K3 Suggested Configurations
From Zerobeat
1. K3/10 $1399
Base 10 watt K3 with standard TCXO, hardware -and- software noise blankers, all mode DSP filtering, and KIO3 RS232 command interface. I'd stress to the K2 guys that K3 will provide all the bandwidths that you get with the K2 without ever needing to buy any crystals. The K3 does with DSP what the K2 does with a crystal bank. When the crystal bank is made available for the K3 it won't be to provide final filter width as in the K2, it will be to reduce overload from multi kilowatt stations (or your neighbor if he has an amateur radio). Here is one caveat - the K3 comes from the factory with ONLY a 2.7 khz roofing filter. This means, as shipped, the K3 can not use it's DSP at any greater bandwidth than 2.7 khz. Most other DSP transceivers come with a 15khz filter standard which allows AM/FM and wide SSB. AM filter $120. FM Filter $120, not yet available as of February 2008. Also, the firmware as of Feb 2008 is not ready to allow the 15khz roofing filter to work with modes other than FM.
2. KAT3 $259
Internal ATU with second antenna jack.
3. KRX3 $539
April 2008 - The KRX3 is a second fully independent internal receiver which operates to the same specifications as the main receiver of the K3. At the present time the major benefit of this is contest operation, as full duplex (satellite) mode is not currently available in the K3 firmware. Diversity mode, or listening to the same signal using two different antennas is also made possible using the KRX3 and the second antenna port which is made available by using the KAT3.
4. KPA3 $399
100 watt PA with Fans. This takes cool air in from the top cover and blows it out the back as far as I can tell. The 10w K3 needs no fans, the PA is kept cool just like the K2 by bolting to the cover.
5. KBPF3 $129
General Coverage option, required to listen to any band that's more than (approximately) 500 khz from an amateur radio band. The General Coverage "option" is needed because the engineers at Elecraft did not want to sacrifice ultimate SWL performance in the K3 and at the same time didn't want to hike the base price of the K3 by $99, requiring everyone to pay it. The K3 should be the most amazing SWL receiver ever made. Without the General Coverage option, the receiver will still receive most all of the HF spectrum, but there will be some places outside of the ham bands where received signals will be attenuated.
6. KFL3A1.0K $120
1.0 khz roofing filter, should be a "no effect" option for at least a couple years for casual operation (operators using modest antennas in non contest environments). The roofing filters are essential when receive signal levels are strong enough for the internal DSP filtering to need their help. This would be especially true in contests on frequencies where many S9 + 20 or better signals occupy the same 20 khz or so of the band around your VFO frequency.
7. KFL3B-FM $120
Allows FM transmit, with the possibility of also allowing AM transmit depending upon MIC setup, etc. In this case the DSP in the K3 alone is counted upon to keep the transmitted signal pure.
8. KXV3 $99
Allows a receive antenna, which also provides for an external receive device. If you have a front loading washer with a nasty switching power supply, use an MFJ-1026 to remedy this. However the MFJ-1026 typically uses RF sensing at the main antenna. That means the relay in the device ruins QSK in transmit. With the KXV3, the MFJ1026 can stay in receive mode 100% of the time and I can have noise removal with QSK. Contesters will use this connection for their brute force band pass filters which keeps the other transceivers that are operating at a multi transmitter site out of their receivers.
Provides for buffered output for a future panadapter for bandscope. Elecraft didn't choose to burden the internal processor with this task. The Softrock Lite device and a "Rocky" program at the PC that can use this, after a small amount of additional buffering is added to the softrock hardware to keep the softrock internally generated noise from being injected into the K3 IF.
