I’m selling my Elecraft K3 for either $2,100 or $2,300, depending on whether I
sell it as-is or send it in to Elecraft first for repair of speaker audio, plus
all relevant hardware updates since June 2010.
Description:
K3/100-F (100 W Transceiver)
KAT3 (Internal ATU with 2nd Ant. Jack)
I’m selling my Elecraft K3 for either $2,450 or $2,700, depending on whether I
sell it as-is or send it in to Elecraft first for replacement of the speaker
amplifier chip, plus all relevant hardware updates since June 2010. (Better
deal: Buy it as-is and send it in to Elecraft yourself. Their
I’m not thinking of getting out of ham radio imminently, but I’d like to get
some estimated idea of what K3s in good shape tend to be selling for. Mine:
early (desirable SN 888), all mods factory installed in 2010 – maybe not
completely up to present time, but getting there. We will look up
When I enable QRQ mode, the SHIFT control is locked at the center of the
passband (*0.60).
o If I disable QRQ through the Config menu, functionality of the SHIFT
control is restored.
o If I disable QRQ mode by turning on an incompatible VFO mode -- RIT, for
example -- functionality of
Your explanation of the issues surrounding QSK in the K3 is well worth the
read, Guy, and I thank you for it. I’ll stop quibbling about milliseconds on
the T-R change-over. :-)
I am not a QRQ operator, far from it; I top out at around 30-35 WPM for
rag-chew copy in my head. But in regular QSK
... Which (QRQ mode) unfortunately isn't available, in practical terms, in
the absence of the KRX3 second receiver, since working split or XIT is
impossible. What a wonderful experience using this mode is, though! If only
I could use it for chasing DX running offset pile-ups. Really justifies
NEW RULES THIS YEAR! Sponsored by the Super 7s Meteor Scatter Club.
Direct link to the Rules:
http://www.ykc.com/wa5ufh/Contests/2010%20Rules.htm
This 5-day long contest is timed to coincide with the Geminids meteor shower.
It has been a lot of fun in the past, and this year promises to be no
OOOPS, sorry, didn't mean to include this list in the distribution. Mea
culpa...
Bill W5WVO
-Original Message-
From: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO
Sent: Wednesday, December 08, 2010 13:04
To: [50mhz] ; [Elecraft] ; [FFMA] ; [PNWVHFS] ; [VHF] ; [VHF-CONTESTING] ;
[WSJTGROUP]
Subject: [Elecraft
PDF is not intended to be an editable format. It is intended to be a
distribution format. While extremely minor tweaks can be made in a PDF as a
last-minute fix, there is no secret unlock key that turns Acrobat into a
word processor. It just isn't that kind of animal, was never intended to be,
Don et al.,
As a pro technical writer, I should like to address myself to your point.
I am not and have never been an Elecraft employee, and I have not worked on
the Elecraft documentation. Had I been privileged to be asked to do so,
however, I would have lobbied hard for taking a slightly
Just one caveat on this procedure (thanks Guy!) -- make sure you have CWT
turned OFF; otherwise, SPOT will not do what you want it to. (It will
attempt to retune the VFO.)
Bill W5WVO
-Original Message-
From: Guy Olinger K2AV
Sent: Friday, December 03, 2010 13:38
To:
Granted this thread is moribund at this point, but... With Bill's nice
summary of existing products, it got me to thinking about this again after
comparing the MFJ and Timewave products a few years back. I believe the DXE
product is new since my last survey of the field.
I'm primarily a
Looks like about 85% of the advice I've received is in favor of adding the
KRX3 first, and I agree with that. But I'm surprised nobody has mentioned
this benefit as well:
The other good reason (IMO) for adding the KRX3 first -- and setting it up
as VFO B to listen to the DX station, while
ZL8X is running seven (7) stations concurrently. See their website:
http://www.kermadec.de/organisation/equipment/index.php
They may be running K3s, but they make no mention on their website of what
brand of equipment they are using, and Elecraft is not one of their sponsors
(nor are any of
Very good summary of the technical facts, Bill.
It's IMPULSE noise, everybody, not white noise or pink noise or any other
kind of noise. Impulse noise is characterized by a very rapid transient
rise-time producing a large nearly instantaneous spike in amplitude. It's
literally the electrical
Just as an FTP suggestion -- If you are using Mozilla Firefox as a browser
(which IMO everyone should be), there is an FTP client plug-in called
FireFTP. It is a seriously awesome FTP app, it's FREE, and it works on MacOS
and Linux as well as on Windows of all flavors. You get a drag-and-drop
LOL Wayne, the day when programmers ARE NOT human is the day we had all
better start running for the hills!
