I want to share a couple things that have happened over the last couple weeks for transparency, this is not to "slam" Elecraft in anyway, but what I am hoping is a call for improvement on their end.
I have been a Flex user for about a year and have only been a ham for about 2 years. Most of the guys/gals in my club use Elecraft K3 or K3S transceivers, while I liked the Flex I knew that I would have a wide range of support for Elecraft from the local club. Before Dayton, in order to replace my FT-857D I decided to buy a KX2 for Field Day. I purchased and waited for it to ship, which took about 8 days (approximately). I did not have it in time for Dayton, which I was OK with. When asked if I could take advantage of any Dayton deals, I was told "No". OK, no problem. When I went to Hamvention this year, I asked someone at the booth to "take my money" and convince me to buy an Elecraft radio. Depending on how you look at the situation, I can see both sides of this. Some may say "Elecraft doesn't want to take your money, the rig speaks for itself!" others may say "What fools, the guy was willing to buy your radio!" For me I was a little bummed that someone didn't feel the need to really sell me on the radio (they barely spoke to me) someone who specifically asked them to talk them away from Flex. A few days after Dayton I get my KX2 and begin using it. I am mostly a CW op and noticed that after a while the radio would "stick" on CW. It would let out long tones etc., I did not see the error to start, but after a day or so I saw a temp warning. I reached out to Elecraft, they said they would fix the radio anytime I sent it back. I asked if I could wait until after Field Day since this was purchased for that specific reason. They were more than happy to oblige. During this time I decided I was going to buy a K3S. I sold my Flex, Maestro, FT-857D etc., and purchased the K3S kit and P3 Kit. Some HAM's from the club and I put the radio together but it wouldn't work properly. The RF/SQL Pot just was not working. We tried all kinds of things to fix this, to no avail. I reached out to Elecraft the next day, advised them that now, both of my radios are having problems. I spoke to David who was extremely helpful. After a good hour and ripping the thing apart again, we came to the conclusion that one of the pots had a missing solder. During the call I was advised that my new KX2 was going to be shipped and that the old one could be put in the box with a return label at no cost to me. This was on a Wednesday. I was told the new radio was being broken in and would be shipped on Thursday. I go about soldering the bad pot for RF/SQL and the K3S is back in business. Good for me, bad QA I suppose on the Elecraft side as this is not something you assemble in the kit. I believe the label on the bag said "Tested", if that was the case, I am not sure how since that pot clearly did not work. Days go by and it is now Monday. I reach out to Elecraft to see if my KX2 had shipped as I had not seen a tracking number. The response was a bummer. The KX2 didn't ship and they need to see if there is a hold on KX2's being shipped. I still replied back nicely saying, I hope not as it was being checked last week for shipment. A little communication goes a looong way. K3S is working, KX2 still needs to be replaced, but I am thousands into the Elecraft brand and both radios have had problems with quality control. I am NOT posting this to be a slam at Elecraft as I know they have a great reputation for quality radios and customer service. For me, in particular, other than David, I guess I am the abnormal one of the bunch in that I had two radios that were defective and Customer Service (as it pertains to shipping, satisfaction etc.,) has been mediocre. I sure hope things take a better turn for me and for those who purchase after me. To help others diagnose potential issues with their radio I am posting the videos here for review, which have been seen by Elecraft. KX2 - CW Temperature https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=6r15pqwk8OQ K3S - RF/SQL https://www.youtube.com/edit?o=U&video_id=zeDqqZSKcFA Picture (not great) of the missing solder. https://www.dropbox.com/s/hymwomrsn9byfll/IMG_20170607_133334426.jpg?dl=0 NOTE: Notice I didn't even complain about the artifact on the LCD screen during boot, which is yet a whole separate issue, which probably should be fixed as well. Thanks and Good DX! Andy / NB8F -- ------------------ NB8F Andy Holman ______________________________________________________________ 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 Message delivered to arch...@mail-archive.com
