind of attention you get with Elecraft
assistance and service is the exact opposite of my experience with
Kenwood. Go with the Elecraft rig of your choice and you will be much
more than satisfied.

Gary
KA1J
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[Johnny Siu]

Hello Gary,
 
One of the competitive edge of Elecraft is that it has a group of loyal customers.  As a result, elecraft can market their products in advance and place them at a relatively 'pre-mature' stage.  The group of loyal customers are in fact a group of 'field testers' in some way.
 
These 'field testers' keep on reporting problems to Elecraft who keep on refining their products.  For this marketing model, elecraft can save some costs in really hard rocking their products in the field.  Since the products can come out earlier, they can recover their initial R&D much quicker.
 
Other amateur radio manufacturers do not have this advantage because their sales volumes are far higher and not soley concentrate on ham radio products so that direct communication between the business owner with the users seems not practical.
 
Elecrafters seem enjoying the way of how elecraft is doing business.  They don't mind getting their products at a relatively 'pre-mature' stage but enjoy the full liberaty to talk to Elecraft direct and refine their products later.
 
I am afraid some of my words above could be offensive (apologies here!) but the Elecraft's marketing model seems very successful and to be a win-win solution between elecraft and his customers.

TNX & 73,


Johnny VR2XMC


________________________________
 寄件人︰ Gary Smith <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ [hidden email]
傳送日期︰ 2012年11月16日 (週五) 9:02 AM
主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] With all the problems...
 
When I was first licensed I bought a then brand new Kenwood 820S from
an Amateur Radio dealer in CT, it was boxed, never opened from
Kenwood. At the same time I ordered all the accessories to go with
it. Within a month I started having display issues and some of the
LED display would be dark. It started shifting in frequency and I
took it to the place I bought it and asked for repair. They said they
stopped selling Kenwood Amateur gear shortly after I bought it. I
took it to a local repair shop and the tech said the solder
connections were cold soldered and it should be returned for a
replacement.

I contacted Kenwood in CA and told them what had happened and they
told me I had bought it from a currently unauthorized dealer. I
explained it was new, they were a dealer at that time and it needed
to be repaired. Kenwood said I could send it to them but I would be
responsible for the full cost of repair. I asked a Japanese friend to
write a letter to Kenwood in Japan telling them of the situation and
asking for help. I never heard back.

That is my own personal experience with Kenwood and I have never
bought another Kenwood anything.

I say that here because the kind of attention you get with Elecraft
assistance and service is the exact opposite of my experience with
Kenwood. Go with the Elecraft rig of your choice and you will be much
more than satisfied.

Gary
KA1J
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[Guy, K2AV]

I bought a used K2/10 with battery for portability reasons, and have
frequently used it as a "sniffer" and walk around radio.  I went nuts using
the controls on it at first until one day it sorta sunk in, like the lights
going on, from a headache to whatwasiupsetabout.  It happened quicker than
learning to use my FT1000MP.  That was tough learning something more modern
than my FT101ZD and Heath SB300/400 of antiquity.

I did all the K2 A to B board mods, which was actually fun.  Reliving my
Heathkit and Knight-kit experiences.  Added DSP in the process, got all the
alignment spot on and that K2 became one very fine RX radio.

After those, I was onto a K3 the first time I saw one, in the first couple
hours of a DX contest at NY4A.  Struggled for the first night with an Orion
out there, but got that one too.

Given the history above, the K3 was the easiest to use first time radio for
me since way back in the analogs.  I never had any trouble using an R390A,
a Collins S line, or a 75A3/4.

I will never forget the surprise of listening to the K3 on 40 meters on
NY4A's humongous five element 178' "boom" quad fixed on EU, and realizing
that the noise down at the bottom was now more like a hiss, that in the
past the bottom noise had been made by the FT1000MP, and the bottom layer
of stations was no longer the basement noodle antenna QRP crowd from DL and
OK, which were almost all now in the clear, and in their place was a nearly
inexhaustible string of 100 watt low dipole Russians.   I would have stayed
with the radio if it was slapping me with a stick.

Koolaid?  With those kinds of results, who needs Koolaid.  You need Koolaid
when you've bought it, the results aren't there, and you can't bear to
admit you've paid a lot of money for a dud.

The only reason there's a Yaesu 5000 with a good front end, is them getting
their b*tt kicked by the rush to Elecraft with undeniable results, endless
word of mouth propagation of same, and half the radios at the Radiosport
site coming up K3.  And the silly string of excuses following why there
should be so many K3's.

