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This appeared on the KX3 YahooGroup reflector today:

All-

Attached is a photo of KX3 #6. It’s an outdoor shot with the backlight off. This unit is in Field Test here, which is its own type of milestone for all those waiting patiently. I’ll be writing objective appraisals of this FT unit. That will be my intent, anyway (objectivity). This email is a first cut. Read on.

My personal opinion is that this is the coolest amateur transceiver ever designed, built, or dreamed of. Perfect size, perfect weight, VERY respectable performance. You can *really* take the KX3 with you, and you’ll really want to. Mine’s going everywhere with me, including the workplace! I know my engineering staff will demand to see how Wayne and crew fit it all in, and how well the KX3 works.

After one day using this unit, I’ve reached the conclusion that the KX3 is basically ready for initial production. As is usual for a ‘young’ rig from Elecraft, firmware is still a work in progress. This should be no surprise to anyone on this list. The hardware is at near-100% shape, IMHO. There are a few minor issues – mostly features not yet implemented. And I mean minor. If I weren’t an engineering manager in the consumer products industry I would not have noticed any of them. The electronics seems solid, and I’ve done a bit of lab testing for MDS and selectivity. Most of my testing has been on the air though. My lab testing shows MDS better than -136 dBm, but my signal generator can’t extend any lower. No problems with rejecting out of band signals (away from the roofing filter’s coverage).

On the air: I’ve had about fifteen CW QSOs, using between 1 and 12 Watts output power. The antenna is a homebrew multi-band vertical, ground mounted. Four of these Qs were on battery power. No differences were found between operating on external and internal power, except for the output power limitations due to batteries. One Q was with an extremely weak QRP station in New Mexico. The APF helped with this, to the point that I could not have pulled him out without the feature. With APF engaged, his signal was 539 with rapid fades to 319. He was running 0.5W and I was running 3 W. Great ragchew, with very few repeats.

Except for Navy-Marine Corps MARS, I’m mostly a CW op. Several SSB contacts went successfully after a false start: I had to finagle the MH3’s input connection a bit (a virgin socket seating issue). I set the MIC and CMP values by listening on a second receiver and built in MONitor, giving MIC=18 and CMP=10 as the best combination. Audio reports using the MH3 and this setting were excellent – “clear as a bell” and “good presence”. Output using the internal speaker is adequate, though not amazingly loud. Some of that is probably my 55 year old ears and too many rock concerts when I was younger. The frequency response seems relatively flat and lows are surprisingly well-represented. Distortion is low (< 2% THD the way I hear it).

The FOC and NA contests run this weekend were an interesting environment for first-time ops on the KX3. Lots of strong signals, many in excess of S9+25. A majority of the QSOs mentioned above were near strong signals and with the roofing filter in place I had pretty good luck ignoring the big guns while working weak signals. I have to admit this is completely subjective, however years of experience with the K3 also tells me that the KX3 has similar characteristics in this regard. The best example from on-air testing was the NM CW station I mentioned above. His signal was marginal, meaning the APF was essential for pulling him out of the band noise. At the same time, 3 to 4 KHz up was one of those big guns thumping away. I could even hear key clicks from the contester, but only a tiny amount of blocking from his signal on the KX3. That’s what I mean by “similar to the K3”. It’s not identical though. I found instances where a little bit of a strong station’s signal was near- or in-band, and as you would expect some pretty severe blocking occurred. I’d recommend everyone make sure they have the roofing filter on the “essentials” list for purchase. In many ways the roofer makes the KX3 what it was meant to be.

One thing that’s notable and exceptional: I haven’t seen any of the typical issues of a “zero IF” architecture. No image problems, no ripple in the passband (in either SSB or CW), no audio artifacts. The advantage to a zero IF architecture is that there’s no “donut hole” around the IF frequency; there are others too – one single conversion takes less space than multiple conversions, less power consumed, less heat generated.

