Alan D. Wilcox
Professional Engineer
Pennsylvania PE-030370-E

Elecraft K3 number 40

In April 2007, the K3 was announced and I placed my order. Because I've been building and servicing Elecrafts, it made great sense to get this new rig and find out what it's all about. Finally it arrived here on November 13, 2007.

At the very end of the page, you'll see the KPA3 (100-watt amplifier) that I installed in February 2008.

When you click the thumbnails, you'll notice that what you're getting is a "progressive" download of a jpg image. You get an overview and then the gaps are filled in as the download continues; the alternative is a slow high-resolution image gradually completing from top to bottom.

So here's the chronology as the K3 goes together ...

K3 at the start

Two boxes this time. Doesn't look like the usual kit ... everything's built! Panels, speaker, metal pieces in this box.

K3 construction begins ...

Already have a few items mounted. Starting to take shape now. Rear view. ATU is on left, mounted vertically. Closer shot of the ATU. Digital IO is actually 3 boards. Not easily visible here.

Progress continues ...

Getting the front panel ready was the easy part. Putting it on correctly was the challenge. Missing a couple modules yet. Almost done.

And finally, it's done!

Setting this up to calibrate with WWV was easy. It's all together; just finishing calibration. One 2.7 kHz filter in FL1 position. The ATU is on the left-side panel.

And here's the surprise I got ...

Because I build all Elecraft products, when the K3 was first announced I ordered one. My idea was to build it and find out everything I needed to know so that I could build and service them for my clients. Then sell it. What I didn't expect was that I like it so much that I'm keeping it and selling my Icom746Pro instead!

Here's the 100-watt amplifier ...

Notice the 2 fans. So quiet that I need to look at them to verify they're running! It's difficult to see much except the heat sink.