AmateurRadio.com

On Tuesday afternoon, I received the email notification that many of my fellow amateurs are waiting for.  That email of course was from Elecraft and the subject line read “Package Shipped to You”. 

I ordered my Elecraft KX3 within 30 minutes of the email notification which was sent out on 27 December (or 28 December UTC time).  I can’t remember ever ordering anything in “pre-order” fashion prior to the KX3.  Although within a few weeks of ordering the KX3, I did submit another pre-order for the Raspberry Pi. 

Anyway, if you are familiar with the KX3 order and wait process, then you know initially it was expected to begin shipping in late February or early March.  This date slipped and slipped another time or two.  However, about three weeks ago, we began seeing the first of the factory build units shipping out. 

I have worked in the IT industry for over 20 years.  I’ve worked for both hardware and software vendors and I’ve personally seen products rushed out of the door and felt the impact as a result.  I’ve also been on the other side and purchased products which were not ready for prime time.

While no one wants to wait, I’m extremely impressed with what I have seen from the Elecraft company regarding the release of the KX3.  Certainly in the amateur radio transceiver category, you won’t see the kind of interaction between company and customer like we are experiencing with Elecraft.   The other element I’m impressed with is the way Elecraft listens to their Customers and as a result, we’ve seen many changes go into the KX3 and some have even been in the last 7-10 days.  WOW!

So as I write this, I just checked USPS tracking and my KX3 left San Jose on Tuesday evening and arrived and was processed through the Denver USPS sorting facility.  This should mean, Bob (my mailman) will have a box to deliver to my QTH on Thursday.  Again WOW!

I will take pictures and perhaps video.  I may not be as lucky as one ham yesterday who actually photographed his KX3 box while still in the hands of his mailman.  In any event, there has already been a few videos showing the unboxing and operation of the KX3.  I may not be able to do anything “original” but will at the very least try to get a little footage.

Finally, I’m sure everyone wants to know the burning question of when will my KX3 make her maiden SOTA voyage?  I would truly love to say it will be this weekend.  Perhaps it will be.  Also, next weekend is the QRPTTF Contest.  I blogged about the QRP To The Field contest earlier in the week and mentioned it was joining forces with SOTA.  While QRPTTF is a CW contest (I’m still struggling to gain altitude with this endeavor) I did feel it would still be worthwhile to activate a SOTA summit on SSB. 

Of course, some might say….Why not do both weekends?  I’d love that!  If you’ve been following my blog you also know I’m working most every weekend on the new ham shack.   With drywall now covering the walls and ceiling, we have reached the tape, mud and sanding phase.  As someone who suffers from dust allergies, I think I’d rather just push through this phase as quickly as possible.  This will also make the XYL happy as dust from the construction zone has reached just about every point in the house.  It will continue to get worse until this is completed.

Well that is about all the news I have for now.  Expect another blog posting in the next few days once I have my KX3 in hand. 

Until next time…

73 de KD0BIK

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