Wow! I was slightly taken aback reading a thread on the Elecraft AX/KX/KH1 groups.io reflector the other day. Someone was asking if there was any news about updates/upgrades to the KX3 at Orlando Hamcation.
Admittedly, I'm biased - I absolutely love my KX3 and at this point, the only way you're going to take it away from me is to pry it out of my cold dead fingers. I also admit, I'm not an EE and I'm not the tech wizard either. I also don't need to change rigs as often as I change my underwear - still, I was surprised by ....
"a new model must be designed to succeed the KX3. There are just too many things to improve, including the basic circuitry" - Really?
Another wrote "I agree primarily that the KX3 is a bit long in the tooth."
Still another wrote "Almost everyone I know who either bought a KX3 or seriously looked at a KX3 has gone with the Icom 705." Oooooh! Oooooh! Not me! Not me!
And to be balanced in this post, there were also comments from other Hams (including myself) who voiced favorable opinions about the rig. I guess I'm just old fashioned enough where I don't need a waterfall display (or bandscope, or whatever you want to call it), and just the latest and the greatest bells and whistles. I'm happy to be able to interface with the rig via buttons and dials and menus that don't dive down to the Earth's core. I like the human element - I don't need or want everything to be cyber.
Of course, everybody is entitled to their opinion, and I don't denigrate anyone for it. I was just surprised that so many KX3 owners seem to be less than satisfied with their radio.
72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP - When you care to send the very least!
I'll give up my KX3 when they pry it from my cold, dead hands! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt'll be a frosty day in hell when I give mine up. Best field radio ever!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe KX3 debuted at Dayton in 2011. I remember taking photos of it and being very excited to order one. That does make the technology about 15 years old so it's fair to say it's getting pretty "long in the tooth" though nothing has really replaced it, other than the KX2 with fewer features. How long should stuff like this last? I hope for 20 years when I spend more than a grand on ham gear, but the discussion does raise one good point -- if my KX3 quit working today would I pay to have it repaired or simply retire it? Shipment to and from California plus repair costs for a 15 year-old radio would make me stop and think hard about it.
ReplyDelete73 de Jeff KE9V
Interesting observation. There is such a thing as wretched excess in some radio amateur gear, particularly transceivers. It's amateur radio operation, not NASA or the European Space Agency requirements here. Amateurs sometimes have the fantasy that they are in a Central Control environment with multiple monitors and transceivers on their sagging desks. Heck, I sometimes day dream that I am a merchant marine cargo ship wireless officer. It is 1950 and I am somewhere in the South Pacific on my my way to some obscure port-of-call. Anyway, if you have the cash and not depriving anyone of food clothing or shelter...that includes yourself, well, if you have an itch, scratch it. I will fire up my FT-818 later. 72 73 de Dick
ReplyDeleteSometimes its just good and doesn't need improvement - it does what it needs to do in a clean efficient way. I have a KX2 and a KX3 - by far the best radios in my bag of tricks
ReplyDelete