Hi Robert, I posted two updates, one just after I got the KXPD3 upgrade kit and another after I'd used it for a couple of days. These were posted on the KX3 group (join if you are not there already, most of the KX3 talk goes on there). Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen it, I'm copying the two updates below:
Hi all, I received the field tester upgrade kit this morning. It took about 10 minutes to install. The only problem was the size of the screw hole in the PCB was a bit tight, but I didn't need to drill as long as I carefully tightened each of the mounting bolts one turn at a time (this is a known problem and will be fixed in the final version). The kit consists of a new PCB with stainless steel fixed contacts, new contact screws with rounded ends, and two alternative springs to choose from with lower tension than the original. I selected the lowest tension spring and set the contact spacing at three quarters of a turn from the inner (fully closed) position. The paddles feel completely different. I tried sending some of the text from the upgrade instructions and didn't have a single missed dit or dah, and both the spring resistance and the crispness of the action is improved by an order of magnitude. I wouldn't say it rivals my Begali Sculpture but it is much closer to that feel than it was before. Now I just hope it stays that way, I guess with a portable rig, dirt on the contacts will be a bigger issue than for a home key, but out of the box, no complaints at all, thanks to everyone at Elecraft, you've done a great job. I did a video of my upgrade, but unfortunately my phone ran out of memory after 5 minutes, so the most interesting bits didn't get recorded. Maybe I'll post it anyway just to show the unboxing and the kit content. WX for the weekend is looking like we're in for a bit of Indian summer, with full sunshine and 27C, so I hope I'll be able to get some outdoor operating done with the KX3, maybe a WFF activation on Sunday. I'll report back after a while and see how it goes. 73, Thomas M0TRN After posting my first impressions just after the upgrade, I've used the upgraded KXPD3 for several real QSO's and I wanted to give an update. My KXPD3 already had the PCB mod performed which had greatly reduced the intermittent contact problem. So I didn't expect the upgrade to make that huge a difference (only compared to the unmodified PCB which was pretty horrid in this respect). But I actually find that the upgrade kit does far more than that. It takes the key and transforms it from a sub-Bencher feel to a near-Begali feel. To get reliable operation on the paddles before, the contact spacing needed to be over 1mm. I think the main reason was the shape of the end of the contact screws. Per the suggestions previously made on this list, I'd tried filing down the ends of the contact screws to get them more rounded, but I hadn't done a very good job at it. The new contact screws are stainless steel and already rounded from the factory. Also the contact posts are now stainless steel as well. Finally, the spring tension was too high for comfortable operation at a very low spacing. So the spacing needed to be at least 1mm or so for the key to be workable. It's probably down to a combination of all the upgraded materials, including the lower tension contact spring, but the key works perfectly now with sub-mm contact spacing. I am using a spacing of about 0.3-0.5mm, which corresponds to about three quarters of a turn of the contact screws, and have locked them in that position. This, in combination with the lowest tension spring, gives an unsurpassed feel that I have only before experienced in my Begali Sculpture. I can now send clean code at 35 WPM with these paddles, something that was unthinkable before. Although most of my QSO's are at 25 WPM, it is nice to be able to send QRQ when the opportunity is there, and that's now possible with the KXPD3. The only thing I am missing slightly is individual tension adjustment of the left and right paddle. Since I use paddles with my left hand (but in a default configuration with dits on the left), I tend to use my Sculpture with a slightly higher spring tension in the left paddle. But in such a tiny key I wouldn't expect that. In short it's now a paddle that works extremely well and where the "precision" label is 100% justified. To be honest I thought that was stretching it a bit in the original incarnation of the KXPD3. 73, Thomas M0TRN On 18 September 2012 00:26, Robert Vargas (KP4Y) <k...@yahoo.com> wrote: > How did field testing of the KXPD3 paddle upgrade turn out? I'm about to > pull the trigger but want to make sure that the reported glitches have been > taken care of. I just heard one report around here and it was favorable. > How would the improved KXPD3 paddle compare to a Begali Traveler? > > 73s, > Robert-KP4Y > ______________________________________________________________ > 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
