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PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 12:45 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: BDK wrote: In article ca58e1d1-8c1d-4355-ac8f- , says... On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. dxAce Michigan USA OK. Why? Cause DxAce is a Drake fanboi? The only thing Drake ever made I really want, or want to keep is the R7A. You can get an R7 and turn it into an R7A rather quickly! They are essentially one and the same. Off the top of my head (pointy as it may be) as I recall, the difference between the R7 and the R7A was that the R7A came standard with the noise blanker (NB7A, at the time) and I think the 500 kc CW filter, AND, a jumper across the filter board which APPROXIMATED a 6 kHz filter for AM reception. I currently have an R7 with 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2.3 kHz filters, the NB7A noise blanker and the AUX7 board.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - That R7 you have sounds like the perfect outfit. No external VFO? No, for a long time I wanted to try the RV75 VFO with the R7 which I'm led to believe is more stable. At one time, I did have a mint in the box RV75, however, I didn't have the 1544 adapter that went with it to hook up to the R7/A. But, if one has an R7/A, no need for an extra VFO, turn the darn thing on, it will warm up, and after all, that's what the tuning knob is for. Will I sell it? Maybe, after Odumbo and Emanuel are tried, convicted, and hung by the neck on the steps of our great Capitol. My illustrious relative, Abraham Lincoln, whom I'm related to by both blood and marriage would be proud of me. I fear nothing, as did those who preceded me who pledged their lives and their fortunes. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
On Mar 8, 4:35*pm, dxAce wrote:
dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 12:45 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: BDK wrote: In article ca58e1d1-8c1d-4355-ac8f- , says... On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) *I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. *It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. *Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. dxAce Michigan USA OK. *Why? Cause DxAce is a Drake fanboi? The only thing Drake ever made I really want, or want to keep is the R7A. You can get an R7 and turn it into an R7A rather quickly! They are essentially one and the same. Off the top of my head (pointy as it may be) as I recall, the difference between the R7 and the R7A was that the R7A came standard with the noise blanker (NB7A, at the time) *and I think the 500 kc CW filter, AND, a jumper across the filter board which APPROXIMATED a 6 kHz filter for AM reception. I currently have an R7 with 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2.3 kHz filters, the NB7A noise blanker and the AUX7 board.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - That R7 you have sounds like the perfect outfit. *No external VFO? No, for a long time I wanted to try the RV75 VFO with the R7 which I'm led to believe is more stable. At one time, I did have a mint in the box RV75, however, I didn't have the 1544 adapter that went with it to hook up to the R7/A. But, if one has an R7/A, no need for an extra VFO, turn the darn thing on, it will warm up, and after all, that's what the tuning knob is for. Will I sell it? Maybe, after Odumbo and Emanuel are tried, convicted, and hung by the neck on the steps of our great Capitol. My illustrious relative, Abraham Lincoln, whom I'm related to by both blood and marriage would be proud of me. I fear nothing, as did those who preceded me who pledged their lives and their fortunes.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I like this post Steve. :-) |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
Gregg wrote: On Mar 8, 4:35 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 12:45 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: BDK wrote: In article ca58e1d1-8c1d-4355-ac8f- , says... On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. dxAce Michigan USA OK. Why? Cause DxAce is a Drake fanboi? The only thing Drake ever made I really want, or want to keep is the R7A. You can get an R7 and turn it into an R7A rather quickly! They are essentially one and the same. Off the top of my head (pointy as it may be) as I recall, the difference between the R7 and the R7A was that the R7A came standard with the noise blanker (NB7A, at the time) and I think the 500 kc CW filter, AND, a jumper across the filter board which APPROXIMATED a 6 kHz filter for AM reception. I currently have an R7 with 8, 6, 4, 3, and 2.3 kHz filters, the NB7A noise blanker and the AUX7 board.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - That R7 you have sounds like the perfect outfit. No external VFO? No, for a long time I wanted to try the RV75 VFO with the R7 which I'm led to believe is more stable. At one time, I did have a mint in the box RV75, however, I didn't have the 1544 adapter that went with it to hook up to the R7/A. But, if one has an R7/A, no need for an extra VFO, turn the darn thing on, it will warm up, and after all, that's what the tuning knob is for. Will I sell it? Maybe, after Odumbo and Emanuel are tried, convicted, and hung by the neck on the steps of our great Capitol. My illustrious relative, Abraham Lincoln, whom I'm related to by both blood and marriage would be proud of me. I fear nothing, as did those who preceded me who pledged their lives and their fortunes.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - I like this post Steve. :-) I'm glad that someone did. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
