Bearing in mind the cost of a K3, it might be a good idea to buy a cheap modern second hand Icom / Kenwood / Yaesu first and see how you get on with them. Meanwhile saving up for a K3. Then if the cheap rig does not suit and you decide to get the K3 you will truly appreciate the improvement. Elecraft may have a K4 out by then, or another company may have developed an even better SDR, you never know.
If you want to go direct to the K3 with an amplifier, I would go for the K3 10 and not buy the ATU. Modern PA devices have more than enough gain* to be fully driven by 10W and the ATU needs to be after the linear so the one built into the K3 is redundant. The cost saving is significant. If you later decide you don't want a linear after all, the 100W/ATU upgrade is easy to install later. *[There are apparently some archaic FCC rules about limiting amplifier gain to 15 dB still in force from the CB craze that fortunately don't apply in my part of the world (Europe) but if it is an issue, it is one that would be very easily solved by an Extra class licensee.] Mike -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/To-K3-or-not-to-K3-tp7574560p7574655.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ 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
