"Klystron" wrote in message

: Most base-type radios, especially HF radios, have
: keyer circuitry built in. On those radios where it has
: been optional (Icom 970, e.g.), it has been a fairly
: expensive option. Can anyone estimate the amount that it
: adds to the price of an HF radio? What would we save if
: it were left off? Considering the ever shrinking role of
: Morse, does it really make sense to insist that all HF
: radios include it? It almost seems as if the various
: manufacturers are afraid to go first in making it an
: option. It seems like it is more of an ideological issue
: than a practical one.

I'm not so sure. It's probably more cost effective in the long run to
include it rather than not, if you make it an addon option then it
complicates matters. Look at the myriad options you get when buying a new
car - do you want aircon, electric windows, spotlights, etc. etc.

I remember 10 years or so ago when Icom here in the UK sold off a load of
unsold commercial UHF transceivers onto the amateur market (the IC-U101 if
anyone remembers it, still have one somewhere, it made a great packet
radio rig..!) - as a commercial radio, it came with built in CTCSS (PL)
tone encode/decode but for some reason best known to themselves Icom
physically removed the tone boards from the radios before selling them to
amateurs.

I suppose they thought they could make extra money selling the tone boards
as "optional extras" (or am I being an old cynic..?!)

73 Ivor G6URP