Bigger K3 S-meter vs what I REALLY want.

[Ralph Parker]

>I'm not sure that I understand the fascination of larger S meters...

Nor I.
I usually give reports by ear anyway.

What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.

VE7XF

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Ralph Parker wrote

What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.

I'd like one too. Though I'd settle for a soundcard based one that didn't come with a whole screenful of SDR software attached to it so I could stick it in a corner of the screen and still have room for my logging program and datamode software.

[ab2tc]

Hi Julian,

Don't count out LP-PAN. True, it needs PowerSDR-IF, but it will not take the whole screen. Even the full display takes only about a quarter of my screen (1680x1050), but I can get rid of everything below and to the right of the panadapter display if I wish. I don't do that though because then I lose the individual band select buttons that so many people are whining about missing from the K3 front panel (and a whole bunch of other useful features, too). I admit they are handy. The panadapter display is simply gorgeous and I think there is universal agreement that it beats anything else out there including the Pro III. I'll send screen shots to anybody interested.

Julian, G4ILO wrote

Ralph Parker wrote

What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.

I'd like one too. Though I'd settle for a soundcard based one that didn't come with a whole screenful of SDR software attached to it so I could stick it in a corner of the screen and still have room for my logging program and datamode software.

[AD6XY]

Personally I would use the SDR-IQ as it is so much more powerful than an audio based system. Of the audio systems, LP-PAN is possibly the best available for the K3 at the moment.

You might also consider, if it is so important to you to have your PC screen uncluttered, getting a second small monitor to dedicate to the spectrum display. Small monitors of around 7" are readily available for use in cars. XP/Linux will drive them OK in addition to the main monitor. Apart from your knowledge this will be indistinguishable from a stand alone display.

Mike

 

Julian, G4ILO wrote

Ralph Parker wrote

What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.

I'd like one too. Though I'd settle for a soundcard based one that didn't come with a whole screenful of SDR software attached to it so I could stick it in a corner of the screen and still have room for my logging program and datamode software.

[Charly]

What I really already have is a nice spectrum display,

located neatly right on the front panel, no computer needed,

and it will display both receivers at once if desired,

and I can toggle to a logging program if I want, all on the

front panel of my 9000d.  Yep.


Charles Harpole


[hidden email]

> Date: Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:40:22 -0700
> From: [hidden email]
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Bigger K3 S-meter vs what I REALLY want.
>
>
>
>
> Ralph Parker wrote:
>>
>> What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
>> That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.
>>
> I'd like one too. Though I'd settle for a soundcard based one that didn't
> come with a whole screenful of SDR software attached to it so I could stick
> it in a corner of the screen and still have room for my logging program and
> datamode software.
>
> -----
> Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392 K3 #222.
> http://www.g4ilo.com/ G4ILO's Shack http://www.ham-directory.com/ Ham
> Directory http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html KComm for Elecraft K2 and K3
> --
> View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/Bigger-K3-S-meter-vs-what-I-REALLY-want.-tp1400255p1400591.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
> _______________________________________________
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[ka5oai]

Charles Harpole wrote:

> What I really already have is a nice spectrum display,
>
> located neatly right on the front panel, no computer needed,
>
> and it will display both receivers at once if desired,
>
> and I can toggle to a logging program if I want, all on the
>
> front panel of my 9000d.  Yep.
>

All for a mere $12,000,
must be nice
;-/

--
GB & 73
KA5OAI
Sam Morgan
http://linuxbasics.org
Linux, the lifetime learning experience.
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[W7TMT]

What I REALLY already have are four modern HF transceivers. One each from
Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu and Elecraft and at the moment all are sitting here
side-by-side with a switching set-up that allows me to do instant A/B/C/D
comparisons. My first Elecraft radio is a K3. The K3 is simply the best
radio I have ever owned. Am I a zealot? No, as I just said this is the first
Elecraft product I have ever owned and I've had it for just two weeks. Can
it get better? Yes it can.

Perhaps what is most important is whether I have ever been offered the
opportunity to chat with the designers/builders of the other radios as I did
with Wayne in the last couple of days over an obscure feature I'd like to
see (or any other feature/issue as far as that goes)? No never. Do any of
them have an email list (which appears to be totally un-moderated) that THEY
the manufacturer sponsors and supports so that I can provide my feedback and
perhaps influence their direction or air my complaints. No never. There are
other lists but they are all sponsored and run by the users not by the
vendor. All the other vendors that I have given my money to have the "you
bought it's your problem" attitude.

