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| KPA3 cover plate |
Those who are regular readers of this blog know I have all Elecraft equipment and enjoy it very much. My Elecraft K3 was purchased with the 100 watt module (KPA3) and up to this point it has been sitting in the rig and just adding weight. The other week it was decided to unload some unused gear then put these funds together for the purchase of the Elecraft KX3. One of the items on the selling block was the KPA3 unit. When the KPA3 is removed from the radio there is a hole in the rear of the radio were the cooling fans were located. Elecraft sells a plate (6 x 2 3/4 inch aluminum plate) that covers the hole. I called up and placed an order, the cost of the plate was 20.37. A little expensive I thought but what are you going to do. Ten days later the plate
arrived looking at the bill the plate cost 20.37 and the shipping was 10.00!!!
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| Opening when fans are removed |
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| Plastic plugs |
This is half the cost of the plate. The package weighted
ONE OUNCE and was shipped parcel rate. To add insult to injury the plate has a hole labeled "ANT 3". I believe this is for the 2m antenna out port .........if you have the 2m module!!!! Anyway I had to drive to the local electronics store to buy the plastic plug. They came in a package of 2 for forty nine cents. You know what Elecraft throw in the plastic plug and add one dollar to the cost. Back to the shipping rant........ my Elecraft KX3 according to Elecraft weights in at 1.4 LBS and lets knock that up to 1.6 pounds when you add in the shipping box, packing material,manual and bill. The cost for shipping me my KX3 is 48.00 dollars and that is more reasonable and understandable. TEN DOLLARS TO SHIP A 1 OUNCE PACKAGE.....COME ON ELECRAFT !!!!
6 comments:
Hi Mike,
Well, if you are going to sell the KPA then it is definitely best to use OEM equipment. That does seem very steep, however. With the price of fuel continuing to go up it seems that shipping stuff is getting to be a bigger problem all the time as its cost becomes a bigger percentage of the item.
Good luck with your sale!
73,
Casey
A pity I didn't know about this earlier. I'm pretty sure I still have the original back panel from my K3 before I added the KPA100. You could have had it for the (real) cost of the postage!
Good morning Casey, yes the KPA3 went up on the blog and the Elecraft reflector. It lasted about 2 hours before it was sold and it's at a new home in the U.S. Fuel is going up for sure one of the reasons I traded in my car was it cost me over 90.00 at each fill up. The car I have now on average cost 23.00 and lasts me over 500km's to a tank. Most of the time OEM parts are more pricey as you found out with your encoder for your K2. As for the shipping of the plate the package was bulk mail and weighed in at 1 ounce according to the stamp on the postcard size package. According to the USPS the cost for an envelope at bulk rate is .90 cents. If it is a 1 ounce package the cost is 1.95 to ship. These prices include all the cost the post office would incur the rest of the 10.00 I guess was on Elecrafts side.
Have a good what's left of the weekend Casey.
Mike
Good morning Julian, hind sight is always 20/20 eh. Most people are like you getting the K3/10 and moving it up to a k3/100.....me Im the opposite!! Thanks for the offer and I never did think to ask if there were any spare plates out there.
Mike
Greetings ! Do you happen to own any writing education or this is a completely natural talent ? Thanks a lot in advance for your answer.
It's all el-natura-el
Mike
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