Important K3 News

[wayne burdick]

Hi All,

Now that a number of K3s are on the air, we're getting a lot of
feedback about the manuals and firmware. We're incorporating important
changes as quickly as possible.

Regarding firmware, a number of issues have come up. Most are minor,
and all have either already been corrected or will be soon. We hope to
have another major firmware release early next week. The K3 firmware
loader (K3Utility) is also being updated, and you'll need to obtain
this before you do the next firmware upgrade. We'll be posting
instructions to the reflector about this once the new loader and new
firmware are available.

I wanted to cover a few specific firmware issues. All have been
corrected in the upcoming release:

1. CW MESSAGE RECORD: The message buffers were getting truncated before
being completely filled (127 rather than 250 characters), and inserted
word spaces were excessive in length. Message entry is far easier with
the new version. (Thanks to Tom, N0SS, for identifying these issues.)

2. NOISE REDUCTION (NR switch): We've had a couple of reports of NR
generating a very strong audio artifact when certain types of signals
were tuned in. Since it could occur when you're wearing headphones, we
ask that you avoid using NR until we get the new firmware out.

3. VCO CALIBRATION: A few customers have seen an ERR VCO message with a
parameter value between E00004 and E00013 displayed when doing VCO CAL
(part of the kit alignment process). This only affects receive-only
operation below 160 meters (i.e., with the KBPF3 general-coverage
band-pass filter option installed). The next firmware release has an
improved VCO CAL function that should correct this. If not, we'll send
you a replacement synthesizer module.

4. TX TEST: Off-air testing was working only in CW mode. It now works
in all modes. It's especially useful in SSB modes, since it allows you
to adjust your mic gain and compression without transmitting.

5. 2.7 kHz CRYSTAL FILTERS: If you have firmware prior to revision
1.34, you'll need new firmware in order to properly set up our 2.7 kHz
5-pole filters.


Thanks for your suggestions, praise, critique, and patience as we work
over these little in the road. Customer feedback was critical to the
success of the K2, and I'm sure that will prove the case with the K3 as
well.

73,
Wayne
N6KR


---

http://www.elecraft.com

_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

[Brett Gazdzinski]

Will the K3's shipping out in the future have the latest firmware?

Brett
N2DTS

> Hi All,
>
> Now that a number of K3s are on the air, we're getting a lot of
> feedback about the manuals and firmware. We're incorporating important
> changes as quickly as possible.
>
> Regarding firmware, a number of issues have come up. Most are minor,
> and all have either already been corrected or will be soon. We hope to
> have another major firmware release early next week. The K3 firmware
> loader (K3Utility) is also being updated, and you'll need to obtain
> this before you do the next firmware upgrade. We'll be posting
> instructions to the reflector about this once the new loader and new
> firmware are available.
>
> I wanted to cover a few specific firmware issues. All have been
> corrected in the upcoming release:
>

_______________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Post to: [hidden email]
You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
 http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   

Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com