On Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:06:31 -0400, N4PY2 wrote:
>The Omni VII has cleaner sounding audio on both transmit and receive than
>the K3.
That's an interesting observation. I'd be interested to hear how the
evaluation was done. Identical mic on both rigs? Careful setting of TXEQ
and signal processing?
I've never seen an Omni VII, nor have I ever heard one on the air, so can't
comment on it.
I own two K3s, have many friends who own K3s, and have heard LOTS of them
on the air. Elecraft product support is legendary -- the OWNERS of the
company read their email reflector every day, and respond when appropriate.
As the buyer of two used K2s about five years ago, I utilized their tech
support to troubleshoot problems and found it very good (far more friendly
and far less inclined to try to extract money from me than Paul Clinton).
I've seen several instances where guys in remote locations (even
expeditions) got immediate attention from the factory when something went
wrong.
The K2 started out life as a QRP rig, then got expanded to do other things.
The design of the K3 is VERY advanced from the K2 -- far less phase noise
on transmit, designed from the bottom up as a high performance rig. The
closest comparison is to the Orion II.
Since you've already used the K2, you'll find the user interface pretty
intuitive. I did. Users of some other rigs have a bit more trouble learning
it, but once they do, it is quite user friendly and VERY flexible. The K3
is NOT primarily menu-driven -- all the operating adjustments are knobs and
button on the front panel. Menus are used to configure the radio, to set
things that you wouldn't ordinarily do while operating.
Like the Orion radios, a lot of what the K3 does is DSP-based, and the K3
hit the streets long before some of its features had been implemented in
DSP. Those features have come along nicely as promised, and many more
implemented as a result of user input. Unlike the Orion, when K3 firmware
updates are issued, they are usually bug-free, because Elecraft has a
pretty active beta test group for their firmware.
The K3 is a fairly small radio for it's class. If you're like me and like
more room on your operating desk, you'll probably find that a plus. Some
hams like the "big boat" on the desk, and don't like the K3 for that
reason. The K3 is also highly modular -- you can buy it with as many of
those features as you need, and add more later if you like. They just added
a panadapter, which I have ordered.
The K3 does a lot of things internally that you would have to buy
accessories to do with most other rigs. It has circuitry built in to take
CW and PTT from your contest logging program the serial port. It has an
excellent audio equalizer built-in for both TX and RX (separately
adjustable). It has excellent signal processing built in. Like many radios,
it goes to 6M with 100w, and it works quite well there. It DOES need an
outboard preamp on 6M to hear the weak ones, but there are IN/OUT BNCs on
the rear panel to plug in a preamp, or for a separate RX antenna.
You can use almost any decent mic with it and make it sound good -- nothing
special required, and bias is provided for electret mics, and it can be
turned off with a menu setting. And the TXEQ allows you to tailor the
response of virtually any mic to your voice and the way you want to sound.
The wonderful new Yamaha CM500 boom headset mic ($45) plugs straight into
1/8-in connectors on the rear panel, and is a great sounding mic for both
rag-chewing and contesting. There's a standard 8-pin connector on the front
panel.
The K3 is also available as a kit for about 15% less than the cost of an
assembled radio. It took me 10 hours to build the first one, 8 hours to
build the second (I do SO2R contesting). The K3 kit is not like the K2 --
with the K3, you don't do any soldering, you're simply building a chassis
and filling it with pre-tested circuit boards. It's a pretty easy build
unless you've got some physical problem, so it's a great way to save 15%.
A minor negative for the K3 is the internal speaker, which is small and not
great. BUT -- there's a real panel jack where you can plug in virtually any
good loudspeaker, and there's a decent amp built into the K3 to drive it.
FWIW, I've always liked Ten Tec rigs, so please don't interpret my comments
as negative toward them. BUT -- over the past 6-8 years, Elecraft has been
the primary innovator in our world, has been in much closer communication
with their customers than any other mfrs, and has offered the most bang for
the buck on the high performance end of the scale. Unlike most other ham
mfrs, ham radio is ALL they do, so we have 100% of their attention. One of
the great things about Elecraft is that features (and fixes) that you would
have to buy a second or third generation product to get from another vendor
can be purchased as simple mods to the radio that you already own. And
these things come along much sooner, because Elecraft actively LISTENS to
their customers, and places VALUE on what they hear.
73,
Jim K9YC
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