[Elecraft] K3 Serial Number 414 Completed

[Dave Agsten]

After assembling my K3 over the last three days I'm
very impressed with the manual, the fit of the boards
and the construction and fit of the chassis. At this
point, I have not put the radio on the air. ( I'm
waiting until the XYL hits the hay tonight so I can
stay up as late as I want to. - She has to work
tomorrow, but I'm off :-) ) 

I do have a couple of comments about the assembly and
calibration of the K3.

First of all - the standoffs on the RF board:
    Wouldn't it be better to mount all of the
standoffs on the RF board right at the start? If I'm
missing something here, please fill me in. I found
that installing some of the standoffs after installing
things like the PA shield was a bit difficult and
would have been easier to do right up front. Just a
thought......

The Chassis Stiffener gets installed and then removed
if your installing the KPA3. It seems like you could
make the decision to install it or not based on if you
have the KPA3 option rather than remove it if you're
going to install the KPA3. I guess you would have to
make a note on the speaker grill cloth positioning but
I would rather do that than take out the top cover
screws an additional time. I don't like taking a
chance at removing paint from either the screw or
screw hole by installing/uninstalling things anymore
than you have to.

One great tip in the manual deals with attaching the
front panel assembly to the RF board. Make a note of
the screw in the 2D fastener that can block
installation when the DSP board hits it. PAGE 37. I'd
suggest removing it before attempting to mate the
front panel with the FOUR connectors. Also, when you
think you have it properly installed, check it at
least three times to make sure all pins are properly
inserted. I had one set of pins that missed their
connector even though it appeared that all was well at
first. Use a bright LED flashlight to check all the
connections out several times. I even had my wife take
a look just to get the use of a second set of eyes.
There's even a step in the manual to remind you to
re-install the screw removed fron the 2D fastener.
Iwas not hard to do that at all and made the front
panel much easier to install.


On Calibration of the Reference Oscillator - I found
that I had to readjust the audio level of WWV and the
Monitor level several times before I think I got it
right. Also, it would seem to me that if the
calibration is done correctly, you should be able to
hear the undistorted audio annoucement from WWV at the
top of each minute. It should be nice and clear.
Someone correct me if I'm off base here.....


I'm waiting to put her on the air tonight. 

73,
Dave
N8AG


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