[Elecraft] KX3 Field Day observations

[Phillip Shepard]

Field Day this weekend was the first real test of my new KX3 (s/n 268).
Before Saturday it had only seen light picnic table use and one SOTA peak
activation.  How did I like it during FD?  This is one sweet little radio!
I operated somewhat casually in a search and pounce mode, with 90% of the
QSOs on CW and the rest on SSB.

The bands were crowded and busy.  I used the internal ATU to match to a 40M
EDZ (180' of wire center fed with ladder line).  The combination played
well.  I particularly enjoyed cutting the bandwidth back to 500 Hz or less
(the radio has the roofing filter option) and tuning from one station to the
next which were generally in the clear as width was lowered below 500 Hz.
The CWT made spotting easy and the radio almost acted channelized as I moved
from one CQing station to the next.  My 5 Watt signal generally got through
on a call or two to these "isolated" stations.  The noise was cut way back
and even 40M at night was pleasant to the ear.

The obvious tuning noise was not a problem as I generally was not tuning
quickly along the band. I would like to see that noise reduced in a future
s/w release, however. The message memories made contest style operation
easy, leaving the bencher paddling to short work.  This was nice since my
usually poor fist was not helped by the cool, wet conditions we had.

The current requirements are very low at 5W with the rig in low power
options.  The 75 Ah lead acid battery loafed along for the whole time.  The
rig Vin never dropped below 12V. That is good since the mostly overcast and
rainy conditions didn't generate much from the solar panel.

All in all, this is a great portable rig, even for contest conditions.
Thank you to Elecraft!

73,
Phil, NS7P