As a Navy-Marine Corps MARS operator, I’m looking forward to using the KX3 in our ECOM exercises. Its size and power consumption are perfect for such types of portable operation. It’s the item that will take the least amount of space in your Go Kit.

Sorry so much of this is non-quantitative. I’ll try to get more out after another day or two.

Standard disclaimer: I am not employed by nor do I have a fiduciary interest in Elecraft.

73,

Matt Zilmer, W6NIA / NNN0UET / NNN0GAF THREE
NMCM RMS Winmor: NNU9ET-5: Upland, CA.

W2LJ is …..trying…….to……..remain calm ……….not get………too………..excited ……….

Not working – not working – not working !!!!

72 de Larry W2LJ
QRP – When you care to send the very least!

I don’t see things getting much better for the next 4 months when the chemotherapy will be over as although I do detect an improvement in how I feel as I get towards the end of a cycle I am quickly back to square one after starting the next one. There is not enough change in how I feel from day to day to warrant more frequent postings to One Foot in the Grave. My days seem to merge together so that most of the time I couldn’t even tell you what day of the week it is!

Despite what I have just written I will not actually be one of the people feverishly refreshing the Elecraft order page in order to secure a place near the top of the list for KX3 orders. Though I don’t doubt that the KX3 is a seriously cool piece of radio equipment that will be a big success for Elecraft, I have come to the decision that my FT-817ND meets all my current needs of a portable ham radio. I also can still remember my frustration at the length of time I had to wait to receive my K3 (and the even longer wait until the firmware actually worked and it all performed as expected.) I don’t wish to cause myself the stress of wondering whether I will live long enough to receive my KX3!

That’s not to say I don’t see an Elecraft KX3 in my life (and my shack) at any point. I can envisage a situation where a new toy to play with could make life seem a lot more cheerful. One day it will be possible to order a KX3 and get instant gratification. But until then I’ll content myself with reading the experiences of the early adopters and watching their YouTube videos.

I always look forward to receiving my QST and CQ magazines each month, and I dutifully run to the CQ web site every month when the latest PDF of Worldradio News is made available for download. I really do enjoy reading about our hobby and appreciate the authors who contribute to these publications (for very little money in return). Shoot, I even study the ads, including those that have not changed in decades. (Why do some vendors insist on showing the faces of every radio by every manufacturer, as if we make our purchasing decisions based on those tiny thumbnails? And will MFJ ever change the full-page Hy-Gain rotator ad?)

However, as I opened the current edition of CQ, I could not help but notice that the lead article is about all the new gear unveiled at Dayton this year. Dayton. As in May! And it’s August. We once took such delay in a story’s content as the norm. It is, after all, the nature of the magazine publishing biz that there must be considerable lead time.

But as I read the short writeup on the Elecraft KX3, I recalled that there was a YouTube video posted way back on May 20 featuring Wayne Burdick K6XR giving a very enlightening ten-minute demo of this interesting bit of kit. In color. With sound. Old news in CQ? I’m afraid so.

ARRL recently did a major update on their web site, but it is still clunky and hard to navigate. It does offer some video (welcome to the 21st century) and plenty of archived articles and reviews, all of which is much more current, colorful, and searchable than the magazine could ever be. CQ is also trying, buying World Radio News and offering it as a free download.

But I have to worry that the day will come when it is no longer economically feasible to mail me a magazine every month. I still prefer taking that paper-and-stapled pub out on the deck to read, or to Subway at lunch to peruse while I enjoy my Black Forest ham sandwich.

Won’t happen, you say? The traditional magazine will never go away. Okay, can I see your latest copy of Look or Life? Mind if I borrow your Saturday Evening Post?

I rest my case. Truth is, media consumers want their content in a wide variety of ways, and will choose such media on three primary criteria: 1) How easy it is to consume in all those myriad ways, 2) How compelling the content is, and 3) How cheap it is to access.

I’m afraid that does not bode well for QAT and CQ.

73,

Don Keith N4KC
www.donkeith.com
www.n4kc.com
http://n4kc.blogspot.com