My 2nd favorite radio is my 1KMP Yaesu. I was fortunate to buy a late model
that Yaesu had (more or less) fixed the serious key click problems that
these radios had for TEN+ YEARS. Despite serious feedback from the Ham
community for a decade they just blew it off and only in the last two years
of production managed to install a half-hearted fix for the problem. I
should also note that the radio was only really good after I spent another
$800 dollars on roofing/IF filters from another company as the stock factory
stuff was garbage.

No doubt my operating requirements and others are not the same. However,
after nearly 50 years in the Amateur Radio Service I have never done
business with any vendor who is as quality and customer focused as Elecraft.
My very first purchase was simply the best dollars I have ever spent on
equipment in my radio experience.

Respectfully submitted with no ill will toward anyone.

73/Patrick
W7TMT
 

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[Jerry Flanders]

At 04:40 PM 10/30/2008, Julian, G4ILO wrote:

>Ralph Parker wrote:
> >
> > What I REALLY want is a stand-alone spectrum display (think 756 PRO).
> > That's the main reason I'm keeping the Pro III for 6m.
> >
>I'd like one too. Though I'd settle for a soundcard based one that didn't
>come with a whole screenful of SDR software attached to it so I could stick
>it in a corner of the screen and still have room for my logging program and
>datamode software.


Use PowerSDR with panadaptor hardware like LP-Pan or one of the I/Q
receivers like I do. Position PowerSDR so only the panadaptor panel
shows in the lower left corner of your display, then position your
other software on top of the unneeded portions of PowerSDR. I have a
BUNCH of stuff on my 1680x1050 display: PowerSDR, Writelog with
several panels, etc., etc...

The K3 with PowerSDR panadaptor is the best pan system of all I have
ever used, starting with the Heath panadaptor in the mid-'70's. and
including all 4 radios of the 756 series.

Jerry W4UK

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[N5GE]

On Mon, 3 Nov 2008 17:58:02 -0800, you wrote:

>
>What I REALLY already have are four modern HF transceivers. One each from
>Icom, Kenwood, Yaesu and Elecraft and at the moment all are sitting here
>side-by-side with a switching set-up that allows me to do instant A/B/C/D
>comparisons. My first Elecraft radio is a K3. The K3 is simply the best
>radio I have ever owned. Am I a zealot? No, as I just said this is the first
>Elecraft product I have ever owned and I've had it for just two weeks. Can
>it get better? Yes it can.
>
>Perhaps what is most important is whether I have ever been offered the
>opportunity to chat with the designers/builders of the other radios as I did
>with Wayne in the last couple of days over an obscure feature I'd like to
>see (or any other feature/issue as far as that goes)? No never. Do any of
>them have an email list (which appears to be totally un-moderated) that THEY
>the manufacturer sponsors and supports so that I can provide my feedback and
>perhaps influence their direction or air my complaints. No never. There are
>other lists but they are all sponsored and run by the users not by the
>vendor. All the other vendors that I have given my money to have the "you
>bought it's your problem" attitude.
>
>My 2nd favorite radio is my 1KMP Yaesu. I was fortunate to buy a late model
>that Yaesu had (more or less) fixed the serious key click problems that
>these radios had for TEN+ YEARS. Despite serious feedback from the Ham
>community for a decade they just blew it off and only in the last two years
>of production managed to install a half-hearted fix for the problem. I
>should also note that the radio was only really good after I spent another
>$800 dollars on roofing/IF filters from another company as the stock factory
>stuff was garbage.
>
>No doubt my operating requirements and others are not the same. However,
>after nearly 50 years in the Amateur Radio Service I have never done
>business with any vendor who is as quality and customer focused as Elecraft.
>My very first purchase was simply the best dollars I have ever spent on
>equipment in my radio experience.
>
>Respectfully submitted with no ill will toward anyone.
>
>73/Patrick
>W7TMT

[snip]

I second that after 33 years as a ham!  Love my S/N 806.

Tom, N5GE

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[W6NEK]

Jerry Flanders said:
<snip>
> The K3 with PowerSDR panadaptor is the best pan system of all I have ever
> used, starting with the Heath panadaptor in the mid-'70's. and including
> all 4 radios of the 756 series.
>
> Jerry W4UK
<snip>

I agree fully and can add two more rigs to what Jerry already mentions
above:
Kenwood TS-950SDX + SM-230 Panadapter.
Icom IC-7800 built-in bandscope.

