Why I bought a K3
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I am considering the purchase of a K3 but I am having trouble finding information justifying the expense for features the radio has over what I have now.
I am looking for some input on advantages/features not found in the Icom Radios, IC-7800, IC-7700, IC-7600, or the 756 PRO III. With the exception of cost, has anyone given up their Icom for a K3? Jerry W6XI ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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Jerry,
I don't think cost is an actual issue since a fully filled out K3 cost almost as much as my IC-7700, $5000 for the 7700 and $4614 for the K3. I did give up my IC-7700 for a K3 but after finding out how incomplete the full QSK system in the K3 is and it's very noisy receiver, I went back to my 7700. I then learned the K3's receiver was noisy because at the time I did not know how to adjust it properly. I went back to the K3 for several more weeks and just could not agree with the 'busy-iness' of the K3 and have again gone back to my 7700. I have nudged and nudged and nudged for more work on the QSK, but I think they are way too busy on other company issues to complete their promises on this one. At this point I haven't decided what I am going to do, however right now my IC-7700 is operational on my desk and my K3/P3 are sitting over on the shelf collecting dust! My impression has been that the K3 is just as complicated to learn to operate as the Icom rig, but no more so. Obviously, for CW, with its conversion scheme, the K3 can give you performance not available with Icom's up-conversion scheme and 3kc wide roofing filters. On the other hand the DSP filtering in the 7700 is the first DSP filtering that I have thought was almost comparable to crystal filters. Probably the best thing to do is try to get your hands on one to use for several days and then decide? I personally doubt that you will find a huge difference in overall performance. Good luck and 73, Tom - W4BQF -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of JERRY Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2011 6:00 PM To: Elecraft Subject: [Elecraft] Why I bought a K3 I am considering the purchase of a K3 but I am having trouble finding information justifying the expense for features the radio has over what I have now. I am looking for some input on advantages/features not found in the Icom Radios, IC-7800, IC-7700, IC-7600, or the 756 PRO III. With the exception of cost, has anyone given up their Icom for a K3? Jerry W6XI ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JERRY-2
Hello Jerry,
I am both a K3 and ICOM user. May I suggest you put the same question in the ICOM mail reflector so that you will be able to get answers from both sides? cheers, Johnny VR2XMC ________________________________ 寄件人﹕ JERRY <[hidden email]> 收件人﹕ Elecraft <[hidden email]> 傳送日期﹕ 2011/2/25 (五) 6:59:56 AM 主題： [Elecraft] Why I bought a K3 I am considering the purchase of a K3 but I am having trouble finding information justifying the expense for features the radio has over what I have now. I am looking for some input on advantages/features not found in the Icom Radios, IC-7800, IC-7700, IC-7600, or the 756 PRO III. With the exception of cost, has anyone given up their Icom for a K3? Jerry W6XI ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by JERRY-2
A few ex-IC7800 users: EI6IZ, EI2CN, W2UP, K3WW (all avid contesters BTW). 73, Bill |
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In reply to this post by JERRY-2
I gave up my Icom 756 Pro III with its attached Icom PW-1 solid-state amplifier for my K3/100.
OK, I didn't really get rid of the Pro III and the PW-1, I still have them but they are not used very much. I usually turn it on once a month just to see if it still works. When I first got my K3 kit put together I did a side by side test. I remember picking up a 40 meter CW signal on the K3. It was weak but very easily copied. So, I switched the antenna over to the Pro III to see how the signal sounded there. I was surprised, I could not find the signal. I turned back to the K3 and it was still there, easy copy. Turned back to the Pro III and this time I did lots of adjustment (preamp, fooling with RF gain, and other things) to bring in that signal. I did find it but could not copy it at all. I knew it was there and that was all. That was my first test in comparing the Pro III to the K3. I did a few others and the K3 always performed better. There is one thing I like about the Pro III better. It sounds a little richer or deeper too me then the K3. But, I am mostly CW so that really does not matter that much. 73, phil, K7PEH On Feb 24, 2011, at 2:59 PM, JERRY wrote: > I am considering the purchase of a K3 but I am having trouble finding information justifying the expense for features the radio has over what I have now. > > I am looking for some input on advantages/features not found in the Icom Radios, IC-7800, IC-7700, IC-7600, or the 756 PRO III. > > With the exception of cost, has anyone given up their Icom for a K3? > > Jerry > W6XI > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 |
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I have moved from the IC-7700 to the IC-7800. I sold the IC-7700 not being happy with it for several reasons. I bought the IC-7800 used and it I felt it was indeed the ultmiate transceiver. Then I got to spend several hours on a friend's K3. Oh - oh.
