Hello Folks,
Just talking to a friend that has a K3 also and he was asking why the signal gets louder with less noise when you turn off the "AGC" ? I turned off tha agc when working a weak DX station, and he was right. Made the copy easier and much louder. What is the technical reason for this? Don..w2xb |
Since AGC automatically turns down the gain when there is a big signal,
I'd expect that it would make things quiet. Basically, it adjusts the gain to equalize all signals. Band noise, weak signals, strong signals - all are rendered at the same volume level as they come out the speaker. Turn AGC off and the quiet stuff remains quiet while the loud stuff gets much louder. Overall S/N ratio goes way up. I run my rig with a combination of AGC on/off. I turn AGC on (to squash any loud peaks) then back RF gain down until the noise background gets weak. Now I have a higher average S/N ratio but still have the ear-protection benefits of AGC. - Keith N1AS - - K3 711 - -----Original Message----- From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of W2XB Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 7:43 AM To: [hidden email] Subject: [Elecraft] [K3] AGC Hello Folks, Just talking to a friend that has a K3 also and he was asking why the signal gets louder with less noise when you turn off the "AGC" ? I turned off tha agc when working a weak DX station, and he was right. Made the copy easier and much louder. What is the technical reason for this? Don..w2xb -- View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/AGC-tp2435434p2435434.html Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
Kieth is correct if the AGC parameters are set high, particularly the
slope - that tries to make everything the same volume. If you can recall tuning an AM radio between stations, the noise level between stations gets louder because there is no signal to hold the AGC active, and the AGC is quite aggressive. I did not like the behavior of the AGC with the default settings, I liked the AGC behavior on my K2. After seeing the curves produced by Jack Smith (Clifton Labs), I changed my AGC parameters to more closely emulate the K2. AGC PLS off AGC SLP 002 AGC THR 008 AGC-F 140 AGC-S 010 I like my K3 AGC now - weak signals sound weaker than strong ones and the noise level does not rise as much. Your preferences may vary. 73, Don W3FPR Darwin, Keith wrote: > Since AGC automatically turns down the gain when there is a big signal, > I'd expect that it would make things quiet. Basically, it adjusts the > gain to equalize all signals. Band noise, weak signals, strong signals > - all are rendered at the same volume level as they come out the > speaker. Turn AGC off and the quiet stuff remains quiet while the loud > stuff gets much louder. Overall S/N ratio goes way up. > > I run my rig with a combination of AGC on/off. I turn AGC on (to squash > any loud peaks) then back RF gain down until the noise background gets > weak. Now I have a higher average S/N ratio but still have the > ear-protection benefits of AGC. > > - Keith N1AS - > - K3 711 - > > -----Original Message----- > From: [hidden email] > [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of W2XB > Sent: Friday, March 06, 2009 7:43 AM > To: [hidden email] > Subject: [Elecraft] [K3] AGC > > > Hello Folks, > Just talking to a friend that has a K3 also and he was asking why the > signal gets louder with less noise when you turn off the "AGC" ? I > turned off tha agc when working a weak DX station, and he was right. > Made the copy easier and much louder. What is the technical reason for > this? > > Don..w2xb > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/AGC-tp2435434p2435434.html > Sent from the [K3] mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[hidden email] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG - www.avg.com > Version: 8.0.237 / Virus Database: 270.11.8/1985 - Release Date: 03/05/09 07:54:00 > > Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
In reply to this post by Darwin, Keith
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In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4
Don thanks for the following info. These settings really gets rid of the noise
and signals are there. I changed my settings. Ron NA9F Don's stated AGC settings: AGC PLS off AGC SLP 002 AGC THR 008 AGC-F 140 AGC-S 010 I like my K3 AGC now - weak signals sound weaker than strong ones and the noise level does not rise as much. Your preferences may vary. 73, Don W3FPR |
In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4
Don: Your setting are so different from mine. I tried yours, and now I have a brand new K3. Thank you. 73, W1TF, K3 #696 , K1 # 1423, gets used once in a while. --- On Fri, 3/6/09, Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> wrote: > From: Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]> > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] [K3] AGC > To: [hidden email] > Date: Friday, March 6, 2009, 8:22 AM > Kieth is correct if the AGC parameters are set high, > particularly the > slope - that tries to make everything the same volume. If > you can > recall tuning an AM radio between stations, the noise level > between > stations gets louder because there is no signal to hold the > AGC active, > and the AGC is quite aggressive. > > I did not like the behavior of the AGC with the default > settings, I > liked the AGC behavior on my K2. After seeing the curves > produced by > Jack Smith (Clifton Labs), I changed my AGC parameters to > more closely > emulate the K2. > AGC PLS off > AGC SLP 002 > AGC THR 008 > AGC-F 140 > AGC-S 010 > > I like my K3 AGC now - weak signals sound weaker than > strong ones and > the noise level does not rise as much. Your preferences > may vary. > > 73, > Don W3FPR ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[hidden email] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html |
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