Not only is the PowerSDR panadapter display the best I have ever seen, the
point and click feature for S&P in a contest is simply unbeatable.  If you
already own and use a later model logging computer then the addition of the
LP-PAN IF interface and PowerSDR software to the K3 is, in my opinion, the
single biggest enhancement available for the K3 (in fixed station use) at
this time.

My 2 cents,
Frank - W6NEK

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[P.B. Christensen]

Has anyone had an opportunity to compare LP-PAN with the SDR-IQ using
SpectraVue?  I am interested in using the K3 in a compact, portable
environment with my laptop PC where I would like to avoid the use of an
external sound card if possible, and the SDR-IQ seems to meet this
requirement.

Moreover, with the N8LP I.F. buffer mod conducted on the K3, is there any
reason to pursue any further I.F. level or impedance optimization when using
the SDR-IQ?  Tnx!

Paul, W9AC

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[Dave, G4AON]

Paul, I use a Perseus SDR (see QST for December 08 for the review, also
on the members site). Perseus has a USB2 interface rather than the
narrow band sound card approach. I don't use the IF out of the K3 with
Perseus, but connect them in parallel using an outboard ferrite splitter
on the RF IN/OUT of the K3's KXV3 interface module. Frequency "linking"
them via Ham Radio Deluxe so that either the K3 tunes the Perseus or
vice versa. The combination works very well, indeed the noise reduction
in the Perseus is superior to that in the K3. The receiver performance
is similar for both as the Perseus has a 3rd order IMD of 97 dB at 2 KHz
spacing.

The only downside to Perseus is the current lack of support from 3rd
party programs which seem to favour the 192 KHz bandwidth simpler SDR
receivers (Perseus has 1600 KHz bandwidth). There is a comparison of
Perseus vs. SDR-IQ at: http://www.ssb.de/amateur/pdf/radcom_mar08.pdf

73 Dave, G4AON
K3/100 #80

Has anyone had an opportunity to compare LP-PAN with the SDR-IQ using
SpectraVue? I am interested in using the K3 in a compact, portable
environment with my laptop PC where I would like to avoid the use of an
external sound card if possible, and the SDR-IQ seems to meet this
requirement.

Moreover, with the N8LP I.F. buffer mod conducted on the K3, is there any
reason to pursue any further I.F. level or impedance optimization when
using
the SDR-IQ? Tnx!

Paul, W9AC
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[Greg - AB7R]

If you are looking this this price range also consider the QS1R SDR.  I have it
connected in the same fashion as Dave does with the Perseus.  

-------------------------
73,
Greg - AB7R
Whidbey Island WA
NA-065


On Tue Nov  4 14:11 , Dave G4AON  sent:

>Paul, I use a Perseus SDR (see QST for December 08 for the review, also
>on the members site). Perseus has a USB2 interface rather than the
>narrow band sound card approach. I don't use the IF out of the K3 with
>Perseus, but connect them in parallel using an outboard ferrite splitter
>on the RF IN/OUT of the K3's KXV3 interface module. Frequency "linking"
>them via Ham Radio Deluxe so that either the K3 tunes the Perseus or
>vice versa. The combination works very well, indeed the noise reduction
>in the Perseus is superior to that in the K3. The receiver performance
>is similar for both as the Perseus has a 3rd order IMD of 97 dB at 2 KHz
>spacing.
>
>The only downside to Perseus is the current lack of support from 3rd
>party programs which seem to favour the 192 KHz bandwidth simpler SDR
>receivers (Perseus has 1600 KHz bandwidth). There is a comparison of
>Perseus vs. SDR-IQ at: http://www.ssb.de/amateur/pdf/radcom_mar08.pdf
>
>73 Dave, G4AON
>K3/100 #80
>
>Has anyone had an opportunity to compare LP-PAN with the SDR-IQ using
>SpectraVue? I am interested in using the K3 in a compact, portable
>environment with my laptop PC where I would like to avoid the use of an
>external sound card if possible, and the SDR-IQ seems to meet this
>requirement.
>
>Moreover, with the N8LP I.F. buffer mod conducted on the K3, is there any
>reason to pursue any further I.F. level or impedance optimization when
>using
>the SDR-IQ? Tnx!
>
>Paul, W9AC
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