[Elecraft] Low Serial Numbered K3

[Fred Jensen]

Mine is #642.  It did a short stint in the Elecraft Medical Center for 
slightly Sickly Electronics early on for a failed component I didn't 
want to track down.  They brought it up to what was then "production." 
The only other mod I've done was the IF output gain mod [destroy an SM 
resistor and replace it with a different value resistor] when I got the 
P3 much much later.

K3's don't seem to wear out, and unlike me, are not affected by an 
accumulation of birthdays.  OK, I finally had the "cracking knobs 
syndrome," Elecraft sent me new ones, I had saved the allen wrench for 
them, and all was well.  I would make sure that any HW mods published 
after the one you're considering was born are not critical to your 
operating requirements, particularly if your needs are somewhat esoteric 
like EME and the like.  Load the latest production FW, run through the 
calibration procedures [no test equipment required], and call CQ.

Mine works just like advertised.

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2014 Cal QSO Party 4-5 Oct 2014
- www.cqp.org