[Elecraft] KX3 - IARU 2013

[Bill Conkling]

I've had my KX3 for just over a year, and have had a lot of fun.  But I
always seem to gravitate to the K3 for contests.  Well since FD last month,
I've been using the KX3 for everything and the past weekend's IARU contest
was no exception.

I was very pleased at my 104 contacts in QRP, Single OP (non-assisted), all
band CW status.  I spent a little over 6 hours on the air and was 'Search &
Pounce' the whole time.

As for the radio.  It performed superbly, without a doubt.  The filtering
was excellent, I frequently had the pass-band reduced to 200 Hz or less.
Adjacent signals were not a problem except in rare occasions when the
offending station was just barely out of the pass-band.  The radio was very
quiet as I kept the RF gain reduced some to quiet the background noise.  All
in all, a very pleasant experience.

My antennae were a fan dipole for 40, 20, 10 meters (40M also worked 15M)
and my "Zorro" long wire (partially vertical) for 80M and 160M.

Logging was via N1MM which performed as expected.  I was a confirmed N3FJP
user until I met up with some long time contesters and learned about N1MM. I
haven't looked back.  This is by far the best logging software for contests
ever.

I don't usually write this much in an email so I will stop here.

If you're on the wire as to buying a KX3, just do it!  It's a great little
radio.  And, get it fully 'tricked out'.  Every accessory, every feature has
a purpose.  It comes together as the best bang for the buck in amateur radio
today.

...bill nr4c