Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
You are still missing the point Jim. The choice is simple. The customer can either go through the risk and rigmarole of conducting their business direct with Elecraft, several thousand miles away or driving an hour or so to buy/have serviced/repaired a broadly equivalent rig from other manufacturers. Some have dealt direct but I suspect that the majority would think that the apparent advantages of buying an Elecraft do not outweigh the issues currently being experienced in the UK. I appreciate that Wayne and Eric read the reflector and, of course, it is their decision as to what, if anything, they want to do about the current position. All I can say is that dealing direct with Elecraft for orders and repairs is not the way forward when other alternatives are available to them. Maybe they consider the UK market isn't big enough for them to ensure there is a reasonable and proficient distributor in the UK. Even if that is the case then the consequence is a loss of sales/revenue opportunity. That may not be a problem at a time when it is difficult to meet (domestic) demand but . 73 Reg G3WPF On 03/08/2023 04:27, Jim Brown wrote: On 8/2/2023 7:40 PM, Peter Hall wrote: Unfortunately, Elecraft's preferred carrier - UPS - is certainly not Tier-1 Elecraft is a small enough company that the issue of shipment could certainly be addressed when discussing a purchase. I've long heard that DHL is well respected in the UK. They're not well known here (although they used to be 30 years ago, and I used them in my biz to ship architectural drawings around), but Elecraft will probably know how to access them. Again, ASK! Elecraft is not like Kenwood, ICOM, or Yaesu! Anyone who's been on this reflector for very long knows that Wayne and Eric (who does most of the management stuff) are both online and read this reflector, and the company is online friendly. So is SDRKits (in the UK), from whom I've made four purchases over about ten years, all of which arrived painlessly by USPS. One of their people reads the support reflector for their excellent VNWA and responds promptly and in a very positive way to any issues. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 g3...@sky.com __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
My club has used with satisfaction: Castle Electronics, Unit2 Village Workshops, Telerrddig Road, LLANERFYL POWYS SY21 0AS New Phone nbr 01938 820880 I haven't used them for Elecraft products but I wouldn't hesitate if I got stuck. David G3UNA -Original Message- From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net On Behalf Of David Aslin G3WGN Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 10:05 PM To: Dave ; Elecraft Discussion List Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK All my Elecraft kit (K3 + 'S' upgrades, P3, KPA500, KAT500, KX3, K2, W2 etc) was bought via mostly separate orders direct from Elecraft, so multiple experience of this buying route. No hassles with any of the shipments, but a week or so delay while the VAT/customs process completed. Even at today's elevated shipping prices, cost was always less than the W & S price. More concerning is the lack of accessible service facilities. Claudio in Bologna is a great engineer and did an exemplary job of upgrading and checking over the the KPA500s owned by members of the 6Gs DXpeditions group; BUT, shipping a returnable item to Italy (or elsewhere in the EU) is now a huge bureaucratic nightmare. I would hope that Eric and Justin Godefroy (who I do not know, but I understand owns & runs Moonraker) are in conversation. If not, does anyone on here know Justin well enough to encourage that to happen? Checking with Eric would be easy, but there may be need for 'encouragement' at the UK end. Moonraker would get loads of brownie points if they hired an engineer and had them trained on Elecraft products - and given the lack of other service facilities in UK, could have them trained on other products too, to make the hire cost-effective. 73, David G3WGN M6O -Original Message- From: Dave Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:12 PM To: Elecraft Discussion List Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK I bought my K4D from W&S 2 years ago, but they no longer list much Elecraft equipment and seem to have lost interest. All my other Elecraft kit came direct from Elecraft. W&S are unlikely to handle warranty or repairs for items bought elsewhere, which is a pity as the only place outside of the UK for service is either Italy or back to the factory. 73 Dave G4AON -- Sent from my iPhone SE __ 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 davidg3...@gmail.com __ 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
[Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
In the past I have bought Elecraft transceivers and amplifiers both direct from USA and also through W&S with full satisfaction. On the one occasion in the last 14 years, when one of my Elecrafts (a KPA500) needed a repair, I had to send it to Italy, a not inexpensive solution. Sadly, it now appears that W&S and Nevada are no longer independent and have now amalgamated under Moonraker, not that I have a problem with Moonraker. To continue with a UK Elecraft agency, Moonraker/W&S/Nevada should recruit and set up a service centre which would alleviate the perceived problem plus it would provide an alternative service for other makes. The worst of all possible worlds IMHO, would be for the UK Elecraft agency to end up with so many other radio products in the Staines emporium. Sadly, ...they already have more than enough exclusives thus reducing any competitive pricing for us, the UK amateur. Ray G3XLG __ 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
