What is the Elecraft K3 transceiver?
From Zerobeat
The Elecraft K3 transceiver is the newest offering from Elecraft of Aptos, California. It is new, in general release starting in December of 2007.
The transceiver is approximately the size of the Icom IC735, making it a compact desktop, larger mobile, or typical portable sized unit. It is modular in all ways and may be ordered as a no-solder kit or ready built.
Previous transceivers from Elecraft have been enthusiast’s radios, favored by campers and QRP operators, even though the specs on their K2 kit for example rival or exceed the specifications of most of the competitive offerings in the desktop category.
The K3 uses many of the conventions that made the K2 exceedingly successful, elegant simplicity with conservative size and cost, yet its design takes the next logical progression of the mainstream contest quality offerings from other brands.
This is quite a feat for a company that might only rank as a small department at their competitors judging strictly by employee count.
Nevertheless, the K3 has at its center a robust DSP receiver, with an option for a second DSP receiver within the small package. Even without a hardware AGC circuit preceding the DSP this would be a robust receiver, yet the K3 combines a hardware AGC circuit and the ability to further improve strong signal performance using roofing filters.
The design is somewhat similar to that of Ten Tec Orion, although with the added benefits of modularity and two equally outstanding receivers.
The K3 will be a transceiver that finds it's own following. Its roots are from a company that has specialized for many years in QRP products, so many of those conventions follow. However the K3 was designed with great influence from active contesters, and the numbers as well as the ergonomics bear this out. They've included digital modes inside the box, AM, FM, ESSB and FM CTSS. There are transverter options. There is pretty much something for everyone, albeit at some cost to the ergonomics as compared to larger desktop offerings.
