I do agree with some of what Doug says. I see the numbers side with the pricing - you are more than double the original price Doug outlined with a KX3. The FT-817ND now is in the $700+ range. Going off that number a base KX3 is $300 more - not a double in price.
Regarding the "apples to oranges" comment - I entirely agree. In fact, I find it hard to compare the KX3 to a lot of radios because there is so much under the cover (and on the cover). My potable radio for years has been the FT-857D. That is my every day rig in the mobile (160-6m, 2m, 70cm) and is my "grab'n'go" rig. I have a K2 also and that is nice when car-camping, but at that point the FT-857D is along too - it has VHF/UHF capabilities the K2 does not. Adding in the 2m module to the KX3 will let me grab that instead of un-installing the FT-857D. I am anxious to throw it in the backpack and head out to the Appalachians for a few days. My pack weight will drop substantially and my back will thank me! For what the FT-817 is - it is a neat little rig. That satisfied a niche for years in the HFPack community. It is really hard to knock the useability of the rig. For those that currently have them maybe, as Doug alludes to, it will remain a staple in their portable arsenals. My FT-857D will be a staple in my arsenal in some instances I would assume, but there is some versatility in that rig that the KX3 will replace, no doubt. At the time I got the FT-857D I considered other rigs - and the FT-817 was one of them. Where I use my FT-857D most of the time is as my every-day mobile rig, and to that point there still is no radio on the market that satisfies that niche to the same capacity - the FT-857D, as heavy as it is, still has made its way in to my backpack for trips around southern Ohio and the Appalachian mountains. It is compact and the receive current is low (500-550mA = low enough to run on batteries). Try that with an IC-7000 (one of the better mobile rigs on the market). That rig's current consumption is at least 2 amps (2000mA) and it is also heavier. Or, conversely, try putting an FT-817 in the mobile... Doesn't work too well - the faceplate doesn't remote and the power output is low. Who knows - maybe the KX3 will make it in to my mobile station with the KXPA100... Then the FT-857D for VHF/UHF and the KX3 for HF? HI. The possibilities are endless. We are all entitled to our own opinions. What the base of those opinions is can vary, but we're the ones that choose our "tools". What we want our tools to do or have change, but guess what? They all do the same job. All radios let you communicate. Do you want CW only? SSB only? Both? HF only? A few bands or all bands? Is VHF important to you? Do you travel? Do you operate from home? -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-vs-FT817-comparing-apples-oranges-tp7139599p7140785.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
