Hi Wayne,
I for one am impressed and LOVE my KX2, and KX3. When I was a kid I
would take my Globe Patrol on a few family road trips. The Globe Patrol was
a regen receiver that I built from a kit. The functionality was not dense
at all, and I had to take a few more accessories to use it. At that time I
loved thrown up a wire and listening to SW radio stations. My KX2 fits in a
little zippered case smaller than the Globe Patrol, and contains everything
I need to both transmit and receive. The receiver quality is out of this
world!
Thanks for your genius, and all the others at Elecraft who made a little
boys dream come true!
73
Len
KA7FTP
-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Wayne Burdick
Sent: Friday, December 06, 2019 4:58 PM
To: Elecraft Reflector <elecraft@mailman.qth.net>
Cc: k...@groups.io
Subject: [Elecraft] Feature density of portable transceivers: K1 vs. KX2
A morning break in the rain today in the Bay Area allowed me to sneak out
for some field operation with the KX2. While using every weapon in the KX2's
arsenal, I thought about how to best convey just how feature-dense this
radio is.
To appreciate it, you really need to hold the rig in your hand and try it
out. Since that's not always an option for a potential user, the next best
thing might be to create an engineering metric.
Granted, "features per cubic inch" (feature density) isn't exactly science,
but it is useful for comparing portable transceivers, where both size and
versatility really matter.
Here's one possible formula:
F_in = ( bands + modes + internal_options + other_significant_features )
/ in^3
Fuzzy? Well...yeah. Nonetheless, here's what happens if we apply this to our
legacy 4-band K1 transceiver and the KX2.
*****
K1:
bands: 4 (owner's choice of HF bands)
modes: 1 (CW)
options: 3 (battery, ATU, noise blanker)
other: 3 (keyer, CW messages, variable-BW xtal filter)
F = ( 4 + 1 + 3 + 3 ) / 64 in^3 = 0.17 features per cubic inch
KX2:
bands: 9 (80, 60, 40, 30, 20, 17, 15, 12, 10 m)
modes: 5 (CW, SSB, AM, FM, DATA)
options: 5 (mic, battery, ATU, paddle, real-time clock, 100 W amp)
other: 35 (keyer, CW messages, int. mic, DVR, speech compression,
VOX,
IF DSP (SDR), switchable preamp, switchable attenuator,
audio peaking filter (APF, for CW),
RTTY decode/encode, PSK31 decode/encode, CW/data
auto-tune,
fully adjustable AGC slope/threshold/decay, RF gain & AF
limiter,
dual watch, variable-passband filters, passband shift,
noise blanking, noise reduction, audio effects, RX/TX EQ,
dual VFOs, split, wide-range RIT/XIT, cross-mode
(SSB/CW),
CW/data logging, 4 user-programmable functions, Amp-hour
tracking,
scanning, freq. memories, direct frequency entry,
full remote control interface, freq. up/down buttons (on
mic),
measurement of PWR/SWR/ALC/CMP/supply voltage/supply
current,
adjustable carrier-operated relay)
F = ( 9 + 5 + 5 + 36 ) / 26 = 2.1 features per cubic inch
*****
By this metric, the KX2 packs about 12 times as much "punch" as a K1. (As a
principal designer of both radios, I have to admit this is a bit alarming.
In 2001 we felt the K1 was pretty much state of the art for small CW rigs.)
Of course, holding the KX2 in your hand, then actually putting it on the
air, provides a much more satisfying comparison.
Calculation of feature density of the KX3 is left as an exercise for the
reader :)
73,
Wayne
N6KR
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