[Elecraft] [KX3] KXPD3

Tue Sep 18 06:30:09 EDT 2012

Hi Mathias,

The group homepage is here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/KX3/

73, Thomas M0TRN

On 18 September 2012 10:27, Mathias Krüger <mathias.krueger at sunrise.ch>wrote:

> Hello Thomas,
>
> where can i find the KX3 group you mentioned?
>
> Regards
> Mathias
> HB9DOU
>
>
>
> 2012/9/18 Thomas Horsten <thomas at horsten.com>
>
>> Hi Robert,
>>
>> I posted two updates, one just after I got the KXPD3 upgrade kit and
>> another after I'd used it for a couple of days. These were posted on the
>> KX3 group (join if you are not there already, most of the KX3 talk goes on
>> there). Anyway, for those of you who haven't seen it, I'm copying the two
>> updates below:
>>
>> Hi all,
>>
>> I received the field tester upgrade kit this morning. It took about 10
>> minutes to install. The only problem was the size of the screw hole in the
>> PCB was a bit tight, but I didn't need to drill as long as I carefully
>> tightened each of the mounting bolts one turn at a time (this is a known
>> problem and will be fixed in the final version).
>>
>> The kit consists of a new PCB with stainless steel fixed contacts, new
>> contact screws with rounded ends, and two alternative springs to choose
>> from with lower tension than the original.
>>
>> I selected the lowest tension spring and set the contact spacing at three
>> quarters of a turn from the inner (fully closed) position.
>>
>> The paddles feel completely different. I tried sending some of the text
>> from the upgrade instructions and didn't have a single missed dit or dah,
>> and both the spring resistance and the crispness of the action is improved
>> by an order of magnitude. I wouldn't say it rivals my Begali Sculpture but
>> it is much closer to that feel than it was before.
>>
>> Now I just hope it stays that way, I guess with a portable rig, dirt on
>> the
>> contacts will be a bigger issue than for a home key, but out of the box,
>> no
>> complaints at all, thanks to everyone at Elecraft, you've done a great
>> job.
>>
>> I did a video of my upgrade, but unfortunately my phone ran out of memory
>> after 5 minutes, so the most interesting bits didn't get recorded. Maybe
>> I'll post it anyway just to show the unboxing and the kit content.
>>
>> WX for the weekend is looking like we're in for a bit of Indian summer,
>> with full sunshine and 27C, so I hope I'll be able to get some outdoor
>> operating done with the KX3, maybe a WFF activation on Sunday. I'll report
>> back after a while and see how it goes.
>>
>> 73, Thomas M0TRN
>>
>>
>> After posting my first impressions just after the upgrade, I've used the
>> upgraded KXPD3 for several real QSO's and I wanted to give an update.
>>
>> My KXPD3 already had the PCB mod performed which had greatly reduced the
>> intermittent contact problem. So I didn't expect the upgrade to make that
>> huge a difference (only compared to the unmodified PCB which was pretty
>> horrid in this respect).
>>
>> But I actually find that the upgrade kit does far more than that. It takes
>> the key and transforms it from a sub-Bencher feel to a near-Begali feel.
>>
>> To get reliable operation on the paddles before, the contact spacing
>> needed
>> to be over 1mm. I think the main reason was the shape of the end of the
>> contact screws. Per the suggestions previously made on this list, I'd
>> tried
>> filing down the ends of the contact screws to get them more rounded, but I
>> hadn't done a very good job at it. The new contact screws are stainless
>> steel and already rounded from the factory. Also the contact posts are now
>> stainless steel as well. Finally, the spring tension was too high for
>> comfortable operation at a very low spacing.
>>
>> So the spacing needed to be at least 1mm or so for the key to be workable.
>>
>> It's probably down to a combination of all the upgraded materials,
>> including the lower tension contact spring, but the key works perfectly
>> now
>> with sub-mm contact spacing. I am using a spacing of about 0.3-0.5mm,
>> which
>> corresponds to about three quarters of a turn of the contact screws, and
>> have locked them in that position. This, in combination with the lowest
>> tension spring, gives an unsurpassed feel that I have only before
>> experienced in my Begali Sculpture.
>>
>> I can now send clean code at 35 WPM with these paddles, something that was
>> unthinkable before. Although most of my QSO's are at 25 WPM, it is nice to
>> be able to send QRQ when the opportunity is there, and that's now possible
>> with the KXPD3.
>>
>> The only thing I am missing slightly is individual tension adjustment of
>> the left and right paddle. Since I use paddles with my left hand (but in a
>> default configuration with dits on the left), I tend to use my Sculpture
>> with a slightly higher spring tension in the left paddle. But in such a
>> tiny key I wouldn't expect that.
>>
>> In short it's now a paddle that works extremely well and where the
>> "precision" label is 100% justified. To be honest I thought that  was
>> stretching it a bit in the original incarnation of the KXPD3.
>>
>> 73, Thomas M0TRN
>>
>>
>> On 18 September 2012 00:26, Robert Vargas (KP4Y) <kp4y at yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>> > How did field testing of the KXPD3 paddle upgrade turn out? I'm about to
>> > pull the trigger but want to make sure that the reported glitches have
>> been
>> > taken care of. I just heard one report around here and it was favorable.
>> > How would the improved KXPD3 paddle compare to a Begali Traveler?
>> >
>> > 73s,
>> > Robert-KP4Y
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