[Elecraft] K3 Build & Audio

[D.W. Fearn]

K3/100 s/n 920 is built and on the air (although I have frustratingly 
little time to get on the air these days). The kit assembly went very 
smoothly; the only problem was a shortage of two of the 2-56 screws 
that hold on the LCD cover. It's probably my fault, but Elecraft sent 
replacements at no charge and I had them in a couple of days.

I sorted all the hardware into little drawers in an old plastic parts 
cabinet I had, but in retrospect, I would not have bothered with that 
level of organization. I would suggest separating the various screws 
that differ by only 1/16" ahead of time, however, since this will 
save a lot of ruler time during assembly.

Everything fit perfectly for me, and even the front panel assembly 
went smoothly. I think all the discussion of the front-panel 
difficulty had primed me for struggling with it for a half hour, but 
it actually took less than five minutes. Patience is required. It 
sounds like a 30-second step in the assembly, but be mentally 
prepared for a longer period of manipulation.

I estimate that my total assembly time was about 8-10 hours, with 
lots of interruptions.

I was pleased that not only did it power up perfectly at each step, 
but even the firmware update was as smooth as any computer-centered 
process I have ever encountered. I decided to try Ham Radio Deluxe 
with my new K3 and it couldn't have been more than 10 minutes between 
walking into the shack and having HRD up and running perfectly 
(including the download and installation process). Wonderful program, Simon.

I also added a cover by Rose Kopp, which is a terrific accessory. As 
soon as I took the new cover out of the bag, my wife grabbed it and 
turned it inside-out to examine the stitching. She pronounced it 
first-class, and I agree. Rose is wonderful to work with, too.

As someone who has worked in professional audio for 40 years, I am 
very sensitive to the audio quality of various radios. My old Collins 
75A4 still sounds better than anything (except for the 60Hz hum), but 
the K3 audio is about the best of any current radio I have heard. I 
also have an Orion I, which I still like and plan to keep, but the K3 
audio is much better. There are subtle distortions in most 
transceiver audio output stages that may measure pretty well, but are 
fatiguing during long periods of listening. I haven't used the K3 in 
a contest yet (and I'm a casual contester), but I predict that it 
will be a joy to listen to under those conditions.

And the radio is so small and portable that I ran a length of coax 
from the shack to my office so I can bring the radio there for 
informal operating.

Doug K3KW