[Elecraft] KAT 500 Antenna Selection Problems
In the KAT 500 Utility – Configuration- Antennas- Band- 17M; I have Antenna 3 checked as Enabled and Antenna 3 as Preferred. No other antennas are selected for 17 m. This configuration has been applied and saved. Setup is Flex 6600, KAT500, KPA500 & win 10 pc. The problem I am having is: with radio on 17 M, when I run a “tune” sequence, the KAT does not switch to Ant 3, in fact it will not let me manually switch to ant 3. I occasionally have the same issue with the tuner not switching on other bands, to the selected antenna as set up in the utility. Any suggestions on what may be causing this ? 73 Paul w2eck __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KAT 500 Antenna Selection Problems
I have had that problem in the past. Have you tried a 'reset configuration"? On Thu, Aug 3, 2023 at 12:44 PM Paul Ecker wrote: > In the KAT 500 Utility – Configuration- Antennas- Band- 17M; > > I have Antenna 3 checked as Enabled and Antenna 3 as Preferred. No other > antennas are selected for 17 m. This configuration has been applied and > saved. Setup is Flex 6600, KAT500, KPA500 & win 10 pc. > > The problem I am having is: with radio on 17 M, when I run a “tune” > sequence, the KAT does not switch to Ant 3, in fact it will not let me > manually switch to ant 3. I occasionally have the same issue with the tuner > not switching on other bands, to the selected antenna as set up in the > utility. > > Any suggestions on what may be causing this ? > > > 73 Paul > > w2eck > __ > 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 wa8...@gmail.com __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
Dear OMs, I previously replied to this post so will not repeat myself.I needed to return a KPA 1500 to Watsonville, Ca. It was determined that only the RF deck was required.I shipped FedEx by their premium shipping method and had no difficulty.It went straight through as a repair. No added charges in my case. The amp was out of warranty so of course service was charged for. US and EU repair costs, I suspect are not far out of line. As an aside I included a Samsung Smart Tag similar to an Apple Airtag and thus had additional reassurance. Not sure shipping to CA cost all that much more than Italy. Had my amp back within about a month. Elecraft can also dispatch sub-modules if there is a failure.On line or telephone support was excellent earlier in sorting a friend's K3. Do not be too worried about service. 73 Doug EI2CN On Thu 3 Aug 2023, 11:53 , wrote: > My club has used with satisfaction: > > Castle Electronics, > Unit2 Village Workshops, > Telerrddig Road, > LLANERFYL POWYS SY21 0AS > New Phone nbr 01938 820880 > > I haven't used them for Elecraft products but I wouldn't hesitate if I got > stuck. > > David G3UNA > > -Original Message- > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net > On > Behalf Of David Aslin G3WGN > Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 10:05 PM > To: Dave ; Elecraft Discussion List > > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK > > All my Elecraft kit (K3 + 'S' upgrades, P3, KPA500, KAT500, KX3, K2, W2 > etc) > was bought via mostly separate orders direct from Elecraft, so multiple > experience of this buying route. No hassles with any of the shipments, but > a week or so delay while the VAT/customs process completed. > Even at today's elevated shipping prices, cost was always less than the W & > S price. > > More concerning is the lack of accessible service facilities. Claudio in > Bologna is a great engineer and did an exemplary job of upgrading and > checking over the the KPA500s owned by members of the 6Gs DXpeditions > group; > BUT, shipping a returnable item to Italy (or elsewhere in the EU) is now a > huge bureaucratic nightmare. > I would hope that Eric and Justin Godefroy (who I do not know, but I > understand owns & runs Moonraker) are in conversation. If not, does anyone > on here know Justin well enough to encourage that to happen? Checking with > Eric would be easy, but there may be need for 'encouragement' at the UK > end. > Moonraker would get loads of brownie points if they hired an engineer and > had them trained on Elecraft products - and given the lack of other service > facilities in UK, could have them trained on other products too, to make > the > hire cost-effective. > 73, David G3WGN M6O > > -Original Message- > From: Dave > Sent: Wednesday, August 2, 2023 1:12 PM > To: Elecraft Discussion List > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK > > I bought my K4D from W&S 2 years ago, but they no longer list much Elecraft > equipment and seem to have lost interest. > > All my other Elecraft kit came direct from Elecraft. W&S are unlikely to > handle warranty or repairs for items bought elsewhere, which is a pity as > the only place outside of the UK for service is either Italy or back to the > factory. > > 73 Dave G4AON > -- > Sent from my iPhone SE > > __ > 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 davidg3...@gmail.com > > __ > 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 turnb...@net1.ie > __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
