[Elecraft] K3 vs KX3

[Jim Brown]

On 1/21/2014 3:00 PM, Gary Smith wrote:
> So why the love fest with the KX3 and so little heard now about the
> K3 on the reflector?

I don't yet own one (have been waiting for the 100W amp), but I think 
that the KX3 is one of the slickest radios around. Why? Because for 
$1,000 you have a state of the art QRP rig with an RX as good as 
anything else on the market. For another $1,000 you have a 100W radio 
that is VERY VERY good, and is equally at home as a mobile rig and in a 
ham shack. In either application, the operating desk (or dashboard) only 
needs to hold the KX3, which is only slightly larger than the detachable 
head of most rigs that have them. And an argument could be made that 
performance is best in its price class.

What do you lose (as compared to a K3)?  1) TX phase noise that's in the 
range of the best of the other radios in the same price category, so you 
wouldn't want to contest with it driving a big power amp (just as I'm 
pretty unhappy with an IC-7600 10 miles away doing that); 2) It's less 
accommodating to interfacing stuff like computer sound cards; 3) You 
need outboard stuff for a spectrum display; 4) Less audio output -- if 
you want to listen on speakers, you need something external that's 
amplified.

73, Jim K9YC