Wee Beastie

My Irish grandmother, and Scotts/Irish grandfather used the term 'wee' to describe anything and everything that was small - from lightning bugs to babies. I think I understood the term 'wee' before I understood what the word 'small' stood for. The radio connection? Well, I've reached the conclusion that none of the major manufacturers will be making my ideal field radio any time soon. I needed to take matters into my own hands and build something that came as close as possible to my vision. I started with the Elecraft KX3 platform because it offered the most potential. In pursuit of this ideal I've stuffed every available add-on into a KX3, installed a few firmware updates to extend capabilities, and bolted on a few key after-market components to improve functionality. What I ended up with was a beast of a little rig - a 'wee beastie'.

I've discussed this KX3 a lot on this blog, so this post will be something of a wrap-up on all the things I've done to get the radio to just where I want it. To note, I've been singularly unimpressed with most of the Big Three (Icom, Yaesu, Kenwood) and China, Inc. offerings over the past few years. I desperately want a small, light, HF only field radio that offers true portability, good SSB and digital performance, low power consumption, and 20 watts output on internal or connected batteries. I own an IC-705, but that rig is has a number of issues that keep it out of serious contention. I've taken a quick look at the new Yaesu FTX-1 and, well, no thanks. While the Xeigu G90 once looked promising, I don't buy China, Inc. products out of principle. There are several contenders on the used market, such as the Icom IC-706 or 7000, but good used examples have gotten pricey. One of my many regrets was not paying more attention to the IC-706 when it were still in production.

After reviewing all the options, and leaning on my experience with the Elecraft KX2, I decided to find a good used KX3 and give that a try. The KX3 has been on the market for over 15 years, it's still in production, is well supported by Elecraft and a large user community, offers an impressive array of options, and gets me as close to my 20 watt output goal as I'm likely to get with a modern field radio. The KX3 provides 15 watts of output on most bands when connected to an external battery, and up to 10 watts on internal batteries. It also offers very impressive receiver performance (it's rated in the top 11 by Sherwood Engineering). Yes, Elecraft's KX line is an acquired taste - the controls, settings and firmware options are unlike any other rig and, to be honest, some of the technology built into the radio is old - like its built-in NiMH battery charging function. Why Elecraft hasn't moved beyond this to develop a modern lithium battery capability, like they have with the KX2, is baffling. But at least you can run the radio on internal batteries for a few hours at reduced output power. Overall, the KX3 platform offered the most potential.

Rather than yelling at you for opening up your radio, Elecraft actually encourages it. 
Virtually every board, wire and cable in this photo can be purchased a-la-carte from Elecraft 
and is user replaceable. 

A fair number of KX3 rigs come up for sale every month, on QRZ.com and the Elecraft Groups.io discussion site. After hunting around for a bit, I picked up this radio at a fair price. It was part of a package deal that included the KXPA100 amplifier and tuner (that clever piece of gear is a story for another day). The KX3 came with the internal tuner and roofing filters, but oddly did not have the internal battery charger board installed. This means it was an early model (mine is in the 10,000 serial number range), since Elecraft now includes the battery charger and real-time clock board in current production units. As it came, it was a very good radio, and with a little effort could be improved.

• The first thing to tackle was the battery charger. Elecraft sells the charger/clock board as a user installed option (in fact, just about every KX3 add-on is user installed). Just plug it in, change a few firmware settings and the NiMH charger is up and running. I stuffed a set of Tenergy high capacity NiMH AA batteries into the internal battery tray and was up and running. Elecraft recommends reduced output power of between 3 - 5 watts when on internal batteries, but you CAN push it up to 10 watts for short operating periods. 

• MARS mod. I wanted to be able to use this radio on SHARES frequencies, which meant I needed to remove the amateur band restrictions. With other amateur radios this means either yanking something off the main board, or soldering something on. With Icom rigs it's removing a teeeny diode or two. With Yaesu rigs I've worked on, it means closing a solder bridge on an open pad on the main board. With the KX3, it's a simple firmware update. Just email Elecraft tech support and they'll send the file to you, and it's a reversable mod.

• The KX3 is known to run hot, and the frequencies can start to drift when the rig gets too hot. The factory heat sink - just a big piece of folded metal - works, but not as good as some after market solutions. I installed one of the heat sinks made by Pro Audio Engineering.  Yes, the heat sink adds weight to the rig, but that's a necessary trade-off.

• The front face of the rig needs some protection, and a company called Gems Products makes an excellent set of replacement side panels that provide raised 'rails' that will protect the knobs if the radio is placed (or falls) face-down on a surface. In addition, they make a snap on polycarbonate cover that mates with the side panels to provide full front panel coverage. This is such a popular option that the majority of KX3 rigs I've seen have these panels installed. They are so ubiquitous that many think they are a factory original product. 

• 2 meter capability. OK, this is an 'icing on the cake' add-on. Elecraft makes a 2 meter transverter mod that installs inside the radio (it mounts above the internal tuner), and provides a separate SMA connector for a 2 meter antenna (hear that, Icom?). It works on all modes - FM, SSB, AM & CW, and you can set repeater offsets and tones. I don't really need 2 meter capability, but hey, why not if it's available. I installed it yesterday and got good audio reports from other hams one of our local repeaters.

Look Ma, Two Meters!

• Digital modes. Elecraft didn't build a sound card interface into the rig. To be fair, they didn't put a sound card interface into any of their rigs until the recent release of their high end K4 radio. But there is a digital mode built into the firmware. I'll be honest and admit that I struggled for a long time to get this radio running right on digital modes. It turns out I was just using the wrong hardware. First I tried a SignaLink unit, but for some reason the KX3 didn't really like that. Next was a DigiRig. Again, I was having all sorts of configuration issues with that. Eventually I took the advice of a majority of KX3 users on the Groups.io site and tried a simple and cheap Sbarent USB sound card dongle - $13 on Amazon. Success! There are a few settings you have to play with on the radio, like turning off the microphone PTT option, but once you get those sorted out, it runs like a champ on digital modes. Yes, there's a bit of a cable mess and you have to run an outboard speaker to monitor the receive audio, but it works and works well. 

To recap. I started a search for a lightweight, portable all-mode 20 watt HF rig with a built-in power supply & tuner. None of the Big Three are making what I want. The only radio that seemed to offer the potential to get close to what I'm after is the KX3. In going the KX3 route I was able to get closer to the ideal than with any other available HF rig:

• 160 - 2 meter all-mode RX & TX
• Low current consumption - as low as 150 mA on receive
• Wide-band TX (MARS mod)
• 15 watts TX on external batteries, 5 - 10 watts on internal
• Excellent RX performance
• Easy to view front panel
• Roofing filters
• Internal wide range tuner
• Good digital performance
• Easy to service & maintain
• Wide support from software developers
• Well supported by the manufacturer, user community and after-market suppliers
• An entire field kit - radio, external battery, antenna, microphone, cabling, documentation, can all be carried in a small waterproof Pelican case

Camping with the KX

So what's next? Well, into the field I go! Time to run this wee beast hard in various field environments. My go-to antenna is the Chameleon tactical delta loop - fast to set up and very effective. I'll be using that as a baseline for testing. One test goal is reliable connections to Winlink RMS nodes at least 500 miles from my operating position. Stay tuned!

W8BYH out