Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
Dave G4AON wrote: I guess what I am suggesting is that some of the modern blue LEDs can be awful to look at, while I like the older blue displays, I personally wouldn't expend any time or money changing the K2 illumination to blue. I have monochrome vision and a decreased sensitivity at short wavelengths [poor choice of parents and grandparents :-) ] Most blues are indistinguishable from black for me. I'm pretty happy with my K3 display which is highly readable. I have a hard time seeing the numeric legends on the key pad, my wife tells me they are dark red on a dark gray key, but I've figured out the keypad by position just fine. OTOH, my total cholesterol is 105, the good is high, the bad is low, the result of very good choice of parents. Life is sort of a crap shoot, and I'll stick with the stock K3 display. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2009 Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2009 - www.cqp.org __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
Yes, the blue of sunlight is comparative. Those who work with photography (or videography) thinks of it as blue because that's what it is compared to incandescent - even the big halogen incandescents we used to use in studios - just like fluorescents were bright green. It's amazing how our brains adapt so well, establishing a white reference to the dominant illumination making it tough to see what havoc that light might be playing on our color vision. I have a hard time seeing the red on gray on the buttons too, and my color vision is considered entirely normal - so don't feel too bad. There just isn't enough contrast to make it easy without pouring a lot of light on the panel. Like you, I've pretty well memorized the red legends. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- Dave G4AON wrote: I guess what I am suggesting is that some of the modern blue LEDs can be awful to look at, while I like the older blue displays, I personally wouldn't expend any time or money changing the K2 illumination to blue. I have monochrome vision and a decreased sensitivity at short wavelengths [poor choice of parents and grandparents :-) ] Most blues are indistinguishable from black for me. I'm pretty happy with my K3 display which is highly readable. I have a hard time seeing the numeric legends on the key pad, my wife tells me they are dark red on a dark gray key, but I've figured out the keypad by position just fine. OTOH, my total cholesterol is 105, the good is high, the bad is low, the result of very good choice of parents. Life is sort of a crap shoot, and I'll stick with the stock K3 display. 73, Fred K6DGW - Northern California Contest Club - CU in the 2009 Cal QSO Party 3-4 Oct 2009 - www.cqp.org __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
The K2 display is a soldered-in LCD that sits over a (soldered in) diffuser that is illuminated by LEDs incorporated into the diffuser. To change colour, it would be neccessary to desolder both. That's a tall order for a frail LCD display if you don't have the necessary skills and equipment. Alternatively, the display could be sacrificed and replaced with a new one as the removal of individual pins is an easier task than removing around 40 of them, all attached to glass. Whether or not the diffuser is available in different background colours is another question. Some time ago, I refurbished a Yaesu Rx where one of the jobs was to replace all the LCD illumination bulbs that, barring one, had blown. After removing the pea bulbs AND their sleeves, I decided to use LEDs instead. Amber, green, blue and white were tried, but all looked pretty awful to me. Eventually, I located a green-blue LED that closely matched the original colour, and they looked just fine. It made me wonder whether LCDs are manufactured to suit a particular colour of illumination. DaveL G3TJP __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
I have a 1964 vintage Drake R4A which suffered from faded blue gel filters. I tried blue LED lamps as sold by a Stateside amateur. While they worked well and as advertised, the intense blue of the LEDs was very distracting... I eventually went back to filament lamps with a new set of gel filters. My PC has a blue LED that lights up the shack, again that colour isn't pleasing to my eye at least. I guess what I am suggesting is that some of the modern blue LEDs can be awful to look at, while I like the older blue displays, I personally wouldn't expend any time or money changing the K2 illumination to blue. 73 Dave, G4AON K1, K2 and K3 owner I would be interested in converting the display in my K-2 to the now popular blue display available in many radios, including the vintage Drake line as well as some of the modern transceivers. Anyone try this yet? Where did you find the parts? Many thanks, and I enjoy reading the helpful posts on the Reflector. KM4VX Ron Cerra __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
I understand the desire to have a blue backlight for any LCD. They're very popular in many devices. Most of these I see, such as my NUE-PSK modem, have white characters against their blue backlights. Wouldn't the K3's LCD remain black when converting the backlight to blue? It would seem a little more difficult to read a black character on a blue background. How would one go about also converting the K3's LCD characters to white? It seems like it would be a cool project, but would it be worth the time, effort and expense? Perhaps for some. Just my US$0.02... I would be interested in converting the display in my K-2 to the now popular blue display available in many radios, including the vintage Drake line as well as some of the modern transceivers. Anyone try this yet? Where did you find the parts? Many thanks, and I enjoy reading the helpful posts on the Reflector. KM4VX Ron Cerra __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
Personally, I'd not want to change the amber color of the LCD in either of my rigs. I feel there's an excellent reason for that. Blue light provides the greatest visual acuity. That's why sunlight, which is very blue, is so good for detail work and why my work table lights are 5800K (sunlight color temperature). That makes it good for situations where we want data at a glance but don't look at the display very long. OTOH, light with a lot of blue is very tiring over time. Red light provides the least visual acuity. Our eyes simply don't see detail well at that part of the spectrum. It's also the color light that is the most relaxing (which is why candle light and fire light is desired for romance). Amber seems to me an excellent compromise: easy to see the characters but not nearly so stressful over time as colors nearer the blue end of the spectrum. If I were to consider some activity that had me in front of my rig for long hours at a time, such as contesting, I'd definitely avoid blue. Even as a casual operator, I appreciate the soft glow of the amber display. Ron AC7AC -Original Message- I understand the desire to have a blue backlight for any LCD. They're very popular in many devices. Most of these I see, such as my NUE-PSK modem, have white characters against their blue backlights. Wouldn't the K3's LCD remain black when converting the backlight to blue? It would seem a little more difficult to read a black character on a blue background. How would one go about also converting the K3's LCD characters to white? It seems like it would be a cool project, but would it be worth the time, effort and expense? Perhaps for some. Just my US$0.02... I would be interested in converting the display in my K-2 to the now popular blue display available in many radios, including the vintage Drake line as well as some of the modern transceivers. Anyone try this yet? Where did you find the parts? Many thanks, and I enjoy reading the helpful posts on the Reflector. KM4VX Ron Cerra __ 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 __ 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
[Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
I would be interested in converting the display in my K-2 to the now popular blue display available in many radios, including the vintage Drake line as well as some of the modern transceivers. Anyone try this yet? Where did you find the parts? Many thanks, and I enjoy reading the helpful posts on the Reflector. KM4VX Ron Cerra ronce...@earthlink.net EarthLink Revolves Around You. __ 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
Re: [Elecraft] K-2 Blue Display
I'd like that option too... blue would be nice, or if it were an led backlit option, one could choose the color of led maybe? --... ...-- Dale - WC7S in Wy _ Insert movie times and more without leaving Hotmail®. http://windowslive.com/Tutorial/Hotmail/QuickAdd?ocid=TXT_TAGLM_WL_HM_Tutorial_QuickAdd_062009 __ 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
