[Elecraft] Is there a good reason to buy a K3S instead of a used K3 ?

[Jim Brown]

On Tue,7/28/2015 8:48 AM, ae4pb at carolinaheli.com wrote:
> If I had a K3 and a K3S side by side with the same antenna, properly adjusted and tuned, could I hear a difference in signal quality, noise....etc.. ?

Especially after hearing about your goals, my recommendation is that you 
save yourself a lot of money and buy a late vintage K3, then upgrade to 
the K3SYNA board and the KIO3B board. The K3SYNA gets you improved RX 
and TX phase noise, and is 90% of the difference between a K3 and K3S. 
Cost is about $220, you install it in 15 minutes. The KIO3B gets you the 
latest preamp, which is a significant improvement on 10M and 6M.

Spend your cost savings on a better antenna and/or adding a P3  or 
second RX.

The differences between the K3 and K3S mostly matter when you're a 
serious contester, or if a neighbor ham living close to you is active 
when you are, or when you take your rig to Field Day. For the same 
reasons, I suggest that you avoid buying roofing filters until you've 
used the rig for a while. For your operating plans, you probably won't 
need them.

I have a pair of early vintage K3s (2007) and I'm a serious contester. I 
did exactly those upgrades.

73, Jim K9YC