Help with ideal SSB contest settings

[George Thornton]

I am relatively new to the K3 and completely green on contesting.

 

My K3 is new this year and recently returned from the factory to correct
some problems that occurred during installation of the SubRx.  

 

During Field Day we were operating voice on 20 meters using a 6 element
monoband Yagi on a 30 ft. tower over a bluff, located in Western
Washington.  

 

We had both my K3 and an Icom Pro 3 as choices for the operators.   We
heard fine on the K3 but the conclusion was reached early that the K3
was not effective at breaking the Field Day pileups.  They shifted to
the Pro3, which was equipped with a high end Heil dual element mic, I
think the HM-10.  They reported much better results.

 

I went back and checked the K3 and found the mic settings were out of
adjustment.  I corrected the mic gain according to the manual
instructions and set a small amount of compression, less than ten
percent.  I then locked the settings so no one could mess with them.
At that point the band was dead, and I don't have enough information to
tell if the problem was solved or not.    I do intend to check this out
further with someone local who is familiar with the K3 on voice.  

 

What I am looking for is suggestions for configuring the Tx on SSB for
maximum effectiveness in crowded conditions.

 

I am currently using the Heil MD-2 desk mic that I got from Elecraft
some years ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[Rob May-2]

1. Set TX equalization with monitor function to hear yourself in your headphones.
2. Set ALC according to manual.
3. Set compression at 25.
4. Make lots of contacts.

Rob

> Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:56:07 -0700
> From: [hidden email]
> To: [hidden email]
> Subject: [Elecraft] Help with ideal SSB contest settings
>
> I am relatively new to the K3 and completely green on contesting.
>
>  
>
> My K3 is new this year and recently returned from the factory to correct
> some problems that occurred during installation of the SubRx.  
>
>  
>
> During Field Day we were operating voice on 20 meters using a 6 element
> monoband Yagi on a 30 ft. tower over a bluff, located in Western
> Washington.  
>
>  
>
> We had both my K3 and an Icom Pro 3 as choices for the operators.   We
> heard fine on the K3 but the conclusion was reached early that the K3
> was not effective at breaking the Field Day pileups.  They shifted to
> the Pro3, which was equipped with a high end Heil dual element mic, I
> think the HM-10.  They reported much better results.
>
>  
>
> I went back and checked the K3 and found the mic settings were out of
> adjustment.  I corrected the mic gain according to the manual
> instructions and set a small amount of compression, less than ten
> percent.  I then locked the settings so no one could mess with them.
> At that point the band was dead, and I don't have enough information to
> tell if the problem was solved or not.    I do intend to check this out
> further with someone local who is familiar with the K3 on voice.  
>
>  
>
> What I am looking for is suggestions for configuring the Tx on SSB for
> maximum effectiveness in crowded conditions.
>
>  
>
> I am currently using the Heil MD-2 desk mic that I got from Elecraft
> some years ago.
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
>  
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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[PD2R]

With Rob,

Don't be scared to crank up the mic gain and compression setting, Only if
you set them to the extremes you will cause trouble on the bands, especially
when you use an amplifier.

Have fun!

Maarten van Rossum
PD2R


2010/6/29, Rob May <[hidden email]>:

>
>
> 1. Set TX equalization with monitor function to hear yourself in your
> headphones.
> 2. Set ALC according to manual.
> 3. Set compression at 25.
> 4. Make lots of contacts.
>
> Rob
>
> > Date: Mon, 28 Jun 2010 13:56:07 -0700
> > From: [hidden email]
> > To: [hidden email]
> > Subject: [Elecraft] Help with ideal SSB contest settings
> >
> > I am relatively new to the K3 and completely green on contesting.
> >
> >
> >
> > My K3 is new this year and recently returned from the factory to correct
> > some problems that occurred during installation of the SubRx.
> >
> >
> >
> > During Field Day we were operating voice on 20 meters using a 6 element
> > monoband Yagi on a 30 ft. tower over a bluff, located in Western
> > Washington.
> >
> >
> >
> > We had both my K3 and an Icom Pro 3 as choices for the operators.   We
> > heard fine on the K3 but the conclusion was reached early that the K3
> > was not effective at breaking the Field Day pileups.  They shifted to
> > the Pro3, which was equipped with a high end Heil dual element mic, I
> > think the HM-10.  They reported much better results.
> >
> >
> >
> > I went back and checked the K3 and found the mic settings were out of
> > adjustment.  I corrected the mic gain according to the manual
> > instructions and set a small amount of compression, less than ten
> > percent.  I then locked the settings so no one could mess with them.
> > At that point the band was dead, and I don't have enough information to
> > tell if the problem was solved or not.    I do intend to check this out
> > further with someone local who is familiar with the K3 on voice.
> >
> >
> >
> > What I am looking for is suggestions for configuring the Tx on SSB for
> > maximum effectiveness in crowded conditions.
> >
> >
> >
> > I am currently using the Heil MD-2 desk mic that I got from Elecraft
> > some years ago.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > 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
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> The New Busy is not the old busy. Search, chat and e-mail from your inbox.
>
> http://www.windowslive.com/campaign/thenewbusy?ocid=PID28326::T:WLMTAGL:ON:WL:en-US:WM_HMP:042010_3
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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[Jim Brown-10]

On Tue, 29 Jun 2010 10:33:29 +0200, Maarten van Rossum wrote:

>Don't be scared to crank up the mic gain and compression setting, Only if
>you set them to the extremes you will cause trouble on the bands,

The instructions in the K3 manual are quite clear, and give great results. To
set them most effectively, set the TXEQ for your mic and voice FIRST, with no
compression and enough gain to get some ALC indication. In general, you want
to turn down the bass (the lower bands) so that you're not wasting power on
breath pops and the parts of your voice that don't contribute to
intelligibility. Have a good listener tune you in with a wide IF bandwidth,
and tell you when you have it right. THEN do a final setting for the mic
gain, and dial in some Compression. For competitive audio, keep compression
between 6 and 10dB on peaks. More gets nasty.

73, Jim K9YC


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[Joe Malloy]

Help!  My email address is through the ARRL but since the college just
"outsourced" email handling to Google, I can't my password for the
list.  Any suggestions?

Thanks!

Joe, W2RBA
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