[Elecraft] K3 repair - a view from Europe

[Peter Connors]

One of the advantages of the Elecraft/user communication model is that 
the advice on a repair is only an email away:

Recently, as a result of email exchanges with Gary Surrency, Dick 
Dievendorff and Lyle Johnson, we identified the progressive failure of a 
~$1 serial eeprom on the front panel in #900, although the only symptom 
was a failure to complete the final step of the SubRx gain calibration.

The two-way shipping between Europe and Aptos would have added >$100, 
plus repair cost, plus the turnaround time (no K3? ...the horror, the 
horror) - so I took a look at the schematics, the data sheet and the 
front panel. I located the 8-pin part as being accessible but not 
wanting to trust my soldering skills at the pin pitch in that particular 
location, I took the front panel and a new part to an electronics 
contractor (Subtec Ltd) near my UK qth and they replaced it for the ~$38 
minimum charge while I waited (including coffee!).

Upshot: my rig is now 100% again and I have learned much. This would not 
have been possible without the K3 modular construction and, most 
importantly, the incomparable Elecraft/user open communication model.

73, Pete G4PLZ/F5VNB