Interesting comments. I've had my K3 for less than a month, and I'm not sure I'll ever learn all there is to know about it, especially in light of it being software defined and in a constant state of flux. That's an item of considerable appeal for me. I don't have to wait for a new model to have quirks in the current one fixed, or whole new features added!
I wonder if the load/save configuration function of the utility would answer your thought about having an op preference? 73, Mike NF4L Gary and Kathleen Pearse wrote: > I was offered a chair at the recent KL7RA M/M CQWW effort, so I drove > 550 miles > as quickly as possible to get set up with my K3. The other four rigs > were all > IC-781's. I had opped locally with them during the last Solar Cycle. > Since then, > Rich relocated and built a new station on the Kenai Peninsula to the > south. > There's much better propagation from KL7 from that location, and his > scores will > improve. > > We put my K3 on the 80M spot feeding an Alpha 87 into a 4-square > dipole array, > and ran it the full 48 hrs when propagation allowed without > malfunction. Most > of the ops (7) had no major problems interfacing with the rig. Some were > skeptical at first but learned the important controls, and a minority > just > passed it off as a one-owner radio not suitable for M/M Contesting > due to it's > initial complexity. > > The NB, and occasionally the NR, were required on a westerly heading > due noise > re-radiation from the nearby 160M vertical. They both worked very > well. I > adjusted the AGC slope and threshold, and we all set the filter > offset and width > to our own needs to provide best audio. Both of my 2.7 and 2.1 > filters were used > as required. We never used the second receiver with duplicate > filters. The > recently installed optional voice keyer worked perfectly, as did the > VOX, > providing the adjacent station noise was compensated for by setting > the VOX > floor in the CONFIG menu. The Manual was available for everyone to > refer to, as > was I. > > The biggest complaints and temporary problems arose from the Tap vs. > Hold > functions (how much is each, etc.), and inadvertently touching the wrong > button(s). Nobody really got too lost, but there were some anxious > moments as > they figured out what had happened. Most were used to bigger simpler > radios, so > the somewhat cramped controls gave some the fits. I wished to try it > on the more > crowed bands and in the huge pileups (especially JA's on 15), but > that was not > to be. > > What might be helpful for new ops would be a way to selectively > enable certain > functions, and lock/disable the unneeded. Also, an "OP preference" > control list > would be nice so one could quickly return to their favorite settings > after > following others in the chair. > > Rumor has it (second hand) that some Contesters are now shying away > from the K3 > due to it's complexity, but not necessarily it's performance. As a > relatively > experienced owner I had no problem running what I consider to be > excellent > radio. I've owned or operated most of the modern rigs sold in the > last 15 years, > and find the K3 (and my IC-765) to be the best of the group. > > 73, Gary NL7Y > > > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > > ______________________________________________________________ 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
