[Elecraft] For the Beancounters

[William Evans]

To add to the statistics (They are still being kept, aren't they?):
         February 12:	Ordered K3
	February 13:	Added items which, in my excitement, had been left off  
of  the order
	February 14:	Received confirmation of order
	April 24:	Made changes to the order due to financial problems.
	June 24:	received Katiegram, made changes again to bring order back  
into line with the original order.
	July 2: received brown box as I was going back to work after lunch --  
decided not to go back to work ;)
		
1:35 pm - began inventory of parts. -- even counting the number of  
screws and washers -- was impressed with the accuracy of tedious  
counting which packers Patricia, Marina, Dina and Rachel must go  
through each day!
		2:30 pm - began assembly
		8:00 pm - quit for the night with following difficulties:

			1)  2.8 KHz filter came in box marked "Possibly bad"
			2)  KANT3 board missing L3 (Had been soldered in, but wires broke  
off before shipping)
			3)  cut - off wire stuck in pin 7 of J76, preventing insertion of  
K103A board. (used a needle to pry the wire out of the pin.)
			4)  when tightening center front cover screw, the front panel board  
was squeezed, making the LCD screen have a dark area (semi-circle  
about 1.5" by .5") in the center top of the display)

		Contacted Elecraft as each difficulty was discovered, and they were  
fast to respond each time. -- They receive an A++ grade for the  
replies and willingness to help.

	July 3: Soldered temporary wire in place of L3 so I could test the  
radio.  Inserted "possibly bad" filter anyway.  Veerrry carefully used  
box knife to shave off top and bottom of display board circuit board  
which had extensions of where it had been broken off larger board in  
production, thus reducing the size of the board by probably 0.1 - 0.2  
mm, and preventing it from being squeezed when top screw was  
tightened. (A repair not sanctioned by Elecraft, but one that was  
approved by this builder)

Result:  Radio seems to be working beautifully!  (At least in receive  
mode. I have aligned and calibrated the power out into a dummy load,  
but will not transmit on the air without the replacement boards and  
crystal filter) I will wait to insert KPA3 power amplifier until after  
receiving replacement board for KANT3-- In fact, I will order the KAT3  
to put in its place.  Am I disappointed in the problems?  Not really.   
There was a large fire going on across the road from the plant when  
this radio was packed, they were getting ready for the July 4th break,  
and the L3 problem has been noted before, as has the filter problem  
and the cutting of the PCBs. If these are the only problems in a  
project as complex as the K3, then they are still averaging a score of  
98-99 out of 100, in my book.

Thanks, Elecraft for a job well done!

K3/100 Ser # 01171
KBPF3
KFL3A-400
KFL3B-FM
KFL3A-2.8K
KTCX03-1
KXV3

KRX3 - backordered
KFL3A-2.8K - backordered
KFL3A-6K - backordered
KAT3 - on order

"There are 10 types of people in the world -- those who understand  
binary and those who don't."

William Evans
w4ish at w4ish.net