I've been using the radio for about 10 days and am feeling comfortable with it and have stopped habitually tweaking this and that. :laugh:
Memory operations
One of the first things I've noted is the difference in the way the memory functions are handled compared to the Yaesu radios I've used for over a decade. In a nutshell, the Yaesu rigs have the concept of "memory mode" and "VFO mode" while the K3's paradigm is one of stored VFO settings as "memories". In the Yaesu model memories are tunable and once can always revert back to the memory setting as stored or VFO A or B as they were before entering memory mode. The K3, on the other hand, immediately replaces the current VFOs (both A and B) with the memory contents as soon as one sets about selecting a memory with no way to revert (that I've yet to find) to the previous frequency/mode, etc. So long as one knows what's about to happen, it's no big deal, but it's quite a paradigm change.
"Noisy" receiver
On the Elecraft email list there are some times mention of the K3's receiver being perceived as noisy. There are likely several reasons for this and one approach is to change the AGC THR and AGC SLP values from the defaults which I have set to 008 and 003 respectively. It also occurred to me that the noise that was annoying me was mostly of the higher audio frequencies, particularly since I am using a small set of hi-fi speakers with the binaural audio effect turned on, so I adjusted the audio equalization to roll off the high frequencies. This helped a lot and the K3 matches my FT-920 for listening quality on SSB, especially since Yaesu radios are known for having quiet receivers.
Pulling out the weak ones
After only ten days it is quite difficult to make a final determination on how well the K3 makes weaker signals easier to copy. However, something has dawned on me that I'm paying a bit more attention to and it will take some time for me to form a solid opinion on this.
On one of our section's 75m SSB nets there is a station from not too far away, well within the NVIS zone, who has been consistently uncopyable here for the past few years on both my FT-920 and FT-890. I have now heard him, although weak perhaps 75 to 90% copy, more often than not. It's likely that it's simply band conditions and a happy coincidence or the K3's DSP really does employ some algorithm that is allowing me to hear this station more consistently even with the RF preamp off and ATT switched in plus the RF Gain control at about 3 O'clock. Again time will tell, perhaps a year or more to really appreciate the difference.
Unfortunately, I sold the FT-920 before I ordered the K3 so I can't so an A/B comparison nor am I setup to do an instant A/B with any of my other rigs.
Audio effects
One of the neat things to try is the audio effects with a pair of stereo speakers. Copying HF will never be the same again! Set the audio effects to bin and enjoy. It takes some time to get used to and all I can say is that the operator will have to decide if it's useful or wanted.
VFO knob noise
Now, this one will seem odd, I know. In order to provide operator adjustable feel on each VFO control a very stiff fiber ring is placed between each knob and the front panel. By virtue of having stiff fibers I found the action to create noise when spinning the knob before I powered up the radio. As I like a "light" feel, perhaps I noticed more noise than if I had caused more friction between the knob and the fiber ring thus making the knobs feel heavier. Once I have the AF gain turned up to a comfortable listening level (just past 9 O'clock), I don't hear the knob noise at all so in a practical sense it's a non-issue. Still, for a rig in this price class it seems a bit cheap. OTOH, it's likely Elecraft chose this method over a complicated and OEM style torque setting system which would have certainly added more cost to the radio and would be one more thing to possibly fail in the future of which there seem to be few of a mechanical nature on this radio.
TX audio
I'll admit it, I have a very poor radio voice and a face made for radio so I should probably stick to CW.
But I persist on voice and earlier this week one of the locals confided that my TX audio has much more punch and modulation than with either of my Yaesu rigs he has heard me use. This was completely unsolicited and so far no one else has made mention of it. I am using the Yaesu MD-100A8X desk microphone on the K3 that I also used on the FT-920 and FT-890. I am running compression at 0 and mic gain at 29 to get the recommended ALC level.
Sound card modes
Throw that interface up on eBay or some other site as it's not needed with the K3. Although, that may not necessarily be true especially if you're using a machine where adding a second sound card may not be possible then something like a SignaLink USB may be useful. Otherwise, I simply cabled the K3's transformer isolated Line In/Out jacks to the onboard sound jacks on my desktop (I use a PCI sound card for KDE and other sound use) and set Fldigi to use Hamlib to key the K3 via CAT control which eliminated the need for using a second serial port just to key the rig.
Elecraft support
So far things have gone according to plan and I've not needed to utilize Elecraft's support for anything major. I did notice a couple of small chips in the paint on the top cover (the only blemishes on an otherwise perfectly appearing radio) so I fired off an email to Elecraft support asking about touch up paint. I received a reply during the next business day stating that the paint is actually powder coat so the suggestion was to use a black Sharpie to cover the small spots. I did so and would be very hard pressed to find the exact spots again.
Being a Linux user, I naturally try to use Linux apps when possible and the K3 Utility is no exception. I found that a couple of days ago that a pair of short macros were not being saved to the K3 correctly. An email to the mailing list and soon I was in contact with the Linux K3 Utility author and this morning he gave me a link to an updated version which worked. I volunteered as a beta tester for the Linux version so I hope to help development.
In closing
I'll add to this thread in the future as observations warrant. In lieu of a blog of my own, I guess this thread will suffice.