In response to requests for K3 owners to post their impressions: It is summed up in word word, WOW!!!!!!!
It's all about the reciever. I have three filters, the standard 5 pole 2.7, the 5 pole 500HZ and the 8 pole 250HZ. You can manually select the filters or just turn the width control. These filters along with the ability to "shift" seems to really work well with crowded band conditions like in this contest. Frankly, there were many pile-ups that my 5W just won't bust but I could sure hear well. There were many JA's just at the noise level but solid. I only managed one JA QSO. I like the built in audio equilizer. I have adjusted the RX audio to compensate for hearing loss at certain high frequencies I attribute to working on radios in B-52's in my youth.;-) Ever hear of a HF radio called an ARC-65, UHF ARC-34? I have not uploaded V1.42 of the firmware yet as I like the NR and it is disabled in this new release. The NR seems to work well in V1.41. Speaking of firmware and downloads, I have Vista, Mac 10.5 (Leopard) and Windows 2000. The down loader works very well on the 2000 with a real serial port. I gave up on the USB adapter and Vista after an hour of Vistaville. On the 2000 it took five minutes from download too upgrade. The release shipped in my radio was 1.31 on November 12. So firmware releases come about one a day including the long weekend :). On Friday 1.41 was the latest release. On the transmit side, the QSK works very well correcting a minor glitch I never liked with the K2. The frequency memory features allow easy storing and retrieving of frequencies (for those pile ups you just can't bust but may want to return to). The CW memory is easy to set and responsive. It may be me but I think built in keyer may eat a first dit occasionally. I switched to an external keyer more to my liking and taste. The transmit display tells everything I want to know, SWR, PWR and transmit and received frequency. I really like the display and VFO readout operating with split frequency is a snap. I really like the ease of use. I have used the CW auto tune feature and really like that on CW. The CWT feature gives a visual reference on his beat note compared to what you have set. Very handy in contests when the called station has his front end locked down to a few HZ and has filter skirts like El Capatian. K3# 69 has been working CQ-WW with 5W and a very modest Mini-33 on a roof top tower @35'. Q's on 20, 15 and 10. My wire on 40 is down at the moment. Search and pounce QSO's so far: V26K XE1ZW HC2SL KH6/K1YR PJ2/GI0RTN VP5/K7WA PZ5X HC2SL CT/OH1NOA HK0/W0OR KH6LC PP5/AI6V KH6/N6GQ J75W VP9/OH1VR XE2WWW C6AGY HC8N HI3A VP5W D4C ZF1A KH6MB H7/K9NW KH7Y VV7NT JA6SHL KL7AC (FREQUENT CONTRIBUTOR TO THIS REFLECTOR) Thanks for the Q Andre VX5A (ZONE 35) AH7C KH6LC 73, Bill AK5X KX1 # 1023 K1 # 2033 K2/100 # 4637 K3/100 # 69 ************************************** Check out AOL's list of 2007's hottest products. (http://money.aol.com/special/hot-products-2007?NCID=aoltop00030000000001) _______________________________________________ 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
