On Sun, Aug 5, 2012 at 4:10 AM, <emann...@csc.uvic.ca> wrote: > ...As far as I know the KX3 is the first...
================= Part of the design philosophy of the K3 and KX3 is the flow of firmware upgrades. This idea is also inherent in the TenTec Orion design, and of course in the Flex SDR radios. The idea goes back at least to the Orion I of 2004. It is also worth pointing out that some manufacturers have done field upgrades, in some cases requiring a return of the radio to the factory, in order to remedy serious design flaws present in the early wave of production versions. The well-known soap opera of the Yaesu FTDX-9000 is just one example. The bug fixes in the case of the 9000 were so extensive that Yaesu got QST to re-review the radio. The upgrades involved changes to the firmware as well as a number of factory installed hardware upgrades to as many as seven modules. Yaesu paid shipping for hams who sent their rigs back. The second QST review noted without irony that it was "almost like getting a new radio." Perhaps it was, in fact, like getting the radio that was originally advertised and sold for 12000 bucks. This extensive and expensive effort on Yaesu's part came after 4 years of hearing user feedback but saying nothing. The poster who commented that he "couldn't recall Yaesu....doing anything like that," viz. advertising features that didn't work, was evidently unaware of this famous saga, or perhaps was talking about a different Yaesu. In any big sample there are going to be outliers, and among hundreds of users of any piece of ham gear there will be those who don't like it. As has been pointed out repeatedly, in many cases the op just doesn't understand how to work his radio, but there are also going to be defective parts, shipments that go astray, communication breakdowns, component failures, and so forth. K3s and KX3s are no exception. But the big overseas manufacturers, monolithic, silent and remote, lag behind Elecraft in responsiveness to customer support needs. Tony KT0NY -- http://www.isb.edu/faculty/facultydir.aspx?ddlFaculty=352 ______________________________________________________________ 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
