[Elecraft] Unhappy With Your KX3?

[FredJensen]

On 8/4/2012 2:34 AM, Kevin Kleinfelter wrote:
> Thanks for your thoughts Rick.
>
> I'm looking to discover regrets before I drop $1300-$1500 on a recreational
> purchase (i.e. a new toy).  I'm not looking to demonstrate that some radio
> is better or worse than the KX3.  (I'd have to define a specific goal, in
> order for better/worse to be meaningful.)
Fair question Kevin.  My experience with reviews/experience reports is 
that the only ones that count are from people I know, and I know how 
they use the item in question.  eHam is full of reviews, virtually all 
from people I don't know.  While looking for an all-band vertical, I 
started reading them for various candidates ... they ranged from "Put it 
together in 3.7 minutes and made DXCC by the end of the day," to 
"Absolutely the worst antenna I've ever had, worse than my dummy load."  
There was no way I could make sense of it.  I did finally get a GAP 
Titan, contrary to a number of reviews I had no trouble understanding 
the assembly instructions, son-in-law and two grandsons mounted it for 
me on the roof, and I've managed 6 new DXCC on it in 3 months.  By 
comparison, I've managed twice that number on the tribander.  The 
vertical is noticeably noisier [one of the many complaints on eHam], but 
of course it *is* a vertical ... duh!.

I don't have a KX3, but I do have a K3.  If you want to know the biggest 
characteristic of my K3 that I didn't like, it would be its weight ... 
or, more accurately, the lack of it.  It moves when I do TAP and HOLD on 
the switches, which isn't a big deal, moving it back into place is easy, 
it just annoys me.  I fixed it with some non-slip cloth-like stuff.  
Took 3 tries to find the right material.

If I were you, I'd locate friends you know who have a KX3 and talk to 
them ... as in a two-way conversation.  Their likes/dislikes may or may 
not affect your needs/wants, but at least you can talk it out with 
them.  Again, after all the bruhaha dies down on the list, it was a fair 
question.

73,

Fred K6DGW/7
TDY Sparks NV taking care of granddaughter