Geert, As a many time direct purchaser, I can say I never experienced any horror story or great difficulty in direct orders to Elecraft shipping to EI via UPS, who handle all paperwork and charges. I must have ordered on ten different occasions.Me thinks you paint to grim a picture. I prefer to deal direct with Elecraft in fact. To each their own but again there is little need for such angst in my experience. 73 Doug EI2CN On Wed 2 Aug 2023, 20:35 Geert Jan de Groot, wrote: > On 02/08/2023 20:54, elecraft-requ...@mailman.qth.net wrote: > > Call Elecraft and see what they tell you. Why is this not obvious? > > For one, it is not obvious because Elecraft does not have (and can not > have) expertise in the complex and fast-changing world of international > customs regulations. The post office says that this is "the > responsibility of the receiver" even if the post office screws up, which > often happens. > > Just one example: a few years ago, a small item could be sent as > "letter" and as long as the value was low, it just went through. These > days, anything not on paper is a "parcel", requires a boatload of > customs administration both at the sender's (USPS won't touch it > without) and again at the receiver's end (that means *you* doing the > complex customs admin paperwork!), and you get to pay the post office > for the processing of said paperwork in addition to other charges, > customs and taxes. > > I also dare you to look up the costs of sending something trivial to EU > or UK via USPS or any of the other carriers. You will not be pleased. > > Having had some bad experiences with self-import I can see where the > question comes from. Having been burned before I'm gladly paying the > markup of a local distributor even though in some cases the cost goes up > by as much as 3dB. > > I have trouble with these offside remarks "just call elecraft". I dare > you to ship something to the UK or EU, using current, recent regulations > and see what happens. > > Elecraft's supply problems have been hard, very hard on DX distributors. > A customer orders something and then the distributor is told to wait for > a year or more on the order. For a distributor, one way to make revenue > is to get combined orders which doesn't work for these very long, and > unpredictable lead times. > Meanwhile, while the customer is waiting, he may cancel the order and > the distributor is left with very little way to make revenue. The one in > Berlin I used to use, closed shop end of last year because the low sales > volume made things unsustainable. > > As to W&S - I think there have been some major changes. Note that W&S > didn't advertize in the RSGB RadCom magazine for several months. > Typically these are small, one or two-person shops and if something > happens (circumstances or health) things quickly go sour. > > In brief, "just call elecraft" is entirely too simple. I hope you see > that now. And I, too, don't have a quick and easy way to order a K4 in > the UK. > > Geert Jan > > __ > 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 turnb...@net1.ie > __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
On 8/3/2023 2:29 AM, G3WPF via Elecraft wrote: You are still missing the point Jim. The choice is simple. The customer can either go through the risk and rigmarole of conducting their business direct with Elecraft, several thousand miles away or driving an hour or so to buy/have serviced/repaired a broadly equivalent rig from other manufacturers. I haven't misunderstood at all -- indeed, I WOULD consider that issue. And I suspect that if Elecraft does not currently have a relationship with distributor or service in EU, it's because they don't know of a suitable firm. That said, EI2CN has responded to this concern in a positive way. And this observation from my experience: several years ago, I bought a Kenwood D74A VHF/UHF talkie from a US vendor, hoping it would be a replacement for the TH-F6As that I've used and loved for twenty years. The user interface was so bad that I had to refer to the manual (a pdf, which I printed most of) to do almost anything, so I rarely used it, sticking the TH-F6A instead. When I eventually did pick it up for some reason, it was dead, and out of warranty. In this country of ~340 million souls, Kenwood lists only one service center, and it took nearly a month to get an address or contact info. I've long considered Kenwood as the best of the JA rigs. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
OK Jim. Yes, Doug has expressed his positive experiences and that is fine. I would still rather travel one hour within this country to get things sorted. Your experience of Kenwood in the USD is a mirror image of the situation here with Elecraft. It seems a characteristic of US manufactured equipment over here going back to Heath, Drake, Swan etc which was always fraught with difficulties. As a result, it's always seemed to be considered as a "niche" market. I just hope it can change in the future. At the moment, I am keeping my fingers crossed that my 2 K3 rigs continue to operate as I'm not inclined to buy a K4 in the present circumstances. Based on previous experiences with electronic equipment, the prognosis is not very good - a problem always seems to arise at some stage (irrespective of the manufacturer). 73 Reg G3WPF On 03/08/2023 23:04, Jim Brown wrote: On 8/3/2023 2:29 AM, G3WPF via Elecraft wrote: You are still missing the point Jim. The choice is simple. The customer can either go through the risk and rigmarole of conducting their business direct with Elecraft, several thousand miles away or driving an hour or so to buy/have serviced/repaired a broadly equivalent rig from other manufacturers. I haven't misunderstood at all -- indeed, I WOULD consider that issue. And I suspect that if Elecraft does not currently have a relationship with distributor or service in EU, it's because they don't know of a suitable firm. That said, EI2CN has responded to this concern in a positive way. And this observation from my experience: several years ago, I bought a Kenwood D74A VHF/UHF talkie from a US vendor, hoping it would be a replacement for the TH-F6As that I've used and loved for twenty years. The user interface was so bad that I had to refer to the manual (a pdf, which I printed most of) to do almost anything, so I rarely used it, sticking the TH-F6A instead. When I eventually did pick it up for some reason, it was dead, and out of warranty. In this country of ~340 million souls, Kenwood lists only one service center, and it took nearly a month to get an address or contact info. I've long considered Kenwood as the best of the JA rigs. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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 g3...@sky.com __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] Buying a K4 in UK