I still have and use the IC-7800 but at least for my CW activity the K3 shines. Speaking of DSP filtering. The IC-7700 and IC-7800 started ringing around 200Hz and lower. You know, CW elements begin to be slurred. Well not with the K3! The K3 doesn't exihibit slurring until at least 100Hz and under some circumstances 50Hz. Wow! So I bought a K3. Sure the ergonomics kind of suck. The small package forced Elecraft to make trade-off decisions. The K3 needs to be in a bigger box. So here on my main operating desk sits a 55 pound IC-7800 - beautiful rig and next to it is the 9.5 pound K3 that is its equal in many cases and supperior in a few. 73, Bob - W6OPO |
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On Fri, Feb 25, 2011 at 12:41 AM, Bob - W6OPO <[hidden email]> wrote:
> > ...the IC-7800...I felt ...it was indeed the ultmiate transceiver. Then I > got to spend several hours on a friend's K3.... Very interesting comment. However, it could have been worse. You could have bought an FT-9000 and then had your friendly manufacturer come out with the FT-5000, a far superior rig for $4000 less. That has been really hard to swallow for some of the Yaesu clients. But hey, now you have a K3, so all's well that ends well. Tony KT0NY ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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In reply to this post by Bill W4ZV
On Thu, 2011-02-24 at 16:48 -0800, Bill W4ZV wrote:
> A few ex-IC7800 users: EI6IZ, EI2CN, W2UP, K3WW (all avid contesters BTW). > 73, Bill Actually I think EI2CN's (Doug) other radio is an orion My own progression may interest some, for a good number of years I had a 756Pro2 and a K2/100. I found I preferred the K2 for CW operation and for contesting. In one of my early serious efforts at CQWW cw contest I A/B'e the 756pro2 and the K2 extensively and kept preferring the k2, particularly on the low bands as it was better at digging out weak stations between the big guns. I did however prefer the Ergonomics of the 756pro2 for general operating. When the improved ('mk2') version of the 7800 came out I decided to buy one as I liked Icom's ergonomics. I also really hoped that the two 'identical' receivers could be used for diversity reception on the low bands as I had considerable experience with diversity reception with my Racal RA3702 and knew how well it worked for digging out hard to copy tropical band BC DX stations. Regretfully, due to a design limitation the two 'identical' receivers in the 7800 have their first (High) IF separated by 100KHz from each other. This ensures that the 2 receivers are nearly always offset from each other by a fraction of 1Hz (Due to DDS decimation limitations I suspect) rendering the 7800 nearly useless for diversity. You can do diversity with the 7800 but it's incredibly fatiguing because the signal is always rotating between ears in the headset. In addition to this the 2 VFO's don't track. I assume this is so as not to highlight the slight offset between the 2 receivers For cw contesting the 7800 was a better radio than the K2 but the difference was surprisingly small. The 7800 is a fine radio with good ergonomics and excellent basic performance, as I am sure the 7700 is When the k3 was announced I placed my order pretty quickly, on the basis that if it bettered the k2 then it was going to be a very fine radio. Having had the k2 for 7 years I was also sure that elecraft would take care to ensure that any improvements could be carried out on the earlier models. When the K3 arrived I had initially considered keeping the 7800 but I rapidly found I preferred the k3 and after doing quite a bit of A/B testing in the CQ WW 160M cw contest I decided to sell the 7800. The 7800 is no bad performer but the K3 has the edge, at least for the kinds of operating I do. When the k3 sub receiver came out I was really pleased with how well diversity works and these days I use diversity nearly all the time. It's not just a superb tool for digging out weak ones on the low bands but it's also a very useful tool for digging call-signs out of a pile up. Diversity also often helps with hearing 'around' QRM because the QRM usually has a different phase relationship to the desired signal relative to my antennas (usually my TX antenna and a beverage or doublet) Ergonomically the K3 and the Icoms are very different radios, Personally I find the K3 ergonomics excellent and find it a very comfortable radio to operate. A big advantage of the k3 is it's modular design, this not only makes it possible to tailor the configuration to suit your operating needs but also greatly simplifies things should repairs ever be required. Elecraft have evolved the K3 since release (& are continuing to do so) thus there will be no need to buy a K3 'Mk2' in a couple of years time just to get the latest features and improvements. Those considering buying a high performance HF radio should consider the K3 very carefully in their decision making process. -- 73 Brendan EI6IZ ______________________________________________________________ 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 |
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