[Elecraft] Unhappy With Your KX3?

[stan levandowski]

OK.  Here I go.  Am I unhappy with my KX3?  You betcha!!  Totally 
disgusted!

To begin with, it has ruined QRP ham radio.  QRP used to be a very small 
and exclusive niche.  Elecraft - especially with the KX3 - has brought 
QRP into the mainstream. Now QRP ops can do everything the nominal "100 
watt op" can do and their numbers are increasing!   It used to be a very 
skillful challenge to break a pileup on rare DX with 5 watts. Cruising 
up and down the band to locate the station being worked on split in 
order to improve the chances of my peanut whistle signal being heard 
against the "100 watt norm" community was an expert skill.  Well, the 
dual watch function of the KX3 makes it a no brainer now!  And how about 
that automatic zerobeat button?  There's another skill gone down the 
drain!  Now let's talk about filtering capability. In the old days, the 
best filter was between the operator's ears.  The KX3 has roofing 
filters that narrow down all the crap presented to the first stage and 
the subsequent DSP processing can make just about any signal workable. 
Hey, it's all electronics -- where's the operator skill????  Now let's 
turn to the transmitter.  It has no personality at all.  It's perfect. 
How the heck can all my usual QSO buddies identify me without some 
chirp, a little click, or some drift?  Why heck, just last night I 
worked a K3 (#2867) in New Zealand from New York - ZL2AGY.  You see, 
that's the whole problem in a nutshell.  Five watts in New York with 44 
feet of wire in the attic *should not* be able to enjoy a ragchew with 
New Zealand.  It just ain't right!

My KX3 is for sale - factory built and aligned.  Fully optioned.  Asking 
$4800.  (I'll use the proceeds to buy three more - one dedicated to the 
car; one for portable/trail; the third one for the shack.  I'm good in 
"qr zed dot com".   Send the check there.

73, Stan WB2LQF


On Fri, Aug 3, 2012 at 8:59 PM, Harry White wrote:

  I own a $1400 paperweight that may someday be
> transformed into a great radio. My advice to you is to wait a bit 
> longer to
> see how the radio evolves.

AND KEVIN WROTE:

> So... If you are unhappy with your KX3, please respond with why.