[Elecraft] K2 vs K3 ?

[Randy Moore]

Well, this is interesting!  I'm agonizing over this very issue.  I have 
K2 #337, built in late 1999, that has served me extremely well.  I have 
always watched this reflector, so I was one of the first non-field test 
people to notice Wayne's announcement of the K3.  Then I read every word 
about it, including the manuals, and saved my pennies (and quarters and 
dollars!) until I was able to order one last year, taking delivery of 
K3/10 #2006 in late October.  I have been delighted with it, both 
performance wise and operationally.  I've downloaded all the beta 
firmware releases and never had any issue with them that wasn't taken 
care of within about 24 hours of the beta release.

I operated SSCW and then ARRL DX CW with the K3 and that's when I began 
to have some doubts about whether the K3 is for me or not.  Running QRP 
during these contests with simple wire antennas, I found that I couldn't 
usually be heard through all the QRM by anybody who wasn't S8-9 at my 
QTH.  That means that the outstanding features of the K3 receiver 
weren't doing me much good in those circumstances.  In a more normal 
situation of working a weak station with little or no QRM, I believe the 
K2 does just as well as the K3 for me.  So I've about decided that the 
K3 is just not a cost effective solution for my style of operating.  I 
really love it, but I just can't justify keeping both it and my 
venerable K2!   I'm seriously bonded with the K2,  so I'm on the verge 
of offering my K3 for sale.  But it hurts to even consider it :-(

73,
Randy, KS4L