On Mar 8, 12:37*pm, bpnjensen wrote:
On Mar 8, 9:23*am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) *I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. *It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. *Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. OK. *Why? I'm searching for the right words. Perhaps D. Peter might help. At any rate, one can spend just so much, and after one reaches a certain point, it ain't gonna help. It has to do I think with the 'law' of diminishing returns, or something like that. dxAce Michigan USA- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Well, that's easy to enough to understand...that is EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) about my Kiwa-modded Icom R75. *For 50% more *at the time*, I could have gotten 5% more performance. *But based on what I've seen for prices, the law of diminishing returns does not apply here in a straightforward manner. *Good older radios like Drakes and the better JRCs don't seem to lose any value at all, and in many cases cost more than when they were new as collectibles. OK - So I buy a used Drake R7 or R8B *for $1,400, or a new K3 for $1,400. Or an NRD-515 and a Sherwood SE-3 for $1,800 or any other decent but old radio for the same price range. Unless I can find a place to dependably buy something of this calibre for much less than $1,500, why should I not get the newer one with better specs and modern features and upgradeable software/firmware? The Elecraft, in my estimation, is a significant improvement over the R75. *The others I mention above, for the same price, are not. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a Drake. *But penny for penny, I think the Elecraft would be a better choice. Bruce The K3 has a better receiver than the R75, but the fact that it has better receiver specs than the R75 does not imply that it would be a better radio *for you* than the R75. The K3 is is a contest rig, designed for use in extremely crowded, contest-type band conditions and deep CW pileups. This is why it's a favorite on DXpeditions when people know there'll be hundreds of people calling them simultaneously. If you spend a signficant amount of time operating under these conditions, then you should definitely get the K3. On the other hand, if you're more interested in DXing utility stations and that kind of thing, then you might never hear anything on the K3 that you could not hear on the R75. Spending your money on new antennas, phasing units or other odds and ends might give you more bang for your buck in that case. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
On Mar 9, 6:36*am, Steve wrote:
On Mar 8, 12:37*pm, bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:23*am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) *I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. *It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. *Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. OK. *Why? I'm searching for the right words. Perhaps D. Peter might help. At any rate, one can spend just so much, and after one reaches a certain point, it ain't gonna help. It has to do I think with the 'law' of diminishing returns, or something like that. dxAce Michigan USA- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Well, that's easy to enough to understand...that is EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) about my Kiwa-modded Icom R75. *For 50% more *at the time*, I could have gotten 5% more performance. *But based on what I've seen for prices, the law of diminishing returns does not apply here in a straightforward manner. *Good older radios like Drakes and the better JRCs don't seem to lose any value at all, and in many cases cost more than when they were new as collectibles. OK - So I buy a used Drake R7 or R8B *for $1,400, or a new K3 for $1,400. Or an NRD-515 and a Sherwood SE-3 for $1,800 or any other decent but old radio for the same price range. Unless I can find a place to dependably buy something of this calibre for much less than $1,500, why should I not get the newer one with better specs and modern features and upgradeable software/firmware? The Elecraft, in my estimation, is a significant improvement over the R75. *The others I mention above, for the same price, are not. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a Drake. *But penny for penny, I think the Elecraft would be a better choice. Bruce The K3 has a better receiver than the R75, but the fact that it has better receiver specs than the R75 does not imply that it would be a better radio *for you* than the R75. The K3 is is a contest rig, designed for use in extremely crowded, contest-type band conditions and deep CW pileups. This is why it's a favorite on DXpeditions when people know there'll be hundreds of people calling them simultaneously. If you spend a signficant amount of time operating under these conditions, then you should definitely get the K3. On the other hand, if you're more interested in DXing utility stations and that kind of thing, then you might never hear anything on the K3 that you could not hear on the R75. Spending your money on new antennas, phasing units or other odds and ends might give you more bang for your buck in that case.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Hi, Steve - My interest is primarily AM and SSB phone, both BC and ham reception, and yes, sometimes in crowded bands and under RF duress (I have several dozen local hams nearby and some potent 50 kW blowtorch AM stations within a couple miles, and they are a constant nuisance - a brick wall front end would be nice). The R75 is a fine sensitive receiver and I get great results with the antennas I have (on my 5,000k foot lot, much more would be severe overkill), but in this environment, a top-notch level of dynamic range and adjacent rejection would be nice. Bruce |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
