K3 status Update - Sept. 29, 2007

[Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ]

K3 Status Update - Sept. 29, 2007

We are continuing down the final stretch and so far things are looking
pretty good.

Last week:
Wayne and the Field Testers continued to test the firmware for the K3
and the '1 button press' K3 firmware downloader. We'll be releasing new
K3 features on a regular basis (both planned and in response to customer
feedback) so make sure to keep an eye on our website (and our email
list) after receiving your K3 for announcements of new firmware releases.

Wayne and our tech. publications crew are reviewing and making final
edits to the K3 operating and assembly manuals. We'll print these late
next week. (And put the Op manual on the web.) We electronically
transmit the manuals to our printer and they can turn initial quantities
in 24 hours.

We received additional K3 boards from our assembly house and have been
testing these as they come in.

We hand wound and delivered to our assembly house enough of the toroids
we were short  from our supplier to cover the first week of K3
shipments. We also wound  KPA3 100W input and output transformers for
the first shipments and delivered them yesterday. Thanks to our crew and
especially to Mychael (a.k.a. the 'Toroid Guy') for getting these done!
We expect more toroids from our production supplier next week.

By Monday we will have received all of the needed K3 board assemblies,
except the 100W KPA3 assembly, to cover our first week of K3 shipments.
We expect the KPA3s mid next week. To put this in perspective, there are
19 PC board assemblies for the K3 and options, plus 10 more for the
optional filters. Our crew is working overtime to receive, test and
align everything.


Next Week:
Continue to receive, test, align and integrate K3 sub-assemblies.
Beginning packing K3 kit versions and assembling, aligning and testing
built K3s.
Make final edits on manuals and print them.
Continuing firmware and downloader testing for first ship units.
Contact first ship K3 customers to confirm order details, cc info etc.

You can feel the high energy buzz when you walk in the door at Elecraft
HQ in Aptos. :-) Everyone is getting excited to see our baby get ready
to go out the door. (Plus its hard to miss the large amount of K3
in-process assemblies everywhere.) So far, no major new surprises have
popped up. I think we still have a good chance of starting shipments on
our target date of Oct 8th, or possibly the week of the 8th if we have
any last minute surprises.

Stay Tuned!

73,
Eric  WA6HHQ, Wayne  N6KR and the rest of the K3 team.

_..._

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[Paul Fletcher]

Eric,

Thanks for the detailed update. Thanks also for shipping out the balun kit's
I ordered in good time despite the amount of "stuff" going on - storage
space must be getting interesting!

Regards to the team,
Paul M1PAF

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Eric Swartz - WA6HHQ
Elecraft
Sent: 29 September 2007 17:37
To: Elecraft Discussion List
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 status Update - Sept. 29, 2007

K3 Status Update - Sept. 29, 2007



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[Craig Rairdin]

I regret adding to the noise but I didn't see this in the FAQ and I'm
curious about it.

Are you making any effort to ship the K3's in the order that orders were
received or is there some other algorithm being applied? (For example, it
might depend on what options a person selected, what part of the
country/world they live in, or some other consideration.)

Are kits being shipped before (or after) assembled K3's? Or does it not
matter?

I realize this is a trivial question, but for those of us who take some
degree of pride in low serial numbers, the answers to these questions would
be at least interesting.

Craig
NZ0R


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[dj7mgq]

Hi Eric & Craig,

@Eric - The update sounds very exciting! Thank you.

> I realize this is a trivial question, but for those of us who take some
> degree of pride in low serial numbers, the answers to these questions would
> be at least interesting.

@Craig - I had to ask Elecraft to delay my K3 until November because I
will be in 4O (Montenegro) for the WAG and CQWW-SSB contests, and it
would not have reached me before I left Munich. They did promise to keep
my sub-200 serial number for me; I ordered within 24 or so hours of the
original posting of the announcement. So if they did think up a clever
method to organize the shipping, I guess I messed it up... hi hi

As long as it arrives for in time our mini-expedition to OY next summer,
I'll be happy.

vy 73 de toby
--
DD5FZ (ex 4n6fz, dj7mgq, dg5mgq, dd5fz)
K2 #885, K2/100 #3248, K3 #<200
DOK C-12, BCC, DL-QRP-AG

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[Thom LaCosta]

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007, Craig Rairdin wrote:

>
> I realize this is a trivial question, but for those of us who take some
> degree of pride in low serial numbers, the answers to these questions would
> be at least interesting.

Some folks take great pride in building their radios, while others feel more
confortable having a factory-made unit.  As far as I recall, there is no
distinction between either type by serial number.

But(grin), those that would like public affirmation that they built their rig,
whether a K3, K2 or any other Elecraft gear can enter their information in the
Elecraft Online Database:

<  http://www.zerobeat.net/qrp/elowners.html  >

73 - thom
Thom,EIEIO
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[JT Croteau]

On 9/29/07, Thom LaCosta <[hidden email]> wrote:
> But(grin), those that would like public affirmation that they built their rig,
> whether a K3, K2 or any other Elecraft gear can enter their information in the
> Elecraft Online Database:

Ya know, I've been wanting an Elecraft rig for the past 6 to 7 years
and have been following the reflector for much of that time.  With all
the excitement and joy in building my first K2, accessories, and test
equipment over these past few months, I forgot that you had this
database.

I'm off to make my entry.

BTW, where'd I put that redneck translator for Eric's latest update?  *grin*

--
JT Croteau, N1ESE - Manchester, NH (FN42gx)
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[W6NEK]

Hi,
Perhaps one of the field tester can answer my question.
Is the Mic BIAS voltage (Pin 6 on front panel mic connector) variable or a
fixed voltage?
I want to connect my Icom SM-20 Desk Mic to the K3 but I need 8 VDC @ 10 ma.
max. to power it.

In anticipation of my K3 arrival, I'm making a adapter cable to fit on the
end of the SM-20 to adapt it to the K3.  I sure wish the K3 retained the
nifty mic configuration block that is available in the K2.  Made it handy to
wire up separate header blocks for each mic I wanted to connect to the K2
without rewiring the mic itself.

Any info on the bias voltage is appreciated.

Best 73,
Frank - W6NEK
 

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[KK7P]

> Is the Mic BIAS voltage (Pin 6 on front panel mic connector) variable or
> a fixed voltage?

Pin 6 is fixed, 8V.

73,

Lyle KK7P

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[W6NEK]

Great Lyle,
Perfect, that's exactly what the SM-20 needs to power the internal preamp.
I'll continue on with the mic adapter plug.

Thanks,
Frank - W6NEK

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lyle Johnson" <[hidden email]>
To: "'Elecraft Discussion List'" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Saturday, September 29, 2007 4:27 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 Mic Bias Info Needed

>> Is the Mic BIAS voltage (Pin 6 on front panel mic connector) variable or
>> a fixed voltage?
>
> Pin 6 is fixed, 8V.
>
> 73,
>
> Lyle KK7P

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[Thom LaCosta]

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007, JT Croteau wrote:

> Ya know, I've been wanting an Elecraft rig for the past 6 to 7 years
> and have been following the reflector for much of that time.  With all
> the excitement and joy in building my first K2, accessories, and test
> equipment over these past few months, I forgot that you had this
> database.

It's kinda handy...you can search by call, by city, etc.  I've used it a few
times to try and find some local K2 owners.

>
> I'm off to make my entry.
>
> BTW, where'd I put that redneck translator for Eric's latest update?  *grin*

Yew can fin` one cheer:

http://www.rednecktranslator.com/convert.php

73 - k3hrn
Thom,EIEIO
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