Bill W5WVO
-Original Message-
From: Wayne Burdick
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 2010 16:53
To: Barry
Cc: elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] How do unrelated
Joe wrote:
I did not make similar measurements with the original alpha
test version but this version seems subjectively less tight
than the original ... there is certainly less ringing with
this one but signals did not seem to pop like they did on
the earlier version when I tried it last
Just as a heads-up for anyone interested in this subject -- in the December
QST just now arriving in subscribers' hands, there is a cool article on X-O
circular polarization (CP) antennas. The author (Eric Nichols, KL7AJ)
discusses the fact that all F-layer ionospheric propagation is actually
From Wayne:
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 rev 4.18 requires changes -- do not download
[11/6/2010 22:26Z]
Anyway, I've retreated to 17m CW to escape the SS hordes, and it is wide
open to east Asia... APF working great in 4.18 as long as you don't shift
above 1.00 kHz (why would you ever want to?) This
This method does diminish the ringing -- offsetting the APF peak using SHIFT
and the receive frequency using RIT. 20 Hz seems to be about right, too. The
bad ringing only occurs when the peak frequency and the center of the
passband coincide exactly. I had a lot of fun this morning, right after
This failure modality, I believe, applies equally to all sorts of RF
connectors, which includes relay contacts as well as cable-end connectors.
I've experienced similar failures twice over the past seven years.
In the most recent case -- and the symptoms were exactly as described in
this
So yes, there are a BUNCH of variables that determine whether the DX station
is going to hear your signal.
My approach -- though this has been confined to 6 meters up until recently,
when I got back on HF CW and digital modes with a VERY small footprint --
has always been to do whatever I can
That is exactly what I was going to write, Phil. DON'T use ALC to set drive
level. And make sure you follow the directions in the K3 manual EXACTLY when
setting up a new mic. Meter the ALC voltage on the K3 and set the mic gain
to produce 4-5 bars of INTERNAL ALC, no more. Then add compression
Sorry about that goof. Yes, I use data modes a lot more than I use SSB this
time of year (no 6m Es LOL) Hopefully I didn't confuse the dude too much.
Bill W5WVO
-Original Message-
From: Don Wilhelm
Sent: Saturday, October 30, 2010 13:22
To: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO
Cc: j
Given the fact that the filter passband shapes aren't absolutely flat, as
Bill W4ZV pointed out, you can't expect PERFECT balance between the
sidebands. But you CAN tweak a lot of this audible difference out by
adjusting the filter offset using the K3 Utility, as has been stated
earlier. Even
I love watching these K3 for sale threads, to see how fast they go. This
one, about 3.75 hours, which I don't think is a record, but pretty good. LOL
Bill W5WVO
-Original Message-
From: Jim Wilson
Sent: Sunday, October 24, 2010 04:11
To: Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re:
Yes, this is the reason for using VOX to turn digital mode transmit on and
off. Makes life in the real world of multiple simultaneous software
applications much easier. I routinely run two instances of WSJT along with
JT65-HF at the the same time. (I could try to run them all through
: [Elecraft] [K3] Speaker output amp kaput
Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO wrote:
I have (and have always had) mine set to 20 also. Didn't help, in this
instance.
I often turn the AGC off when running JT65A on 20m using the JT65-HF
software, so that a strong signal somewhere in the 2 kHz passband
I recently fried (I believe) the speaker amplifier in my K3, apparently by
just turning off the radio and turning it back on too quickly. Perhaps the
fact that the AGC was disabled at the time might have had something to do
with this, though that is just a guess. I accidentally turned off the
.
Bill W5WVO
--
From: JAMES ROGERS w4...@bellsouth.net
Sent: Wednesday, October 06, 2010 22:01
To: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO w5...@cybermesa.net
Cc: [Elecraft] elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] Speaker output amp kaput
Bill,
Look
Dan,
It doesn't look like anybody else has responded to your last query on this
thread, so I will.
The reason MIC+LIN says N/A is because you are have selected LINE IN as your
MIC SEL input for DATA mode. The mic input is therefore not used, and
combining the two inputs is not applicable.
Really good question. I installed a second sound card of the same type in my
computer recently, and expected to have this problem -- but for some reason,
it came up with a slight variation on the name, so I could distinguish them.
