[Elecraft] K3 #2867 - E51FOC

[Tony Marr]

I've been the happy owner of K3 #2867 for over 4 years now; and have just
returned from Rarotonga, where I operated - CW only - as E51FOC.

This was the first overseas trip for the K3, and I also took a 12m
Spiderbeam pole, and enough wire etc to build a small vee beam for the
higher bands.

We rented a private house for 3 weeks, and in between various holiday
activities, the K3 worked absolutely flawlessly, having some 3350 QSOs from
87 countries.

The only time I had to dive into the menu settings was to alter the message
repeat time, and more importantly, to have the fans run continuously on
speed #2 - on occasions it was well over 40C inside the house, and the K3
panel temperature would be in the high 40's. With the fans running, and when
operating at around 90w out, it stayed cool and comfortable.

Thanks to the K3's light weight, I was able to carry it, my power supply,
and my Vibroplex bug on in a single bag as hand luggage, so it had a safe
trip.

The pile-ups on occasions were pretty busy, and the K3 receiver didn't
produce any funny noises, or show any tendency of blocking.

All in all, one great rig, both for home - where I also drive a KPA500 with
it - and also for carrying around the world.

Thanks too, to those of you who worked me in the pile-ups.

 

73,

Tony,

 ZL2AGY/E51FOC.