I've built two K3's in the past five days from production kits just as they are shipped to customers as part of an extended field test deployed by Elecraft. This is another example of Elecraft's diligent focus on their customers and quality across the range. Not surprisingly, K3 customers will be delighted, whether they ordered a kit or a factory-assembled unit.
The K3 FAQ says build time is 7-9 hours and my experience was exactly that. Of course it depends on the options included, but most of them are trivial, if done along with the main kit. It also depends on your own skill and assembly speed. I tend to be a slower builder, lingering on every word in the manual, looking ahead, trying to foresee issues, etc. My K2 build time is longer than many. The first K3 I built, last Friday evening, was a K3/10, KAT3, KXV3, KBPF3, five roofing filters and the KPA3. It took about nine hours, of which 1.5 hours were spent doing a detailed inventory at the beginning. As most of you know, inventory time pays itself back immensely in reduced assembly time plus fewer errors and re-work. I built the second unit yesterday afternoon and it took less than seven hours, owing to my experience with the first one. In fact, I think I could build a complete K3 without the manual now! However, both builds took longer than normal because I was making copious notes in the margins of the manual for Elecraft engineering and production. Here is the time break-down on the K3 built yesterday: Inventory - 1 hour (starting from slitting the packing tape on the shipping box) Build K3/10 with KAT3 - 4.3 hours Inventory & build KPA3 - 1 hour Inventory & build KXV3 - 10 minutes Inventory & build KBPF3 - 10 minutes The most time-consuming part of installing options is removing the top and both bottom covers (30-40 screws?), so if you can do them together or as part of the main kit, there is some time saved removing and installing covers. The quality of the assembly manual, the parts and the design is extraordinary. This is a class product. And when you're finished, the radio rivals most any on the market today at any price, manufactured in much larger facilities than the combination of Elecraft's modest kitting room and your home workbench. 73, Ed - W0YK _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
