[Elecraft] FD at N4ZI! Some issues

[Bill Maddock]

  I ran FD with my K3 and an old Dell C610 laptop this weekend - I had some
issues with it keying the cw port by itself when the laptop was off. I found that rebooting computer and radio worked the best. I also found that
it was much more manageable when the USB mouse was not installed. I was
using N1MM for logging. It seemed pretty stable even at 100 watts. I used
my Group 29 deep cycle batteries in parallel so power was solid and clean.
Most the issue was on 20 meters - I was in a Camper and the antenna
for 20 meters ran right overhead!. I never have these issues at home
with my Elecraft supplied USB com adapter. Now the COM adapter I used
was a standard DB9m to DB9f which I assume had no shielding. I assume the
Elecraft supplied one does, as I can see the external braid under the
plastic. The older computer did not like the USB adapter type interface
so I had to go with the older DB9 cable and COM 1!

Question is this - want to purchase a newer laptop - another Dell.
I want it to be stable for contesting with N1MM - thinking of either
the Studio 15" model or a Latitude 15"? Also Studio has Vista
where the Latitude you can still order it with XP Pro - What does
everyone recommend? Vista or XP - If you get Vista you can get a free upgrade to Window 7?  Scarey Huh! Tell me what you think!

I made 845 Q's in about 17 hours with K3 - noise blanker worked real
well Used my newer K3 SN 2914 this year!

73 de Bill  N4ZI  K3's sn # 1059 and #2914