I'm finally learning CW using my KX3 with the KXPD3. I adjusted the paddles a number of times but it seemed like the left paddle would periodically miss a dit. Sometimes I could hit the left paddle several times with no response. I found a post from KE7X which said that he changed the orientation of the pivot pins (http://www.ke7x.com/home/miscellaneous-k3-information/kxpd3-paddle-intermittant). When I opened my KXPD3, the left paddle had the necked down end of the pivot pin facing down and right paddle had the necked down end of the pivot pin facing up. Following KE7X's suggestion, I reversed the direction of the left pivot pin (so that the neck down end is facing up). Since I had the unit apart, I also changed to the firm spring. The changes made have significantly improved (if not totally fixed) the problem. Figure 5 on page 4 of the KXPD3 manual shows the non-necked-down end of the pivot pin facing up. Is there a correct orientation of for pivot pins or should it not matter which way they are inserted?
I've also seen posts about adding a grounding jumper wire to the side screws (http://wv0h.blogspot.com/2013/09/kxpd3-mod.html). Is this necessary? Is there a setting that will keep the decoded text on the VFO B display? When I finish keying, I like to look to see if I made any mistakes. The VFO B display often switches back to the VFO B frequency before I have a chance to finish reading the text. I'm practicing sending in a location outside my shack so I don't have an antenna connected. I have the output power set to 0 watts. Sometimes when I try to turn off the KX3 I don't hit the "Band -" and "ATU TUNE" button at exactly the same time and it tries to tune with no antenna. Will this hurt the KX3 since it changes the output power to 3 watts when it is tuning and appears to exercise all the relays inside? If so, is there a setting to use a power on/off button combo that doesn't use the "ATU TUNE" button? The fact that I sometimes have trouble pressing the on/off button sequence within the allotted time window is probably indicative of a lack of coordination on my part. This could be related to the intermittent dit as well. Thanks, phil K4PMI -- View this message in context: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KXPD3-and-KX3-questions-related-to-learning-CW-tp7596989.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:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html Message delivered to [email protected]