Nevertheless, I'd be very interested in any knowledgeable
HP 2709m (27 LCD), which sits literally on top of my K3, is 100% quiet.
This monitor is absolutely without broadband noise emission at any frequency
I have used, HF-VHF. I haven't gone so far as to scan it with a SA, because
I don't have one, but nothing I can detect actually using it while on
First, I assume you meant K3, not K2 --
I assume what you are doing is just going into the CONFIG menu, finding the
KBPF3 item, and turning the knob between NOR and NOT INST, and seeing no
difference. This is normal behavior, because you are not actually changing
anything.
You have to POWER
Thanks, Lyle. This thread can end. Thanks for the tip on the audio limiter.
Bill W5WVO
--
From: Lyle Johnson k...@wavecable.com
Sent: Saturday, August 28, 2010 23:07
To: Elecraft Reflector elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Did I blow
I heard him work you! I never got through the pileup with my pathetic little
sloper... But it would have been nice to have the P3 capability, maybe I
could have found a better spot to call.
Makes me want one -- but I really have to get a KRX3, too, so I can use the
new fast QSK in split mode.
I would really like to second and reinforce Fred's recommendation of 30
meters CW. This is an absolutely incredible band; propagation-wise, I think
it's the best DX band we have. Last night, using a low wire sloper antenna,
I copied 3B8CF (Mauritius Island, Indian Ocean, ~12,000 miles) for the
I cannot imagine that any LID would own a smart, excellent radio like the
K2... Will probably be very hard to find such an individual. Good luck.
:-)
Bill W5WVO
--
From: Niel Skousen nskou...@talisman-intl.com
Sent: Monday, July 26, 2010 17:43
You know, I've been a ham long enough (since 1962) to remember people
complaining about this same sad trend nearly fifty years ago. Nobody wants
to talk anymore, it's just report, QTH, name, CUL! Same lament, different
era.
You remember the Rag Chewer's Club? It was established by the ARRL to
Hi Lee,
Operating WSJT with the K3 is very simple. You do not need your SignaLink
USB device, though if you insist on using it, you can certainly do so --
it's just that I do not know anything about it. You'll need to find advice
on using it elsewhere.
Using the sound card in your computer,
Time accuracy is important to me as a personal matter. All the timepieces I
depend on are calibration-linked -- my watch (WWVB), my computers (NTP), my
cellphones, GPS, etc I also have a bunch of free-running clocks around
the house, of course, but my watch is always accurate to within a
From: K5RC t...@k5rc.cc
I also added the GaAsFet 6M preamp to the station and it makes a HUGE
difference on Six.
It needs to be pointed out from time to time that whether the PR6 makes no
discernible difference or a HUGE difference depends on one critically
important variable: YOUR NOISE
After working 6 meters in the ARRL VHF QSO Party this weekend, a friend of mine
in Louisiana emailed me a receive audio capture, just a couple of minutes, of
me running a pileup (something I was able to do for hours at a time, due to
fantastic sporadic-E conditions). I guess there's no good
So that begs the question, I suppose -- is CW sent by a keyer with paddle
machine-sent or hand-sent? It's actually both, of course. Some of the
metrics are controlled by logic (hardware and/or software), but
inter-character and inter-word spacing are controlled by the human operator.
In my
Pete,
If you are using HyperTerminal (or most other terminal emulation programs),
you can turn local echo on or off. When doing the kind of testing you're
doing, I turn it OFF to avoid confusion.
(1) In the New Connection - HyperTerminal screen, select File Properties.
(2) In the New
I use the internal K3 keyer with a Kent iambic paddle -- but I work a LOT of
guys (mostly in the US) who are clearly using bugs -- often poorly adjusted
bugs IMHO. I used a bug for years back in the day. Getting the dits just
right takes a little patience and a good ear, and not everybody has
Good choice. My first (and probably last) experience with BuryFlex is that
it should have been named SortaFlex. It's pretty stiff compared to Belden
9913F7, which is a dream to work with in comparison. (IMHO, of course. I
know some people don't like it.) At HF and 6m, though, ten feet of 8X
Hi Rudolph,
I am someone who also works 20m JT65A on 14076 and 6 meters, mostly FSK441
meteor scatter and of course SSB/CW sporadic-E when it's happening -- and if
I had a KRX3 second receiver, that's exactly how I would use mine. As far as
I know, that configuration is quite possible. I do
This looks extremely cool. However, it doesn't appear that Mouser or
Digi-Key in the US are carrying it yet, so getting one-off quantities might
be problematic until the retail distribution chain catches up.
