K3 Support Story

[Sebastian, W4AS]

I would like to briefly mention my recent experience with Elecraft's technical support.

My K3/10 kit arrived a few days ago, and I built it without any issues.  But my transverter was stuck in transmit when it was connected to the KEY OUT jack.  I checked and double checked the connecting cable and menu settings, and couldn't find a problem.  Since it was late in the evening and Elecraft wasn't open for business, I emailed Ed (KL7UW) who is active on this list, to see if I had missed something obvious.

We found the KEY OUT jack was always shorted, even with the radio off.  Ed suggested I contact Elecraft the following morning.  

I had the pleasure of speaking to Dale at Elecraft, who offered a couple of ideas and then asked if I was good with a soldering iron.  I was a bit worried, as introducing my soldering iron to my expensive new radio wasn't something I had planned, but I was willing to try.

Dale carefully explained what he wanted me to do, and said to call him back with the results of the first step.  That first step didn't solve the problem, so I called him again, and he explained what the next step was; to pull a leg from Q3 which is a relatively large keying transistor.  Removing that leg confirmed the transistor was bad.  Dale actually apologized on behalf of Elecraft for "sending a bad transistor and not checking it"!  I didn't know what to say, other than it certainly wasn't necessary.  Who knows, maybe I did something to blow it, or it may have been 'infant mortality'.

During this time, I had thoughts in my head of having to ship the radio back to them and waiting for them to repair it, and then shipping it back to me.  Because of the holidays, I imagined that would take several weeks.

Dale said he was placing a replacement transistor in the mail for me, and offered hints on how to replace it, and to let him know if it that didn't cure the problem.

Well I just finished replacing Q3 and reassembling the radio.  I'm happy to say it works now.

Happy Holidays to all; and thanks again Dale.

73 de Sebastian, W4AS



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[Johnny Siu]

The entire support team is excellent as always.

TNX & 73,


Johnny VR2XMC


________________________________
 從︰ "Sebastian, W4AS" <[hidden email]>
收件人︰ [hidden email]
傳送日期︰ 2011年12月17日 (週六) 1:35 PM
主題︰ [Elecraft] K3 Support Story
 
I would like to briefly mention my recent experience with Elecraft's technical support.

My K3/10 kit arrived a few days ago, and I built it without any issues.  But my transverter was stuck in transmit when it was connected to the KEY OUT jack.  I checked and double checked the connecting cable and menu settings, and couldn't find a problem.  Since it was late in the evening and Elecraft wasn't open for business, I emailed Ed (KL7UW) who is active on this list, to see if I had missed something obvious.

We found the KEY OUT jack was always shorted, even with the radio off.  Ed suggested I contact Elecraft the following morning. 

I had the pleasure of speaking to Dale at Elecraft, who offered a couple of ideas and then asked if I was good with a soldering iron.  I was a bit worried, as introducing my soldering iron to my expensive new radio wasn't something I had planned, but I was willing to try.

Dale carefully explained what he wanted me to do, and said to call him back with the results of the first step.  That first step didn't solve the problem, so I called him again, and he explained what the next step was; to pull a leg from Q3 which is a relatively large keying transistor.  Removing that leg confirmed the transistor was bad.  Dale actually apologized on behalf of Elecraft for "sending a bad transistor and not checking it"!  I didn't know what to say, other than it certainly wasn't necessary.  Who knows, maybe I did something to blow it, or it may have been 'infant mortality'.

During this time, I had thoughts in my head of having to ship the radio back to them and waiting for them to repair it, and then shipping it back to me.  Because of the holidays, I imagined that would take several weeks.

Dale said he was placing a replacement transistor in the mail for me, and offered hints on how to replace it, and to let him know if it that didn't cure the problem.

Well I just finished replacing Q3 and reassembling the radio.  I'm happy to say it works now.

Happy Holidays to all; and thanks again Dale.

73 de Sebastian, W4AS



______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
______________________________________________________________
Elecraft mailing list
Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html