The answer to your question is simple. My "expectation" was based upon
what Elecraft told us back then. Whether I had any right to believe it
or not, Elecraft advertised their products as having long term support
because the design of the radio was modular and subassemblies could be
replaced as they were superceded by newer designs, failed, or were damaged.
I'm not complaining because the K4 and other radios have features that
the K3 does not. My K3 currently works fine, but if the fragile KIO3
board fails my K3 will become useless for serious contesting. I'm
complaining because Elecraft simply decided not to honor the support
promises they made in their advertising back when I bought the radio.
It was a decision they purposefully made, and obviously not one forced
upon them by parts shortages or any other such excuse because they
offered a final run of units to anyone who wanted to buy one ... either
in addition to what they had or on contingency against future loss.
You have twisted this thread to one of no further improvements when the
concern is lack of support for existing gear. There is a difference of
about 50 years between your old GTO and my K3. As I stated earlier,
Elecraft could at least assist some third party to take over the
functions they no longer want to provide, but they have shown no
apparent inclination to do so.
Dave AB7E
On 4/21/2022 1:54 PM, Rick NK7I wrote:
Seriously mislead? Really? Or was it unrealistic expectations
(depending on when you bought too).
Does the K3 meet your current and expected needs NOW, while it is
working? Then enjoy it. Buy parts as you can to repair or upgrade
it; listed weekly on most email lists; at a discount cost (for now).
There is NO reason for that to change, but your needs might.
e.g. Say in 2008 (when the K3 came out), you bought a new large screen
LCD TV (circa $3,000 US). Would you complain now that it doesn't have
wifi, has no streaming, isn't in 4K and cannot be repaired? Or would
you relegate it to the guest room (or e-cycle) and move on?
Or a computer (those were Pentium days, barely I-x chips were
available); or any other piece of timely technology? They still run,
but try adding more memory or other parts now.
The BEST cell phone I ever owned, was a Motorola 'bag phone'; no
streaming, texting, video etc features, it was a near flawless analog
PHONE. Then the cell world shifted to digital and it was worthless.
Was I mislead to buy that?
That answer is no; we should expect technology to change and adapt
over time, eventually fading away in usefulness. That at some point,
older products are no longer of useful value to most of the others,
except collectors.
If it's still useful and meets your needs, I fail to see how you were
mislead. You did your research, bought the product chosen while
knowing (that throughout history) at some point it would fail and
repairs are no longer factory supported. It was a good run, it's
still useful now, as that line is ending.
You can't get factory parts for my old '64 GTO anymore either, at
least not without a 'premium' cost. (Wish I still had it too!)
I see the end of the K3 run as an opportunity for a start up repair
shop; just like old car buffs and OLD radio folks manage to create.
One door closes, another opens.
73,
Rick NK7I
On 4/21/2022 12:11 PM, David Gilbert wrote:
I bought my K3 for two reasons ... its performance and its modularity
which promised long term support for upgrades and repair. The
performance is still near top notch, but I was seriously mislead on
the long term support and if I ever buy another rig it won't be
Elecraft.
73,
Dave AB7E
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