[TenTec] Software / Firmware Upgrades

[Jim Vohland]

I think its just an infatuation thing. 

> Date: Fri, 11 Apr 2014 15:04:33 -0500
> From: ky5rtim at gmail.com
> To: k9yc at arrl.net; tentec at contesting.com
> Subject: Re: [TenTec] Software / Firmware Upgrades
> 
> Am I on the Ten-Tec reflector  or  did it get hijacked by the EleCraft
> group?
> 
> Just need to know......
> 
> TNX Tim, AB4B
> 
> 
> On Fri, Apr 11, 2014 at 11:37 AM, Jim Brown <k9yc at audiosystemsgroup.com>wrote:
> 
> > On 4/10/2014 3:47 PM, Mike Stricker wrote:
> >
> >> There are still some known hardware and firmware issues with the K2 that
> >> haven't been addressed since they shipped their first unit.
> >>
> >
> > The K2 started out life as a QRP CW kit, that demand from owners caused to
> > be gradually expanded to be a 100W SSB rig. Design decisions made for a 10W
> > CW rig, and using parts available c.a. 1999 when the rig was designed,
> > placed limitations on performance on SSB and at higher power levels. I
> > owned a pair of K2s that I used for contesting and general operating, and I
> > was well aware of those limitations.
> >
> > The K2 is also quite different from the K3 and KX3. The K2 is an analog
> > radio with a microprocessor as a controller. When you want to
> > upgrade/update the firmware, you must program a chip and ship it, and the
> > user must install it. That's hardware, and while you may not realize it, it
> > costs the business owner to do all that. When you need a part for your car,
> > the dealer charges for it. And when you want your car to do something it
> > wasn't designed to do, you sell it and buy a new one.
> >
> > The K3 and KX3 are SDRs with knobs. It's my understanding that the Orions
> > are also SDRs with knobs. With these radios, the user can update firmware
> > by downloading it from a website and feeding it to the radio via a serial
> > port. Elecraft has a simple software utility for each of their products
> > that makes that process nearly automatic.
> >
> > In both of these upgrade scenarios, the vendor still has the engineering
> > costs of writing the firmware updates, but both Ten Tec and Elecraft have
> > made the business decision to consider that cost a part of customer
> > support, and not pass it along to the customer.
> >
> > 73, Jim K9YC
> >
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