On Mar 9, 5:15*am, dxAce wrote:
Gregg wrote: On Mar 8, 4:35 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 12:45 pm, dxAce wrote: dxAce wrote: BDK wrote: In article ca58e1d1-8c1d-4355-ac8f- , says... On Mar 8, 9:04 am, dxAce wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) *I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. *It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. *Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
Steve wrote:
On Mar 8, 12:37 pm, wrote: On Mar 8, 9:23 am, wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:04 am, wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. OK. Why? I'm searching for the right words. Perhaps D. Peter might help. At any rate, one can spend just so much, and after one reaches a certain point, it ain't gonna help. It has to do I think with the 'law' of diminishing returns, or something like that. dxAce Michigan USA- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Well, that's easy to enough to understand...that is EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) about my Kiwa-modded Icom R75. For 50% more *at the time*, I could have gotten 5% more performance. But based on what I've seen for prices, the law of diminishing returns does not apply here in a straightforward manner. Good older radios like Drakes and the better JRCs don't seem to lose any value at all, and in many cases cost more than when they were new as collectibles. OK - So I buy a used Drake R7 or R8B for $1,400, or a new K3 for $1,400. Or an NRD-515 and a Sherwood SE-3 for $1,800 or any other decent but old radio for the same price range. Unless I can find a place to dependably buy something of this calibre for much less than $1,500, why should I not get the newer one with better specs and modern features and upgradeable software/firmware? The Elecraft, in my estimation, is a significant improvement over the R75. The others I mention above, for the same price, are not. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a Drake. But penny for penny, I think the Elecraft would be a better choice. Bruce The K3 has a better receiver than the R75, but the fact that it has better receiver specs than the R75 does not imply that it would be a better radio *for you* than the R75. The K3 is is a contest rig, designed for use in extremely crowded, contest-type band conditions and deep CW pileups. This is why it's a favorite on DXpeditions when people know there'll be hundreds of people calling them simultaneously. If you spend a signficant amount of time operating under these conditions, then you should definitely get the K3. On the other hand, if you're more interested in DXing utility stations and that kind of thing, then you might never hear anything on the K3 that you could not hear on the R75. Spending your money on new antennas, phasing units or other odds and ends might give you more bang for your buck in that case. I have both. The K3 hears more than the R75. You'll need to spend extra for SWL/ute monitoring as there is another set of (non ham band) switched bandpass filters for the front end required, as well as a hi-fi roofing filter. But you'd then have one of the better SWL receivers ever made for about 2 grand. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
On Mar 9, 8:50*am, dave wrote:
Steve wrote: On Mar 8, 12:37 pm, *wrote: On Mar 8, 9:23 am, *wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:04 am, *wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) *I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. *It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. *Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. OK. *Why? I'm searching for the right words. Perhaps D. Peter might help. At any rate, one can spend just so much, and after one reaches a certain point, it ain't gonna help. It has to do I think with the 'law' of diminishing returns, or something like that. dxAce Michigan USA- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Well, that's easy to enough to understand...that is EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) about my Kiwa-modded Icom R75. *For 50% more *at the time*, I could have gotten 5% more performance. *But based on what I've seen for prices, the law of diminishing returns does not apply here in a straightforward manner. *Good older radios like Drakes and the better JRCs don't seem to lose any value at all, and in many cases cost more than when they were new as collectibles. OK - So I buy a used Drake R7 or R8B *for $1,400, or a new K3 for $1,400. Or an NRD-515 and a Sherwood SE-3 for $1,800 or any other decent but old radio for the same price range. Unless I can find a place to dependably buy something of this calibre for much less than $1,500, why should I not get the newer one with better specs and modern features and upgradeable software/firmware? The Elecraft, in my estimation, is a significant improvement over the R75. *The others I mention above, for the same price, are not. