Hi All,

Now that a number of K3s are on the air, we're getting a lot of feedback about the manuals and firmware. We're incorporating important changes as quickly as possible.

Regarding firmware, a number of issues have come up. Most are minor, and all have either already been corrected or will be soon. We hope to have another major firmware release early next week. The K3 firmware loader (K3Utility) is also being updated, and you'll need to obtain this before you do the next firmware upgrade. We'll be posting instructions to the reflector about this once the new loader and new firmware are available.

I wanted to cover a few specific firmware issues. All have been corrected in the upcoming release:

1. CW MESSAGE RECORD: The message buffers were getting truncated before being completely filled (127 rather than 250 characters), and inserted word spaces were excessive in length. Message entry is far easier with the new version. (Thanks to Tom, N0SS, for identifying these issues.)

2. NOISE REDUCTION (NR switch): We've had a couple of reports of NR generating a very strong audio artifact when certain types of signals were tuned in. Since it could occur when you're wearing headphones, we ask that you avoid using NR until we get the new firmware out.

3. VCO CALIBRATION: A few customers have seen an ERR VCO message with a parameter value between E00004 and E00013 displayed when doing VCO CAL (part of the kit alignment process). This only affects receive-only operation below 160 meters (i.e., with the KBPF3 general-coverage band-pass filter option installed). The next firmware release has an improved VCO CAL function that should correct this. If not, we'll send you a replacement synthesizer module.

4. TX TEST: Off-air testing was working only in CW mode. It now works in all modes. It's especially useful in SSB modes, since it allows you to adjust your mic gain and compression without transmitting.

5. 2.7 kHz CRYSTAL FILTERS: If you have firmware prior to revision 1.34, you'll need new firmware in order to properly set up our 2.7 kHz 5-pole filters.


Thanks for your suggestions, praise, critique, and patience as we work over these little in the road. Customer feedback was critical to the success of the K2, and I'm sure that will prove the case with the K3 as well.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


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http://www.elecraft.com

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