K3 AF Limiter needs higher threshold

[Dave Hachadorian]

There was a practice session for the Sprint contest on
Thursday evening. In the Sprint, one is frequently called by
several loud stations at once. I started out with fast agc,
max slope and highest threshold, but the multiple loud
callers were getting compressed together unless I
continuously rode the rf gain control.

After a while I tried agc OFF, and that method was much
better for distinguishing stations by their loudness.
However, the AF limiter, even set at max 030, was frequently
kicking in, which really distorts the audio, so I was back
to riding the rf gain again.

I think the AF Limiter should have the ability to be set
much higher than 030. Audio at level 030 is loud, but my
ears can take more than that. Maybe the current hard
limiting, with its gross distortion, could be made more
gradual. Maybe the fast agc slope and threshold could be
even steeper and higher. Otherwise, it's back to riding the
RF gain. For some reason, my TS-850 didn't exhibit this
problem. Maybe the 850's puny audio amp was self-limiting.
Whatever the reason, the 850 was a lot better in this
situation.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ

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[Barry N1EU]

Dave Hachadorian wrote

There was a practice session for the Sprint contest on
Thursday evening. In the Sprint, one is frequently called by
several loud stations at once. I started out with fast agc,
max slope and highest threshold, but the multiple loud
callers were getting compressed together unless I
continuously rode the rf gain control.

Dave, by "max slope" do you mean maximum or minimum setting of CONFIG: AGC SLP?  You'll get minimum compression with AGC SLP=0

73,
Barry N1EU

[Dave Hachadorian]

I meant to say that I used SLP=0 (which produces the
highest-slope agc curve).

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ


----- Original Message -----
From: "Barry N1EU" <[hidden email]>
To: <[hidden email]>
Sent: Friday, February 06, 2009 11:56 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 AF Limiter needs higher threshold

>
>
>
> Dave Hachadorian wrote:
>>
>> There was a practice session for the Sprint contest on
>> Thursday evening. In the Sprint, one is frequently called
>> by
>> several loud stations at once. I started out with fast
>> agc,
>> max slope and highest threshold, but the multiple loud
>> callers were getting compressed together unless I
>> continuously rode the rf gain control.
>>
> Dave, by "max slope" do you mean maximum or minimum
> setting of CONFIG: AGC
> SLP?  You'll get minimum compression with AGC SLP=0
>
> 73,
> Barry N1EU
>
> --
> View this message in context:
> http://n2.nabble.com/K3-AF-Limiter-needs-higher-threshold-tp2279101p2283716.html
> Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.
>
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[Dave Hachadorian]

There was another Sprint practice on Friday night. Once
again there were multiple loud stations calling.

This time results were very good with AGC off. I had the two
K3's set up with headphones connected to the SPEAKER
outputs, so I was able to foil the AF limiter by running the
AF gain at a lower level. I put back to back power diodes
across the 8 ohm headphones, and I could hear them give just
a gentle little fuzz to the very loudest signals, nothing
like the raucous created in the K3's AF limiter.

Just raise the threshold on that limiter, or provide a way
to turn it off, and the K3 will be a first-class cw pileup
rig, with agc off.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ

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[Ignacy]

I use AF limiter a lot. Settings higher than 25 hurt my ears badly.
Ignacy

Dave Hachadorian wrote

There was a practice session for the Sprint contest on
Thursday evening. In the Sprint, one is frequently called by
several loud stations at once. I started out with fast agc,
max slope and highest threshold, but the multiple loud
callers were getting compressed together unless I
continuously rode the rf gain control.

After a while I tried agc OFF, and that method was much
better for distinguishing stations by their loudness.
However, the AF limiter, even set at max 030, was frequently
kicking in, which really distorts the audio, so I was back
to riding the rf gain again.

I think the AF Limiter should have the ability to be set
much higher than 030. Audio at level 030 is loud, but my
ears can take more than that. Maybe the current hard
limiting, with its gross distortion, could be made more
gradual. Maybe the fast agc slope and threshold could be
even steeper and higher. Otherwise, it's back to riding the
RF gain. For some reason, my TS-850 didn't exhibit this
problem. Maybe the 850's puny audio amp was self-limiting.
Whatever the reason, the 850 was a lot better in this
situation.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ

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[Jim-168]

AF limiter....SET TO 13 HERE

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Ignacy
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 11:08 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 AF Limiter needs higher threshold


I use AF limiter a lot. Settings higher than 25 hurt my ears badly.
Ignacy



Dave Hachadorian wrote:

>
> There was a practice session for the Sprint contest on
> Thursday evening. In the Sprint, one is frequently called by
> several loud stations at once. I started out with fast agc,
> max slope and highest threshold, but the multiple loud
> callers were getting compressed together unless I
> continuously rode the rf gain control.
>
> After a while I tried agc OFF, and that method was much
> better for distinguishing stations by their loudness.
> However, the AF limiter, even set at max 030, was frequently
> kicking in, which really distorts the audio, so I was back
> to riding the rf gain again.
>
> I think the AF Limiter should have the ability to be set
> much higher than 030. Audio at level 030 is loud, but my
> ears can take more than that. Maybe the current hard
> limiting, with its gross distortion, could be made more
> gradual. Maybe the fast agc slope and threshold could be
> even steeper and higher. Otherwise, it's back to riding the
> RF gain. For some reason, my TS-850 didn't exhibit this
> problem. Maybe the 850's puny audio amp was self-limiting.
> Whatever the reason, the 850 was a lot better in this
> situation.
>
> Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
> Yuma, AZ
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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