[Elecraft] KX3 in WPX CW

[N4CW at aol.com]

Like Gernot, DF5RF, I too decided to use my KX3 in the WPX CW contest, just 
 for the fun of it! And fun it was.
I was easily able to put up with the minor inconveniences of phantom/image  
signals and the ATU kicking in as I went out of one band segment into 
another,  but that didn't slow me down. I kept my bandwidth around
"150" throughout the contest and didn't have a single problem digging out  
stations to call. The only problem I had was not being heard...for whatever  
reason. That's the fun part of QRP...you never know the circumstances at 
the  other end, but you try anyway!
For convenience, it would be nice to have separate "KEY" and "PADDLE"  
jacks, just like the K3, but I used
a "wye" splitter to combine the output of an external (CMOS-4) keyer and a  
keying line from my laptop's parallel port (with the K3 I use the internal 
keyer  and the rig control serial port for keying...can't use the
serial port to key the KX3 in similar fashion!).
Other'n that, it's both fun and a challenge to operate QRP in a contest  
using a KX3. Thanks, Elecraft!
 
Bert, N4CW