[Elecraft] Elecraft K3 support

[John Gibson]

Dear Elecraft Friends,

Up through last weekend I had been operating my K3 #820 with MCU 4.31 and DSP 2.72, firmware that dated from March 2011. I was content with my K3’s performance, and saw no reason to upgrade. 

But Reflector reports praising recent improvements in NR and NB operation finally persuaded me that I should update my K3. Accordingly, last Monday I downloaded the latest Mac K3 Utility and began the upgrade. All went well until the Utility tried to install the DSP files, at which point my K3 choked and everything stopped. I suddenly had a non-working radio and was at an impasse.

I contacted Elecraft support and soon heard from Gary Surrency. Gary, in turn, passed my message on to David Fleming, who has full responsibility for the Mac K3 Utility.

David was solicitous and extremely helpful. He pointed out that my ancient Mac Powerbook computer with OS 10.4.11 is too long in the tooth to run the current Mac K3 Utility, and he kindly sent me the latest version that my computer would tolerate. Following his very specific instructions, I used that older Utility to successfully install all of the new firmware files. My K3 now is back in operation with the latest firmware.

David went far beyond the call of duty to help me solve my problem. In fact, he sent his last e-mail message to me last evening at 10:40 p.m. (we both are on EDT). I consider his dedication typical of what we all have come to expect from Elecraft support.

Thank you David, and thank you Elecraft.

73,
John, no8v