Hi y'all,
I've responded to the recent commentary on the KX1 in last
week's (the current) Handi-Ham E-letter and would like to post those
comments below. More importantly, I will be forwarding Wayne's
response to these comments--comments that I think the blind ham
community should really find interesting--and encouraging. Due to the
posting size limit on the list, you'll find this broken up into
multiple posts. If you have any questions or need any clarification,
please let me know. BTW; the KRC2 mentioned here is very close to
being ready for accessibility use. I'll be getting my unit to play
with probably this week; Gary, KB9ZUV, will also. Watch this space for
a review! Here are my comments:
First, it should be made clear--if it's not understood already--that
the KX1 is not, nor was it meant to be, a primary station
rig. Therefore, as you correctly state later in your comments, Pat,
this is definitely an apples-and-oranges comparison. Of course, if one
isn't a cw fan at all and has no need nor desire to take a very
portable station along on trips, clearly the KX1 isn't suitable to
their purposes. Of course, having the higher power that your home
100-watt station can provide can be a real advantage, but you sure
can't as easily carry a 100-watt radio with its accompanying power
requirements! That, of course, is where the KX1 really holds its
own--literally, a station in the palm of your hand. Seen in its proper
role, as a portable rig for travel, emergencies, outdoor activities
where weight is a critical factor, and so on, the KX1 is hard to
beat. If you want a full-featured radio for your desk at home, the KX1
isn't the radio you're looking for, and it shouldn't be considered as
such.
KR6EG laments the need for the KRC2 in order to get full accessibility
to the K2's display information. Again, this isn't quite a fair
criticism. Bear in mind that the KX1 was designed from the beginning
with cw output; the K2 was not. I expect that accessibility wasn't
really something that Wayne and co. gave much thought to in the
formative design stages of the K2, and it would be difficult--if not
impossible--to design in after the fact as an integrated part of the
rig's firmware, just by virtue of the processor/memory/etc. that was
used. Wayne can certainly comment on this more knowledgeably than I
can, but I suspect that designing in a similar amount of cw feedback
into the K2 *after the fact* just isn't feasible. Considering that,
the fact that the KRC2 was designed to add this functionality into the
product was really fantastic! It's certainly more than other
manufacturers would think about doing merely on the suggestion of some
users. That Elecraft is willing to take this on--if even in what some
would consider a less-than-optimal form--is worthy of our praise and
encouragement, at the very least. Yes, the KRC2 would require someone
to build yet another kit, but you'll find that there are more than
enough people who are willing and even eager to do this! Would
accessibility out of the box be a good thing? Absolutely! I daresay
Wayne and Eric may well consider it for the next great big radio
project. Trust me on this, they listen to our suggestions. And if we
let them know that this is an important feature to us, they can more
easily design it into the product, right at the beginning where it
ought to be done under the best of all possible scenarios. OK, it
wasn't done on their first offering, but the company has definitely
taken positive steps to get accessible rigs into our hands, whether
that comes in the form of an extra box or as a built-in feature, and
while I can't speak for Wayne, I suspect that he's very likely to take
us into account on future projects...so let's be supportive of their
efforts--IMO they're the best efforts on our behalf out there. Yes,
even better than Kenwood's...for Elecraft, it really is about
usability and not just an afterthought. I invite Wayne to write in
himself and speak on this subject, and I'm sure that his comments
would be welcome and even encouraged.
[Continued in next message]
--
Buddy Brannan, KB5ELV
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