On 5/21/2019 9:23 AM, Rick@dj0ip.de wrote:
1x OM7+ = 3x IC-7300
or
1x OM7+ = IC-7300 + Linear Amp + Beam
I like your arithmetic -- Mom and Dad were both accountants, and made
sure I knew how to add and subtract. The Kenwood TS590S and SG are very
nice radios at a very nice price. I know serious contesters who use
them. Elecraft showed a very pre-preduction K4 with very nice features
and specs, for delivery in early 2020. It's a very high quality SDR,
going after Flex, and in the Orion price class.
The three K3s and a KPA500 are the only radios I've bought new since an
Omni A Series D in 1980; the K3s, bought in 2008 and upgraded in 2015
with new synth boards are still state of the art. I gave that Omni A to
a newly licensed ham around 2003. I replaced my Titan 425's (bought used
around 2005) with 87As a few years ago, also bought used. Both were
designed by K4XU (for the 87A, RF only, not the logic and control).
The K4 radios (three versions) look good, with very nice features but
I'm not tempted to buy one. A MAJOR virtue of the Elecraft rigs is their
upgradeability as a result of their modularity. It cost me about $700
each to upgrade the dual-RX K3s (new in 2008) to 90% of the performance
of the K3S, introduced in 2016. With any other brand, you get to buy a
new radio.
Oh yeah -- Elecraft is very well managed, and likely to be in biz 10-15
years from now when you need something. Like Mom and Dad, they know how
to add and subtract. :)
IMO, Elecraft is the worthy successor to Ten Tec. I worked Al Kahn,
principal of Ten Tec, using one of his radios when I was operating
mobile CW in the '70s.40 years later, don't remember his call. I've
worked N6KR, principal EE of Elecraft, running CW, him always QRP, most
recently two weeks ago, and every time I was using one of his radios. I
work Eric, WA6HHQ, on 2M, because we're locals. I know a half dozen or
so of Elecraft's engineers. Some work out of the factory, some at home.
The guys I know are active hams. K6XX is a world class contester, WRTC
competitor, a production engineer for their power amps. They USE their
radios!
Elecraft maintains a presence on their email reflector -- both
principals, N6KR and WA6HHQ, read it every day. They get input from
users that show up in design, and they respond to problems. Both were in
their booth in Dayton and in Visalia a month earlier. Contrast that to
ANY other mfr of ham rigs. Will you EVER have the chance to meet Mr
Yaesu, Mr ICOM, or Mr Ten Tec?
Al Kahn, the principal founder of Ten Tec, and long before that, of
Electro-Voice, a pro audio company at least as great as Ten Tec, is one
of my heroes. In addition to Ten Tec and EV, he did a lot to keep ARRL
afloat during and after WWII. But Al's long gone, and so is the company
he founded.
73, Jim K9YC
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