Hi All: I received my KX3 s/n 1690 about 10 days ago and have been putting it to work on many modes. It's got best receiver I've ever used, although the highest end xcvr I've owned previous to it was a TS850 with narrow filters - not quite high-end compared to the $5K radios on today's market. But I expected it to be good given Elecrafts work on the K3 - and I have been very pleased so far.
I can see two areas where a tweak might be beneficial. With weak signals or QRN, I spend a lot of time using a CW passband of 150 or 100 Hz. It would be nice if the PBW control switched from 50 Hz steps to 10 or 20 Hz increments below 150-200 Hz - these would allow a finer adjust on close-in interferers while minimizing the need to go to 50 Hz passband with its higher PB center attenuation. The other area is maybe unique to HF digital mode operators. Since I'm QRP with the KX3, I use Olivia because of it's advantage as a weak-signal mode. With the KX3, I find that during a 3-5 minute transmission, the PA starts its HI-TEMP foldback at anything above the 3.0W setting. For this mode, the modest heatsink on the KX3 is insufficient - the plate is not terribly well thermally coupled to the devices - nor does it have much thermal mass. I could make something ugly with a piece of 3/16 in copper stock that I have using a 4-40 tap for threads - but I wonder if Elecraft could offer a heatsink upgrade for data mode users. I haven't tried heat sink compound on the FETs, but I still thing the heatsink could benefit from more thermal mass. Backpackers may not want the extra few ounces - so an option approach might work best. I wonder how other data users deal with this - a muffin fan would help I imagine. In summary, I am 90% delighted with the KX3. I cant wait for the amplifier to be announced - I really need the boots in my deed-restricted neighborhood. Is there a general timeframe this is expected to be announced / orders taken? I'd rather not get the Tentec 418 because the integration to the KX3 won't be as good and there's no internal tuner. Did manage to get NH8S on two bands QRP though... Steve, NU7B KX3 #1690 K2 #6770 / KPA100 / KAT100 / KSB2 etc. ______________________________________________________________ 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