On 8/3/2023 3:47 PM, G3WPF via Elecraft wrote: I would still rather travel one hour within this country to get things sorted. Your experience of Kenwood in the USD is a mirror image of the situation here with Elecraft. It seems a characteristic of US manufactured equipment over here going back to Heath, Drake, Swan etc which was always fraught with difficulties. As a result, it's always seemed to be considered as a "niche" market. I just hope it can change in the future. The possibility for change is in Europe, not at Elecraft. When Elecraft felt there was a suitable partner, the had the relationship. I'm not advocating for purchasing the K4 in the UK, but I can offer this. I've been running a K4 for about a year, and I love it. The only hardware issue I've encountered is a design issue, likely necessitated by discontinuance of the switching-type 3.5mm TRS jacks long used for headphones, which results in very strong susceptibility to RFI at one or more rear panel 3.5mm jack(s). And while firmware has yet to be released for some functions (like remote control, but also a few operational functions and behaviors), it is under active development, and all firmware updates/upgrades are free and easy to install, in a manner similar to their other rigs. I'd guess that there have been 3-4 upgrades since I've owned the radio, and while I've always been very happy with it, each upgrade has improved the performance. To get a full picture of the K4 and any issues, I suggest you subscribe to the dedicated K4 groups.io reflector. It's web-based, and can be set to send each post as an email, and if you join, you'll have access to the complete history of the group. 73, Jim K9YC __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] KAT 500 Antenna Selection Problems
I am using a KAT500 with an IC-7610, switching among three antennas. I have similar problems, as follows: On each band, I use only one of the antennas; on several bands there is only one antenna with a reasonable match within the KAT500's capability. I am relying on the KAT500's frequency sensing to switch antennas and tuner settings, with the KAT500 in Manual mode. When I switch between bands that use the same antenna, there seems to be no problem. The KAT500 detects the new band with one or two transmitted dits and switches tuner settings to match the remembered setting for the new frequency. When changing bands that involve an antenna change, to switch antennas I have to transmit at least briefly, even if I only want to receive on the new band. However, when I switch between bands that use different antennas, some combinations do not seem to work, i.e. the KAT500 does not change antennas or tuner settings when the transmitter transmits on the new band. My workaround is to make two band changes in rapid succession. In some cases I have to switch to another intermediary band that uses the same antenna as the first band and transmit a dit or two on that band to cause the KAT500 to switch to the intermediary band, followed by another switch to the desired second band, while in other cases switching to an intermediary band that uses the same antenna as the second band works, followed by a second switch to the intended band. What appears to me to be happening is that when the match between the previous tuner settings and the new antenna on the new band is very poor, the KAT500's frequency-sensing circuit sometimes seems to be unable to determine the new frequency, and it doesn't switch antennas. Using a different band as an intermediary, one where the match is not quite as bad, appears to allow the KAT500 to detect the frequency correctly and make the switch. A better solution than my two band change workaround would be to write some software to read UDP radio info messages from rig control software (in my case, either N1MM+ or DXLab Suite Commander) and issue BN commands to the KAT500 through its serial port connection. Regardless of whether the band change was initiated from the software or from the radio's front panel, this ought to cause the KAT500 to change antennas and tuner settings without requiring any transmitting. I haven't tried this yet. 73, Rich VE3KI W2ECK wrote: In the KAT 500 Utility – Configuration- Antennas- Band- 17M; I have Antenna 3 checked as Enabled and Antenna 3 as Preferred. No other antennas are selected for 17 m. This configuration has been applied and saved. Setup is Flex 6600, KAT500, KPA500 & win 10 pc. The problem I am having is: with radio on 17 M, when I run a "tune" sequence, the KAT does not switch to Ant 3, in fact it will not let me manually switch to ant 3. I occasionally have the same issue with the tuner not switching on other bands, to the selected antenna as set up in the utility. Any suggestions on what may be causing this ? 73 Paul w2eck __ 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
