6 meters
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One of the reasons
I purchased a K3 was to have a superior 6 meter rig. I have 5 elements at
85 ft. A friend about 12 miles away was working all kinds of stations and
I can't hear a single one and his KW was very faint with an antenna at 85
ft. My Flex 5000A didn't work on 6 meters as well and the Pro III heard
everything.
Phil
Philip
LaMarche www.w9dvm.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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Hi Phil,
The K3 was optimized from the ground up for high dynamic range (which we achieved). Sensitivity is very satisfactory on the HF bands (typically -135 to -138 dBm). But on 6 meters, where a low MDS is critical for some types of operation, an external, ultra-low-noise preamp may be required. That's one reason that we included RX ANT IN and OUT jacks on the KXV3 module: this is the ideal point in the signal chain for such a preamp. Please take a look at our model PR6 preamp, which we recently began shipping. It can be attached directly to RX ANT IN and OUT, and improves the K3's 6-meter MDS to around -143 or -144 dBm. It also has thru-path jacks for RX ANT IN/OUT so you can still connect filters or antennas for other bands. The PR6 can be set up to turn on automatically when you switch to 6 m. 73, Wayne N6KR On Dec 23, 2008, at 2:34 PM, Phil LaMarche wrote: > One of the reasons I purchased a K3 was to have a superior 6 meter > rig. I have 5 elements at 85 ft. A friend about 12 miles away was > working all kinds of stations and I can't hear a single one and his KW > was very faint with an antenna at 85 ft. My Flex 5000A didn't work on > 6 meters as well and the Pro III heard everything. --- http://www.elecraft.com _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Phil LaMarche-2
I replaced my 6 meter station ( Orion O2 + Elecraft XV50 ) with the K3.
I find that in my city location that the K3 is equal to the old set up. I do have the PR6 preamp but I find that I do not need it as the one in the K3 is just fine. living in the city the background noise is S3 - S4 most of the time..when the rains come it drops to S2..unless you live way out in the country and no noise you should not need the PR6 as all it will do is raise the noise floor.... don't forget that the skip on 6 meters can be quite selective, I have observed that stations 5 miles away from me can work station that I can not hear and a bit later I will be working them and the other station won't hear them.. I have a 5 MHZ crystal reference that I use the 10th harmonic for calibration at 50 Mhz and use it for a weak signal reference.. there is very little difference between the 2 station set ups.. you need to set it up to be able to switch between the 2 radios and compare at the same time.. if the K3 is weak contact Elecraft support... Ed K7WIA 6 meters since '63 3 time WAS 580 Grids |
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In reply to this post by Phil LaMarche-2
The Elecraft Noise Generator is worth its weight in gold and platinum. Gives you a real quick check on reality. Please double check your setup, very carefully. tom k8tb Phil LaMarche wrote:
_______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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I have a good 6m set-up with a 7 element long yagi and low loss feeder
(~ 0.5dB). I am in a quiet (in most directions..) rural area. Without the PR6 the K3 does not hear quite as well as my Icom 7800 used to. The stock K3 is still good enough to decode some EME QSO's Swapping between the antenna and a 50 Ohm load shows that band noise is sightly higher on the antenna than the load. In my quiet rural location The stock K3 is almost sensitive enough without the PR6 enabled. Turning on the PR6 helps by a couple of dB with the really weak ones but once the PR6 is on the band noise floor becomes the limiting factor. For many in urban locations manmande nose will be the limiting factor, not the sensitivity of the K3 73 Brendan EI6IZ (108 DXCC & 42 US states on 6m) _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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In reply to this post by Phil LaMarche-2
I find the K3 to be just fine on 6 meters. For extremely weak signal work, an external preamp may be needed. Time will tell. I've used the Flex 5000A, Pro III and the K3 on 6 meters. As far as signal reception goes, I could not notice any difference between the 3 rigs. I could A/B/C them. The PRO III and Flex 5000A now have new homes.....that says it all. If one can hardly hear a KW station a mile away on 6, then there's either a serious problem with the K3 or something's not right in the station/antenna setup. I'm looking forward to the Spring/Summer on 6 meters. 73 es Merry Christmas, Dave N8AG _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [hidden email] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com |
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