[Elecraft] KX3 #2797 (listening) on the air & unconventional soft case

[Keith Amidon]

My son (KJ6PUN) and I (KJ6PUO) received KX3 kit serial number 2797 late
last week and put it together on Saturday.  It went smoothly and came
out looking great.

We set it up with a portable antenna and listened on 20m to the chaos of
the ARRL November Sweepstakes.  This is our first HF transceiver and we
didn't want to jump in to the fray so we haven't tried the transmitter
yet, but the receiver found something on every frequency we tried!  Lots
of fun.  It was easy to find our way around the control panel with
reference to the excellent manual.

Putting the radio away on Saturday night I was concerned about the fact
we didn't have anything to protect it. On Sunday as I was passing a
local camera store I thought "why not look at the camera bags, maybe a
videocamera bag or something would fit it."  I didn't find a suitable
videocamera bag, but this LowePro "Lens Exchange Case" fit nearly
perfectly:

   http://products.lowepro.com/product/SF-Lens-Exchange-Case-200-AW,2226,53.htm

The radio goes in the main lens compartment with the hand mic in the
second expandable compartment.  There is room for the cables on the
sides and everything zips up snugly.  You can even carry spare batteries
in the pockets on the outside.  It has a large secure belt loop on the
back and a clip-on shoulder strap.

The only downside is that I'm pretty sure it won't work with the mini
paddle attached.  We're still in the early stages of learning CW so I
don't expect that to be something we're concerned about for a while.  It
obviously won't protect the radio from truly hazardous conditions but
seems like a good compromise for taking it out for the day.  LowePro
also has some nice camera backpacks with laptop sleeves that would let
you take a fully digital station out easily, with a little camera gear
too.  ;-)

We're looking forward to really getting on the air and trying out the
tranmitter sometime in the next few days.

  --- Keith