• FIXED LCD ICONS FOR NOTCH, MANUAL NOTCH, and NORM "wings" on DSP graphic. Applies to version 'B' front panel hardware only.

  NOTE: Tap '1' in the FW REVS menu entry to see the front panel hardware version. VER A and VER B differ only in the type of LCD driver IC used.

• FSK-D KEYING BANDWIDTH GREATLY REDUCED: This change reduces the amplitude of the FSK-D keying sidebands by 25-30 dB at a 500-Hz offset, giving the K3 one of the cleanest FSK signals available.

• K3/0 (REMOTE-RIG) IMPROVEMENTS: (1) Supply voltage can go down to 7.6 V; (2) VFO lock works correctly; (3) TX LED no longer gets out of sync.

• IMPROVED HANDLING OF SERIAL I/O (RS232) ERROR CONDITIONS.

• SUPPORT ADDED FOR ALTERNATIVE LCD DRIVER IC. This has no effect on radio operation.
  

This release will automatically be recognized by K3 Utility.

Please use latest K3 Utility to load. 

See K3 Firmware Release Notes  for a complete revision history.

Note: For KPAK3AUX cable use between the KPA500 and K3, K3 Version 4.36, or later, must be loaded.

• ESSB TRANSMIT CAN USE THE FM FILTER: The wide (FM) crystal filter can now be assigned to ESSB transmit as well as FM and AM. This can potentially free up a crystal filter slot for customers who were using the 6-kHz filter only for AM/ESSB. NOTE: The 6-kHz filter is still recommended for high-performance ESSB and AM receive, as it will provide significantly better close-in dynamic range than the FM filter.
  

• TRANSVERTER FREQUENCY ENTRY FIXED:  The previous release did not handle direct frequency entry to transverter bands correctly (e.g., 144 MHz came out as 180 MHz).
  

• KEYER PADDLE ENABLED IN FSK-D/PSK-D MODES ONLY IF TEXT DECODE IS ON: Those using FSK-D/PSK-D via with a computer requested that the paddles be disabled when the K3's internal text decode is OFF so that hitting the paddles accidentally doesn't interfere with PC-based transmission.
  

• CW DECODE IMPROVED: The CW decode algorithm now includes its own AGC system, independent of regular AGC threshold/slope/decay settings. Decode of element spaces vs. word spaces adjust slightly to improve rate of copy on average code samples.

CW DECODE TIPS:

• Use the TEXT DEC switch and VFO A to set CW decode threshold. We recommend using THR 2 or 3 for most signals, and THR 1 for very weak signals. These fixed settings usually work better than AUTO.
  

• Also use TEXT DEC and VFO B to turn on CW decode and select the speed range. The CW 5-40 WPM setting is best for all but the fastest CW.
  

• Use a narrow WIDTH setting (50-250 Hz when possible)
  

• If the band is noisy, interfering with copy, try turning on the noise blanker (NB) first to reduce the level of impulse noise.
  

• When there is no CW signal above the required threshold, you'll see random characters decoded.
  

• Copy will vary with sending accuracy, fading, signal level, interference, and noise.