[CQ-Contest] how contesters use K3 "squelch"

[J. Edward (Ed) Muns]

> If any of you have followed the K3 reflector (at 
> Elecraft.com), this radio will (apparently) do anything the 
> user wants.  Every time I ask a question, the usual answer 
> is, "Yes, it is user definable."  Very neat.

Yes, very neat, although this can have a dark side for some who will say
this flexibility makes it too complex to just have a working radio you can
easily use.  But, again to the K3's credit, this "issue" is well-addressed
by the K3's ability to readily store and recall the entire radio
configuration.  Thus, K3 users can save a particular configuration that
makes sense to them ... or, share clever configurations with one another ...
or, get back to a known configuration after you've totally confused yourself
with a series of menu changes, all without having to touch a single menu
parameter (just load a known configuration).  But a rich menu system for
customizing the radio is available with an excellent UI for those who want
to play.

Sort of like having a calculator that can do both algebraic and RPN modes.
If the calculator is in the opposite mode from what you are familiar with,
this can be very frustrating.  But having a simple way, e.g., one button
labeled RPN and another labeled Algebraic, to get to your favorite mode is a
way to deal with the "complexity" and still have it.

Responsible product designers who provide the power of "menu-driven" feature
sets, also provide simple ways to capture and recover any specific
configuration.

Ed - W0YK