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a Drake. *But penny for penny, I think the Elecraft would be a better choice. Bruce The K3 has a better receiver than the R75, but the fact that it has better receiver specs than the R75 does not imply that it would be a better radio *for you* than the R75. The K3 is is a contest rig, designed for use in extremely crowded, contest-type band conditions and deep CW pileups. This is why it's a favorite on DXpeditions when people know there'll be hundreds of people calling them simultaneously. If you spend a signficant amount of time operating under these conditions, then you should definitely get the K3. On the other hand, if you're more interested in DXing utility stations and that kind of thing, then you might never hear anything on the K3 that you could not hear on the R75. Spending your money on new antennas, phasing units or other odds and ends might give you more bang for your buck in that case. I have both. *The K3 hears more than the R75. *You'll need to spend extra for SWL/ute monitoring as there is another set of (non ham band) switched bandpass filters for the front end required, as well as a hi-fi roofing filter. *But you'd then have one of the better SWL receivers ever made for about 2 grand.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Oh, well - $2k is too much. Maybe some day they'll make a receiver. |
PING: Dave R. Elecraft K3
bpnjensen wrote:
On Mar 9, 8:50 am, wrote: Steve wrote: On Mar 8, 12:37 pm, wrote: On Mar 8, 9:23 am, wrote: bpnjensen wrote: On Mar 8, 9:04 am, wrote: bpnjensen wrote: Hey, Dave, thanks for bringing up the Elecraft K3 (I'm sure my wife will thank you as well ;-) I just read the Receiver Topics section of the page, and I can hardly believe my eyes. It looks like a RX dream come true, even the XMTR notwithstanding. I just have two questions - As I understand it, once in awhile it is desirable to download improved software and programming from Elecraft. Does this radio need to be always connected to a PC otherwise, or is it perfectly fucntional as a stand-alone unit? And, as configured in basic format, will it receive and properly filter AM, or is that an add-on? Save your money. Buy yourself a nice used Drake receiver. Your wife may still love you. OK. Why? I'm searching for the right words. Perhaps D. Peter might help. At any rate, one can spend just so much, and after one reaches a certain point, it ain't gonna help. It has to do I think with the 'law' of diminishing returns, or something like that. dxAce Michigan USA- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Well, that's easy to enough to understand...that is EXACTLY how I felt (and still feel) about my Kiwa-modded Icom R75. For 50% more *at the time*, I could have gotten 5% more performance. But based on what I've seen for prices, the law of diminishing returns does not apply here in a straightforward manner. Good older radios like Drakes and the better JRCs don't seem to lose any value at all, and in many cases cost more than when they were new as collectibles. OK - So I buy a used Drake R7 or R8B for $1,400, or a new K3 for $1,400. Or an NRD-515 and a Sherwood SE-3 for $1,800 or any other decent but old radio for the same price range. Unless I can find a place to dependably buy something of this calibre for much less than $1,500, why should I not get the newer one with better specs and modern features and upgradeable software/firmware? The Elecraft, in my estimation, is a significant improvement over the R75. The others I mention above, for the same price, are not. Don't get me wrong - I'd love a Drake. But penny for penny, I think the Elecraft would be a better choice. Bruce The K3 has a better receiver than the R75, but the fact that it has better receiver specs than the R75 does not imply that it would be a better radio *for you* than the R75. The K3 is is a contest rig, designed for use in extremely crowded, contest-type band conditions and deep CW pileups. This is why it's a favorite on DXpeditions when people know there'll be hundreds of people calling them simultaneously. If you spend a signficant amount of time operating under these conditions, then you should definitely get the K3. On the other hand, if you're more interested in DXing utility stations and that kind of thing, then you might never hear anything on the K3 that you could not hear on the R75. Spending your money on new antennas, phasing units or other odds and ends might give you more bang for your buck in that case. I have both. The K3 hears more than the R75. You'll need to spend extra for SWL/ute monitoring as there is another set of (non ham band) switched bandpass filters for the front end required, as well as a hi-fi roofing filter. But you'd then have one of the better SWL receivers ever made for about 2 grand.- Hide quoted text - - Show quoted text - Oh, well - $2k is too much. Maybe some day they'll make a receiver. Half the price of a Watkins Johnson or a Ten-Tec, with better performance. I'm going to ask on the Elecraft reflector if they'd consider an SWL/BCB RX only version. |
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