[TenTec] KPA 500...K9YC

[Mike Stricker]

Jim,
When I can pick up a radio and twist it, I call it cheap.  Yes, even with the material thickness being what it is on the K-Line, it looks cheap too.  Having a felt washer as a method for adjusting drag is a joke.

That being said, the big 3 put a lot more into the mechanical aspects of their amateur radios because they are able to leverage their commercial products' designs.

You may be enamored with Elecraft but ever since I owned a K2 and "discovering" the feature of a 5KHz tuning thump when the band is crowded, I gave up on the Elecraft MoJo...especially when Wayne and Eric know of the problem but haven't offered a fix.  If I ever designed a piece of hardware with a problem like that, and told people it was OK, I'd be fired! 

Interestingly enough, my research tells me that the K3 on the second hand market fetches between 70-80% of the new price.  As bad as everything else is compared to Elecraft, the resale value of lesser radios hangs in there better.

Mike, WA1SEO