Hello everybody,
I used the KX3 with FW 1.47/DSP 1.19 during WPX CW quite a lot. About
500 Qs on the KX3, 400Qs using the K2.
The KX3 features which outperform the K2 (and many other radios likewise
:-) are IMHO
- no noise clicks when changing filter bandwidth is a great plus to
avoid missing a single dot of the call/report
- dual rx helps if you got stuck on one station (S&P): turn on dual
receive, press A->B, and tune to the next one while listening to the
current station, if finished press A/B and your next station is served
- the stereo sound is less exhausting to listen to (at least to my ears)
- the wheel tuning rate is just perfect. The K2 is a little bit odd in
this case (I have found to setting which I feel really comfortable with)
On the down side of the KX3, there is still the nasty "ATU off" problem.
I mentioned this before and I thought it could be my antenna. But it
isnt - the K2 was completely happy with the SWR at all times during the
contest. The effect seems to be connected to timing, if it happens the
ATU always turns off at the end of the transmission. It then turns on
again, but apparently with a slightly different setting because you have
to press ATU TUNE again to get the same receive noise level.
Occasionally, it also reduced power to 3 Watts automatically after ATU
off. You have to recover to power level to 5W manually.
The K2 ATU is never complaining - it just works. Maybe the KX3's
protection mechanisms are a bit too "sharp"?
Another observation are audible artifacts while tuning over the band
when using narrow filters (FL2, 3). They are a bit distracting. You
think there is a station, but there is none. You have to tune further to
find the real signal. Note this happens only on very strong stations in
combination with filters narrower than ~700 Hz.
My bottom line: KX3 is great even for big contests. The K2 is still the
more reliable transmitter at the moment.
But I'm happy that I bought one and hope it evolves further.
Thanks Elecraft and 73
Gernot, DF5RF
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