Buck And All,
I didn't have quite the reaction Buck did when I first saw the K3 at Dayton.
However, I can certainly appreciate his reservations, and I also thought
about the Orion II that I had back at home on my bench. My thoughts,
however, were more about how great this rig was going to be for traveling,
Field Day, etc. And the knobs didn't seem nearly as small or crowded as
many are on a Mark V I also have. If I questioned anything, it was how
could they get all those promised features in that little package!
The K3 is a great size and weight in my view. And I love it's portability.
But I have found a downside! This summer, when we were at the Oregon coast,
I had my K3 set up on afternoon, outside our motorhome, on a picnic table.
I love to operate out-of-doors, and even at home about 80% of my operating
with the K3 is from my back patio. I had an inverted vee set up, fed with
300 ohm line. The feedline was probably a bit shorter than it should
be--only a few feet extra. Anyone familiar with the Oregon coast knows the
wind can blow pretty darn hard, with really strong gusts. In fact, it
seemed last summer that just about all we had were windy days--a lot
different than the year before. Anyway, I suddenly realized that the wind
was whipping my antenna around a bunch, and the feedline was moving with it
of course. My outboard balanced line tuner was off the table before I knew
it, and so would have been the K3 if I hadn't grabbed it! Lesson learned!
Pretty dumb on my part though, and I should have thought about it ahead of
time. The K3 is so light it gives almost no resistance to tugs and pulls,
so make sure you have things well stabilized ahead of the rig and tuner.
Besides, you don't want even small movements to stress your connectors. For
any outside activity, this needs to be on your checklist in big red letters!
Dave W7AQK
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, November 26, 2008 10:32 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] QST Review: Minor Quibble
When I first saw the K3 at Dayton I made fun of the small second VFO
knob.
In fact, I was obnoxious about it. Wayne and Eric were good natured (as
always) but I could tell they were a bit defensive. I was also worried
about the
multi-function knobs and how small the face looked. I was used to the
Orion. You could fit a K3 in the empty space inside an Orion. I would
expect
most hams - used to big rigs - would have the same worries.
Man, was I wrong. I have had K3 #101 for one-year now and absolutely
love
it. Once I got used to how it was laid out, everything fit together and
I
found nothing to complain about. The K3 is the perfect size - all it
needs to
be and not a bit more or less.
Have a Happy Thanksgiving!
Buck
k4ia
Fredericksburg, VA
**************Life should be easier. So should your homepage. Try the NEW
AOL.com.
(http://www.aol.com/?optin=new-dp&icid=aolcom40vanity&ncid=emlcntaolcom00000002)
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [email protected]
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
_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [email protected]
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
