[Elecraft] [KX3] A Comparative Performance Assessment (of Aftermarket KX3 Heatsinks)

[Johnny Siu]

Hello Randy,

I concur with your findings though I believe the Cooler plus should be the best product in accordance with the performance assessment.  Perhaps, I would like to summarise my views as follows:

1.  It is correct that any old heat sink obtained from other electronic device attached to the KX3 will make a real difference (I experimented some of them).  Of course, those heat sinks may not look good as a purpose built product (the Cooler plus is beautifully made as I saw one in VR2);
2.  I struggled for a long time whether I should spend over USD100 (including shipping) for a piece of metal as heat sink.  It implies over 1/10th of the KX3 kit price;
3. I eventually settled with a KB8UHN heat sink to strike a balance between items 1 and 2 above.

I run the KB8UHN heat sink under 10m FM full power without any noticeable power drop or problems.  I subsequently suggested KB8UHN to make some minor changes in his heatsink dimensions so that it will fit the Side KX covers / plates as well.

Therefore, KX3 users now have a range of choices from an abandoned heat sink of any old electronic device at $0 to the high end Cooler plus at $100.


73

Johnny VR2XMC
 

________________________________
 寄件人︰ Randy Moore <ai4co at outlook.com>
收件人︰ 'Gary W. Hvizdak' <gary.hvizdak at cfl.rr.com>; elecraft at mailman.qth.net 
副本(CC)︰ 'Fred' <ve7fmn at telus.net>; 'Adrian Ryan' <adrian04 at cytanet.com.cy>; matt421421 at gmail.com; 'Edouard Lafargue' <edouard at lafargue.name> 
傳送日期︰ 2014年09月2日 (週二) 12:29 AM
主題︰ Re: [Elecraft] [KX3] A Comparative Performance Assessment	(of	Aftermarket KX3 Heatsinks)
  

Thank you very much for the comparison of the available heat sinks for the
KX3.

I bought the KB8UHN heat sink and I am quite happy with it.  Using his heat
sink I am able to run Digital modes at 10 watts on 20 and 40 meters with no
problems and my radio temperature is lower than the comparison at 5 watts.
I did use the included heat sink compound so perhaps that makes a
difference.


I did some testing on my own using assorted heat sinks from old audio and
video cards and found that almost any heat sink will make a big difference.

Thank you for supporting the Elecraft KX3 with your aftermarket accessories.

Randy Moore
AI4CO


-----Original Message-----
From: Elecraft [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Gary
W. Hvizdak
Sent: Monday, September 01, 2014 3:05 AM
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Cc: Adrian Ryan; Fred; Edouard Lafargue; matt421421 at gmail.com
Subject: [Elecraft] [KX3] A Comparative Performance Assessment (of
Aftermarket KX3 Heatsinks)

    An independent head-to-head thermal performance evaluation of several
aftermarket KX3 heatsinks was recently concluded by Adrian Ryan (5B4AIY),
who holds degrees in Electrical Engineering and Mechanical Engineering.  The
clear winner of his testing is the Cooler KX PlusT, which is produced by
VE7FMN of Simply Better Manufacturing!  This means claims that the PAE-Kx31
is "best-performing" are not substantiated by fact!  (Actually, such claims
are hereby dispelled by fact!)

    Adrian's test report can be found at ...
http://www.ve7fmn.ca/this-is-cool/pdfs/performance_page/head-to-head.pdf

--- - - - ---

    In other news ...

1) The Cooler KXT installation guide has (finally) been published.

2) Tech-Note #3 (PEM nut thread repair) was completely rewritten.

3) I recently added some of the nicest customer-submitted photos to Fred's
homepage.  Thanks to Matt (N2IDW) and Ed (W6ELA).

4) Before too long I hope to implement "instant checkout" for most if not
all Cooler KXT customers.  What makes this task particularly challenging, is
that unlike the USPS (which offers flat-rate international mail) the cost of
shipping via Canada Post varies by country.

73,
Gary  KI4GGX
webmaster http://www.ve7fmn.ca/
Posted on behalf of VE7FMN


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