[Elecraft] K3 or K3S: Whadayathink?

[Don Wilhelm]

Dave,

You will have to consider your ham budget on that question.

As far as swapping the options into a new K3S-10, I would suggest that 
although the KPA3 may swap over, I would not attempt it.
The new KPA3 is a total redesign forced because the PA transistors used 
originally are no longer available, and the new RF board was optimized 
to work with the new KPA3A.  So if you are swapping, I would recommend 
that you start with the K3S-100 rather than the 10.
Besides you will probably find more buyers for your K3-100 than if you 
offer it as a K3-10.

The subreceiver has not changed from the K3 to the K3S, so you can 
easily swap it.
If you have found you have too many filters, then you can leave some of 
the filters in your K3 for whomever would buy it.

For the KAT3A, if you do not have resonant antennas that would benefit 
from the bypass relay, then you could swap your existing KAT3 to the new 
K3S, but for sale of your K3, many potential buyers would want the KAT3, 
so if it were mine, I would be reluctant to remove it.

The decision is yours to make, but if it were mine, I would simply 
upgrade to the KXV3B (I already have done that) and wait until the KIO3A 
is available if you want the USB interface (I am happy with the existing 
RS-232 interface), then upgrade your existing K3. Since you have already 
changed to the KSYN3A, you have already achieved the major part of the 
performance improvement.

OTOH, if you are into 'eye candy' and like the new bezel and the feel of 
the new knob, there is only one choice - get the K3S.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 9/10/2015 9:33 AM, dhhdeh at comcast.net wrote:
>   Here’s my dilemma. Do I keep it and retrofit what I can as new K3S options become available? Do I sell it outright (along with a lot of other stuff to raise the $$) and buy a completely new, comparable K3S or do I buy a new bare-bones K3S-10 and transplant the options I can from my older K3 to a new K3S?
>
> There’s a big $$ consideration in this decision. But first, I am interested in opinions on any K3S performance improvements.
>
>