Yakencom folks could have easily installed the principles demonstrated in
the early Orion radios.  They could have bought a K2.  Wasn't until they
got their b*tts stomped they even bothered to look at the problem.

Too bad that JA1MP was lost to SK so early on.  I'm sure he was turning in
his grave over his beloved company taking such a slaggard path to front end
equality.

Of course that let Elecraft in the door, so I can't commiserate too much
:>)

I still use my K2.

Problems?   Clearly someone has never been stuck with a broken Yakencom
radio with NO hope of it ever being upgraded, or even just repaired.  I
will SO take what I have with Elecraft, even if it DOES take them a year
plus longer to get their KAT500 out.  Now I'm waiting for their outdoor
sealed remote version of same.  That's the one I need.  And I'll wait
around for it, unless The Shadow tells me they're not going to do it.

Koolaid?  What Koolaid.

73, Guy.

On Thu, Nov 15, 2012 at 8:02 PM, Gary Smith <[hidden email]> wrote:

> When I was first licensed I bought a then brand new Kenwood 820S from
> an Amateur Radio dealer in CT, it was boxed, never opened from
> Kenwood. At the same time I ordered all the accessories to go with
> it. Within a month I started having display issues and some of the
> LED display would be dark. It started shifting in frequency and I
> took it to the place I bought it and asked for repair. They said they
> stopped selling Kenwood Amateur gear shortly after I bought it. I
> took it to a local repair shop and the tech said the solder
> connections were cold soldered and it should be returned for a
> replacement.
>
> I contacted Kenwood in CA and told them what had happened and they
> told me I had bought it from a currently unauthorized dealer. I
> explained it was new, they were a dealer at that time and it needed
> to be repaired. Kenwood said I could send it to them but I would be
> responsible for the full cost of repair. I asked a Japanese friend to
> write a letter to Kenwood in Japan telling them of the situation and
> asking for help. I never heard back.
>
> That is my own personal experience with Kenwood and I have never
> bought another Kenwood anything.
>
> I say that here because the kind of attention you get with Elecraft
> assistance and service is the exact opposite of my experience with
> Kenwood. Go with the Elecraft rig of your choice and you will be much
> more than satisfied.
>
> Gary
> KA1J
> ______________________________________________________________
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> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
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>
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>

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[Matt Zilmer]

I hope that you had the manners to send her a Thank You, then.  I
suspect you did.

We all had manners back then, seems like.

Today, we have Elecraft to thank for a very professional interface and
working relationship, and we all should reciprocate with 1960's
manners.  It's a pretty easy habit to fall back into.  I know it's
appreciated when we do.

73,
matt W6NIA

On Thu, 15 Nov 2012 20:12:40 -0800, you wrote:

>Way back in the early 1960's I needed to do some repairs to a National HRO50
>receiver I had been given by a great mentor, Field Gray - W6HUA (Jack Webb's
>art director on the old "Dragnet" TV police dramas).
>
>I needed a schematic so I wrote National asking if they had a manual for the
>receiver even though it was built >20 years previously.
>
>Weeks went by and then, one day I got a big envelope in the mail. It was an
>original Owner's manual for the HRO with a hand-written note inside from a
>secretary explaining that she was very sorry for the delay but she had spent
>many hours digging through old files to find the manual. She hoped it had
>everything I needed and, of course, no charge. It did.
>
>The next company I ran into with customer support like that was Elecraft in
>2000.
>
>73, Ron AC7AC
>
>
>
>
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[alorona]

This is great advice, Matt. A long while ago someone posted here that they were
annoyed that a replacement diode for their kit took too long to arrive from
Elecraft. (The customer had lost the original diode or something like that and
Elecraft sent him a new one without charging him for it.) I replied to the user
that carelessness on his part should not have constituted an emergency on
Elecraft's part, and besides, since he was receiving the part for free the least
he could have done is offered to pay for it.  I know from experience that it is
hard practicing such great customer service when all you get in return is a
swift kick in the face!

Here's to civility, manners, and a little gratitude now and then, which the
great majority here seem to understand well.

Al  W6LX


> Today, we have Elecraft to thank for a very professional interface and
> working relationship, and we all should reciprocate with 1960's
> manners.  It's a pretty easy habit to fall back into.  I know it's
> appreciated when we do.

> 73,
> matt W6NIA
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