Finished the K3 today, spent a good part of the day doing the final tweaking, listening to 75 meter AM group as I type this. All told it took me 5, maybe 6 days, I spent mostly a few hours each evening, choosing to take my time to assemble, test and verify the kit. Sure that I could have done it one or two sittings, but I choose to savor the experience, it really was fun, of course one fellow did it in 7 minutes…www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfUMZcwtIyw. Of course that’s a time lapse video, done over several days, but still one gets the idea.
I had a ball building the K3, its like an erector set for adults, all bolt together – no solder. I’ve got a K2 to build for another fellow, suspect that is going to be a little more of a drudge after breezing through this. Part of what makes the experience special is the support of the Elecraft community, like the AM Fone site, there are dozens upon dozens of knowledgeable folks more than willing to help out with anything question or glitch you may encounter, that sense of community is invaluable. Best part – NO TOROIDS TO WIND – I am way over that, was fun for the first two, maybe three kits, but no more. I did not add the 100 watt module, happy to run with the QRP 10/12 watt LPA, that seems to be the focus for me in 2011, less is more.