Obviously a possibility here for Elecraft to offer the KIO3 in either
version (RS-232
Ken, thanks for the nice K3-to-K3 rag-chew QSO on 6m the other night. Big
signal from you down here in the desert.
One thing that's interesting is how the definition of QRP has changed over
the years. I used to be a card-carrying member of the QRP ARCI -- WB2JOK,
#1879. You can look it up. :-)
Interesting, Geoff. Could it be that, since my 6m antenna array is resonant
and shows 1:1 SWR both on the K3 and on an external power meter, and both
BEFORE and AFTER I recently installed the KAT3 tuner, maybe the KAT3 doesn't
actually see any difference in matching requirements between AUTO
FWIW, my K3 does not audibly activate any relays when switching between AUTO
and BYPASS modes on 6 meters -- but on every other band, it does, you can
hear it. And the ATU does engage and match on 6 meters when not bypassed.
Curious.
Bill W5WVO
LOL Well, he looks like a real nice guy, nice QRZ page. You didn't mention
his call/name, so I won't either (after the recent foofaraw about outing
somebody), but finding out who he is doesn't take a rocket scientist. :-)
Does he know you're hearing clicks from his beacon transmitter? He seems
Chuck,
The antenna I'm using is the Alpha-Delta DX-SWL sloper. It is 60 ft long and
has two strategically placed resonators (coils) which cause it to be
resonant in or near the SWBC bands down to 90 meters. Because our ham bands
tend to be right next door to SWBC bands (40/41 meters, 30/31
I originally ordered my K3 a couple years ago with the general-coverage
KBPF3 board, having the intention (When I Got a Round Tuit) to put up some
kind of SWBC band resonator-optimized wire antenna. Well, I finally got
around to it. And wow, what a SWBC DX receiver the K3 is! Here's a few
Derek,
This exact failure mode happened to my K3 #888. An interesting commonality
is the fact that I also run digital modes (WSJT modes on 6 meters, in my
case) quite a bit. On mine, the failure mode was intermittent, though about
95% on the fail side. (I.e., it would only occasionally work
K3 knob??? All I can see on the website is K3 BLACK/BRONZE COMING SOON!!
You mean they actually have them, but haven't gotten them on the website
yet? Do you know what they look like? Weight etc.?
Bill W5WVO
--
From: Phil LaMarche
I am saying over and over again to myself: I am NOT going to spend over
$100 on a KNOB for my radio! I am NOT going to spend over $100 on a KNOB for
my radio! I am NOT going to spend over $100 on a KNOB for my radio! ...
But I really, really want one.
No. I am NOT going to spend over $100 on a
Tom, wish I had had benefit of your invention a week ago, when I had to
replace my defective KPAIO3 board. Without benefit of instruction of any
sort, I just started in removing stuff that looked like it was in the way...
I ended up removing quite a bit of stuff! The board eventually did come
LOL
It just sounds like a carrier wave, Dale -- a tone that changes audio
frequency as you tune through it.
There are two definitions of birdie in ham radio lingo. The definition
being used here means a signal that is being generated INSIDE the receiver.
In other words, if you disconnect the
Just finished installing the antenna tuner kit (KAT3) in my K3 #888. The
hardware disassembly and re-assembly instructions are, as usual, crystal-clear,
and that went off without a hitch.
However, when it came to actually bringing the KAT3 up and getting it running,
the supplied instructions
I moved/added some roofing filters yesterday, adding both a 6 kHz AM filter and
the 400 Hz CW filter, moving my 2.7 kHz filter from the FL1 to the FL2
position, and my 1.8 kHz filter from the FL2 to the FL3 position. I thought I
understand everything I needed to do to fix all the configuration
D'OH!!
Right, they're mapped only by SLOT... And the K3 has no way of automatically
identifying which filter is which, other than what the user tells it. OK, I get
it. Thanks. (Duh. Embarrassed.)
Bill W5WVO
From: Greg
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2010 9:34 AM
To: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO
Subject
Hi Derek,
When using a computer and sound card to drive the K3 in any digital mode,
your data mode should be set to DATA A. Somebody will correct me if I'm
wrong, but I suspect that's your problem.
DATA A mode is basically equivalent to the USB/LSB position, except that
equalization and
Looks like I am off-base here. Please disregard my post, Derek.
