I doubt if it is SMT devices and auto-board
stuffers that made the economy of K3 what it is.
Electronic integration marches on. Remember the
Collins 75A4, or Heath Marauder? Now it is possible
to put just about everything, save the large L's,
into siicon. I suspect one bright engineer on
the Elecraft staff - could layout 5 or 6 MOSIS
silicon circuits (ala USC/ISIS) - to cover a
large percentage of a K3, add in a LSI Logic
device for the DSP, and perhaps 1 Analog Devices
linear device - for the K4 control logic -
and the whole K4 could be integrated into just
the Control/User Panel. Maybe pack it all -
into the ATU.
I remember, not too many years ago (88),
having a meeting in a room at Bell Lab's Allentown
facility (or was it NJ) - and behind me on
the wall of that lab - which had a brass plaque
which read "... in this lab in 1953 (or whatever
the correct year was), the first transistor
IC was invented". Wow - time marches on!
I saw it again, when I peeked inside a 2007
IC-706MKIIG at the top board - and saw
literally 100's and 100's of SMT devices,
on 1 board. And we are seeing it again, in
the soon to be shipped K3. Wow - can't
wait.
de, Fred N3CSY
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