[CQ-Contest] Recommendations for current contest rigs?

[Jeff Kinzli]

Surely your thread will have lots of activity from a lively audience...

Having used the K3 and KX3 extensively in contest situations (CW and
SSB, no RTTY), I would say that my personal choice is the K3 of the
two based on your criteria. That said, the KX3 is a great little radio
that I have used in many contests and its held its own just fine.

However, all things being equal, of course the K3 is a higher
performance radio from a contesting, DXing and CW perspective. On the
low bands, the K3 really shines due to real crystal filters, diversity
RX, etc.

In terms of other capable radios, there's the TS590S, TenTec Eagle,
FT5000, and the larger TenTec radios. They all have good receivers,
and they all have their features and advantages/disadvantages. The
FT5000 is a great radio but not very portable at all. The TS590 is a
nice radio but lacks some configurability (no 2nd rx, lack of roofing
filter options, upconversion on some bands, etc.). The Eagle is nice
too but is pretty simple.

The other thing is that there's a LOT more K3's in the field than
probably any other of the radios above with respect to walking into a
contest station and sitting down at a desk. Regular firmware and
hardware mods are available, support is great, etc. make the K3 a hard
one to beat IMHO.

And then theres the side of having both :) I'll be using a K3+KX3 in
SO2R for CQWW this year, as that fits in my strategy very well, being
somewhat limited in what I can transport to my QTH of choice, as well
as knowing the radios well, and knowing their capabilities. K3 will be
primary of course, KX3 secondary, with the 100w PA feeding the 2nd
amplifier. I actually think that in some cases, the KX3 RX is a touch
better than the K3 RX in some ways, and its nice to have them in an
A/B scenario to see the difference. They are both configurable enough
that you can make them sound pretty much any way you like.

I purposely didn't speak much about the full size radios (FT1k, FT5K,
TS990S, IC7700/7800) which are all good radios in their own right but
portability is a big one for me and its hard to beat throwing the K3
or KX3 in my carryon baggage and going for it :)

As always, YMMV...see you in the pileups!

Jeff N6GQ, YN2AA, 9H3ZZ, 4K9Z, etc., etc.

On Wed, Jul 16, 2014 at 7:45 PM, Kristinn Andersen <kristinn1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi:
>
> I am considering upgrading to a new rig. Price range preferably below
> $3,000. Are there suggestions?
>
> My main interests and operating preferences are...
>
> - DX contesting (about 80% of the time)
> - CW (80%), RTTY/Data (15%), SSB (5%)
> - Top band and low bands, spending late nights cutting through the noise
> - Good filtering, signal processing and digital control
> - Reasonable portability would be a plus, for taking along on weekend
> contesting
>
> The Elecraft K3 seems to fit the bill, but are there other contenders?
> What about KX3 for contesting (adding an amplifier)?
>
> 73 - Kristinn, TF3KX
>
> --
> http://radio.tf3kx.googlepages.com/
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