Bill W5VWO
--
From: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO w5...@cybermesa.net
Sent: Sunday, April 18, 2010 12:27 PM
To: Derek Cohn/WB0TUA vibrop...@mindspring.com;
elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re
I certainly agree with everything that has been said in Don's favor and
defense, and it would be a tragic loss if he were to leave the reflector
permanently. Personally, I suspect he will probably reconsider and come back
at some point in the not-too-distant future, and I hope that he does.
I think David has hit upon the crux of the matter with the tag line in his
sig: There is no pillow so soft as a clear conscience. Will you be able to
tell the difference in actual single-receiver operation between the 2.7 kHz
5-pole and the 2.8 kHz 8-pole filters? Almost certainly not. But will
Go to the website (www.elecraft.com), click on eMail List (Reflector) in the
menu (left sidebar). Then select from among several options for searching
the archives.
Bil W5VWO
--
From: Bob Garceau rgarc...@snet.net
Sent: Sunday, April 11, 2010
This is an excellent thread, and one that I would like to see continued. I
use the K3 exclusively on 6 meters right now. I work both SSB and CW during
sporadic-E conditions and WSJT digital modes on meteor scatter at other
times when the band is dead. Eagerly anticipating some F2 on the band in
This is a strange one. My K3 has been on the bench for a couple months waiting
for me to get around to replacing the KPAIO3 board, which had developed the
habit of not allowing me to use the 100W PA. I finally got around to it last
night, and the PA problem seems to be fixed, for now anyway. It
Just thinking out loud here, having recently upgraded my 3-500Z amplifier with
fast vacuum T-R relays...
The default (and fastest) QSK transmit delay setting (TX DLY) is 8 ms. At 20
WPM, this shortens the length of a nominal 60 ms dit element to 52 ms long. To
regain this lost dit time when
I have to respectfully disagree with Lee's advice to get a 500 Hz filter
instead of a 1.8 kHz SSB filter. (Reason: Chuck said in his post that his
intention was to operate SSB in contests, and that over time he hopes to
get back into CW. There is no need for a 500 Hz filter if you aren't going
Didn't know about that rule change.
This is way OT, but... How would you do this and make it not easily
defeated? A filter, a trap... Those can be easily bypassed or removed. A
microcontroller that calculates the input frequency and only produces an
enabling signal when the input frequency is
At one time a couple of years ago, the next rework of DM780 was going to
include an integral implementation of the WSJT protocols -- at least the
major ones (FSK441, JT6M, JT65[x], maybe WSPR). It never happened. Simon got
turned on to SSTV implementation instead, and then to SDR stuff... He is
I received the same reports as Lance (distorted or gravelly transmit
audio) from local hams listening to my SSB signal when using the K3 noise
gate feature, as compared with having it turned off. I simply opted not to
use it any more, since I wasn't getting complaints about too much background
The low-gain setting will work with the Heil mic elements, but you will
have to run your mic gain control up to about max, unless you typically
scream into the microphone. As Tom says, either will work, but the HI
setting works better.
In addition, if you intend to use VOX, the LO setting will
/A65BI )
Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO w5...@cybermesa.net 12-01-2010 6:53
One thing the other posters have not mentioned (probably not being SSB
types) is a narrow filter for SSB. I have the 1.8 kHz 8-pole filter, and
it
is amazing. You do have to reduce the hi-cut a bit to center the voice
Yes, I have had this failure mode and at least one other guy as well, who
posted about on this list. After talking with tech support, Elecraft sent me
a new KPAIO3 board to try. Just havng returned from holiday vacation, I have
yet to swap it in, which I really need to get around to. Will let
PS -- My K3 is #888, so it's right in the same time frame as your #679.
Bill W5WVO
--
From: Bill VanAlstyne W5WVO w5...@cybermesa.net
Sent: Monday, January 11, 2010 7:36 PM
To: rfenab...@gmail.com; Elecraft Elecraft@mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re
One thing the other posters have not mentioned (probably not being SSB
types) is a narrow filter for SSB. I have the 1.8 kHz 8-pole filter, and it
is amazing. You do have to reduce the hi-cut a bit to center the voice in
the narrower passband (an FC of 1.05 is about ideal for most male voices).
The RFI is almost certainly common-mode and is being radiated by the AC
power cord -- and, by extension, the house AC wiring. Your typical
store-bought AC line filter is a differential-mode device and will do
nothing to abate common-mode currents. What you need is a common-mode choke
on the AC
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