[Elecraft] Unhappy With Your KX3?

[Wayne Burdick]

Harry White wrote:

> I think far too many people are looking at the KX3 through rose  
> colored glasses....

Harry,

I'm sorry your experience with the KX3 has been less than rosy.

I agree that Elecraft customers can be an enthusiastic bunch, but  
praise for the KX3 is not limited to our reflector -- KX3 users' posts  
in blogs, on eHam, etc. have been highly positive. We're very pleased  
with the response. Of course we always learn from from critique than  
praise, so thank you for not pulling any punches.

Note that you could return the rig to have any and all issues  
corrected immediately, under warranty. Meanwhile, I'd like to respond  
to a few of your comments.

Fortunately, the kit and documentation issues you mentioned have all  
either been corrected or are in the works. We revise the printed  
documents very often, and anything that is an immediate issue for  
builders is posted as an alert.

KX3 audio from the headphone jack with powered speakers should  
absolutely not be distorted. (On the contrary, we get raves daily from  
users about how clean it is.) You may have AGC THR set too high in  
combination with high AF and RF gain. Try AGC THR = 4 or 5, and also  
make sure AGC is turned on (AGC MD = ON). With external powered  
speakers or 'phones you should get tons of outstanding audio.

The internal speaker is intended as a backup, not as the primary  
transducer. It is of necessity quite small, and should be used at  
lower volume levels. I have already apologized for the issue with the  
speaker grille (we removed it, then added back in when we determined  
that it was not the main cause of vibration some users had  
experienced). If you have an issue with case vibration even at very  
low audio levels, please contact support.

Regarding the legs: They are admittedly unusual, but were heavily  
optimized for the application. They are both rugged and lightweight,  
something that isn't always easy to achieve. Once you've used them a  
few times, deploying them becomes second nature.

Again, if you still have unsolved issues, please take them up with  
support (or with me) so we can get the benefit of your feedback.

73,
Wayne
N6KR