Hi Dick, Enjoyed reading your posting. I'm not a contester (yet) and my QTH prohibits chasing DX - but I do agree with the points you make, in particular the one about the compact nature of the rig. We annually run a trip up to the Scottish islands and size really does matter. We have to get as much stuff as we can in to as small a number of vehicles as possible to keep the cost down. The K3 is ideal for this purpose as it has all the performance needed in a relatively dinky box. We've tried smaller radios such as an IC7000 and FT857 and while they take up less room they struggle with some of the pileup's and the incoming signal strengths that our beach located antennas generate.
On a slightly humorous note, this year one of the op's brought his FT1000D along and the most risky part of the trip for me was unpacking it and packing it away again (manual handling injuries anyone?) - it is a fine rig though. We're fortunate enough, now, to have access to a contest and field day site that overlooks the sea so I'm looking forward to having a bash at some contests with the K3. 73 Paul M1PAF -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/why-the-K3-is-my-favorite-rig-tp2103444p2103631.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ 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