Wayne wrote, in part, last night:
"I countered that I might just have *helped* some future engineers by
giving them something cool to start on. Something to stimulate their
imagination. And over the years this has proven to be true: I've been
contacted by many hams who hadn't built a thing until they'd
encountered a kit (one of Doug's, or mine and Eric's, or Bob Dyer's,
or Dave Benson's), and had then moved successively higher up the rungs
on N2EY's hierarchy."
Wayne,
I have saved your post to my computer, because more than anything I've
seen, it says so much about you and about Elecraft. It really means a
lot to me.
A little bit about me. As a teen many years ago, I wanted to get into
ham radio, but it all looked so technical. And I didn't know anyone
who was a ham who could help me. I bought "How to Become a Radio
Amateur", and was fascinated, but didn't carry it any farther.
Finally, years later, in 1999, I passed the written exam and code
exam and got my first license! A dream had come true for me at last.
Shortly thereafter, I decided to try my hand at kit building with a
Ramsey 20 meter receiver from the local ham radio store here in town.
I'd never soldered anything, so it turned out poorly and it didn't
work. I was pretty discouraged about that, and wondered if I'd ever
build an electonic project (with soldering) that would work. I found
eham.net on the web, and started to read reviews about QRP radios.
The reviews I found led me to your website, and the wealth of
information and help about soldering and kit building, not to mention
all the kits offered there.
So here I was, a guy with no technical training or background, who
never successfully built anything electronic, and you, your superb
website, and the other folks at Elecraft are the sole reasons I
successfully built a K1 three years ago. It was certainly a challenge
for me, but I finished it, and I've made many contacts with that
radio. And it's a high-quality rig as well. I was amazed at the
success of that project.
Thank you, Wayne, is all I can say. I think the real test of all you
are doing, now with the K3 as well, is: can a high quality radio that
does what it does very, very well be made available not only to the
technically skilled, but also to those like me who don't have a
technical background? If you achieve these goals, you will done a
great service for the hobby and community of ham radio.
Thank you again for your post. There is so much that you say there.
It's more than all the kits you have devised and built, Wayne. It's
your perspective: the desire to mentor and encourage others in
building their own radios and projects. More than that, when so many
will say that ham radio is a dying hobby, what you are really trying
to do is remind us how much there is that is fun in this hobby. You
and Elecraft really bring us back again to the "Magic of Marconi" -
the discovery of the wonder of radio transmission and communication.
It's how that invisible signal through the air can miraculously allow
me to communicate with someone across town, across the country, or
across the ocean. Isn't that what Elecraft is really about, after
all?
Your post is real hall-of-fame material, in this ham's opinion. Thank
you, Wayne, for this great reminder of the magic of radio... for all
to enjoy.
Jeff Simpson
K6ATT
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