I can only give my anecdotal response. I have built both the K2 and K3 and have supplemented and upgraded both.
For the most part the Elecraft equipment, particularly the K3, is well designed and pretested before leaving the factory. If you are comfortable with kit building you are probably going to have no problems, particularly with the K3. If a problem develops often the company can help you solve the problem through over the phone advice. If there is a defective module they will send you a replacement so you can do it yourself. I would suspect it is far more likely that equipment will be damaged by mistakes made by the kit builder than defects in manufacture. You can avoid all the risk by simply buying the prebuilt radio. That will be fully tested before leaving the factory. My build of the K2 was complicated because that is a more difficult process since you have to do extensive soldering and are building the individual circuit boards. I had a few minor errors that were corrected without having to return the unit to the factory and I got it running well. The K3 was a much easier project and it took me less than 11 hours to build and I had only one obvious mistake (forgot to plug in the PA power supply) that I quickly found and corrected. However, it was also my experience that the sub rx ( which I installed later) is the most difficult part of the K3 build. The Sub Rx board's tnc connectors are very delicate. The sub rx fit is also very tight and it is very hard to see the connectors to make sure they are properly seated. I did damage the SubRx board during installation and I did send it back to the factory to repair. Also, while the radio has a lot more protective circuitry than most, there are things that an operator can do to it that would result in damage. Elecraft is good at helping and the repair charges are very reasonable. -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Ed Lambert Sent: Friday, July 02, 2010 8:09 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Repair As a prospective K3 customer, I have been following this link with very great interest. I would be interested in knowing what percent of K3 deliveries require return to Elecraft for repair and of that cohort, what is the percentage of K3's that were fundamentally defective upon delivery as opposed to damaged by customer (mis)use. For me the weakness of the K3 is the (probably necessary) departure from the "kit model" of the rest of the Elecraft line where self repair is the order of the day. The repair of a K3, it seems to me, almost certainly requires a factory return, which, from this thread, is somewhat unappealing. I am interested further discussion on this thread in order to help me determine whether my very limited funds go toward a K3 purchase or the purchase of a second, but "fully tricked out", K2/100. Ed Lambert, KD3Y (K2 1999, KX1 1492) ______________________________________________________________ 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
