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K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

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Don Rasmussen

K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

One of the first things that will happen upon the
release of the K3, is someone will connect a D104 to
it. ;-)

This can be the worst thing for a radio, or a very
good thing depending on how it is connected. If one of

the beta's has connected a preamplified D104 to the K3
I'd like to know what is the specific wiring and that
would be a good thing for the K3 operational FAQ.

As for CW receive audio, I agree that DSP radios often
sound "strange" as compared to analog radios for a few
reasons.

The IC756Pro has a lower frequency "rumble" than you
would hear with respect to band noise on an analog
radio. The 500hz DSP filter has a very "hard" skirt
noise as compared to a 500hz crystal filter it's
fatiguing. K3's "context filtering" mode should be
very good for this.

Then there are AGC differences, the 756pro
is never quiet when the AF gain is turned up. It's a
radio that's better (on CW) to be played at lower AF
levels through walkman style headphones.

The DSP only Argo V I has none of these
characteristics, and although it's prone to strong
adjacent signal AGC pumping, is a much kinder
implementation of DSP in my experience.

The adjustable AGC on the K3 will be the biggest
problem solver in my estimation, I can't wait to hear
it.

Lastly DSP radios sometimes will add artifacts to what
you would hear on an analog setup, unusual sounds of
short duration in the receive audio (see Rob
Sherwood's
Dayton presentation on his website) and Wayne has gone
the long mile to ensure that this in no way will be a
shortcoming in the K3.

Good things coming - good things coming - mo mojo. !

-------------------------------------

Hi Ron:

>I read in the previous postings that the CW sounded
better on the K2
>than the K3. That is a bit of a worry to me.
>
>Icom has the same problem, and quite often this seems
to be a DSP rig
>problem.
>
>How is the SSB souding from the K3 in particular with
weak signals
>deep, deep in the noise?

In general, I've received just the very OPPOSITE
reports. Most say that
the K3 has some of the very BEST sounding keying that
they've heard! And
this from a number of folks whose opinions I value
quite highly.

The audio compression of the K3 really adds a lot of
punch to the signal
without introducing a large amount of distortion or
artifacts, and the
bandwidth does not increase significantly, as it does
in some other rigs.

73,

Tom N0SS

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Greg - AB7R

Re: K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

Mic wiring info will be on the FAQ this evening.

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

On Tue Sep 18 11:26 , Don Rasmussen sent:

>One of the first things that will happen upon the
>release of the K3, is someone will connect a D104 to
>it. ;-)
>
>This can be the worst thing for a radio, or a very
>good thing depending on how it is connected. If one of
>
>the beta's has connected a preamplified D104 to the K3
>I'd like to know what is the specific wiring and that
>would be a good thing for the K3 operational FAQ.
>
>As for CW receive audio, I agree that DSP radios often
>sound "strange" as compared to analog radios for a few
>reasons.
>
>The IC756Pro has a lower frequency "rumble" than you
>would hear with respect to band noise on an analog
>radio. The 500hz DSP filter has a very "hard" skirt
>noise as compared to a 500hz crystal filter it's
>fatiguing. K3's "context filtering" mode should be
>very good for this.
>
>Then there are AGC differences, the 756pro
>is never quiet when the AF gain is turned up. It's a
>radio that's better (on CW) to be played at lower AF
>levels through walkman style headphones.
>
>The DSP only Argo V I has none of these
>characteristics, and although it's prone to strong
>adjacent signal AGC pumping, is a much kinder
>implementation of DSP in my experience.
>
>The adjustable AGC on the K3 will be the biggest
>problem solver in my estimation, I can't wait to hear
>it.
>
>Lastly DSP radios sometimes will add artifacts to what
>you would hear on an analog setup, unusual sounds of
>short duration in the receive audio (see Rob
>Sherwood's
>Dayton presentation on his website) and Wayne has gone
>the long mile to ensure that this in no way will be a
>shortcoming in the K3.
>
>Good things coming - good things coming - mo mojo. !
>
>-------------------------------------
>
>Hi Ron:
>
>>I read in the previous postings that the CW sounded
>better on the K2
>>than the K3. That is a bit of a worry to me.
>>
>>Icom has the same problem, and quite often this seems
>to be a DSP rig
>>problem.
>>
>>How is the SSB souding from the K3 in particular with
>weak signals
>>deep, deep in the noise?
>
>In general, I've received just the very OPPOSITE
>reports. Most say that
>the K3 has some of the very BEST sounding keying that
>they've heard! And
>this from a number of folks whose opinions I value
>quite highly.
>
>The audio compression of the K3 really adds a lot of
>punch to the signal
>without introducing a large amount of distortion or
>artifacts, and the
>bandwidth does not increase significantly, as it does
>in some other rigs.
>
>73,
>
>Tom N0SS
>
>
>_______________________________________________
>Elecraft mailing list
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>
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>Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com

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k6dgw

Re: K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

In reply to this post by Don Rasmussen

Don Rasmussen wrote:
> One of the first things that will happen upon the
> release of the K3, is someone will connect a D104 to
> it. ;-)

FWIW: While visiting some antique stores with friends in Lincoln City
OR last week, I came upon a very pristine D104 for $85. It had the
"grab-switch" PTT with the slider for locking. About the only issue was
that the name plate on the top was a bit corroded or maybe very dirty.
I don't know if it was the amplified version or not. I also don't know
if $85 is a good price, however it did appear that the guy seemed to
have a rather high opinion of the value of his other stuff. I decided
not to make an offer because I couldn't figure out where I'd put it on
the operating desk and I use headfones and a boom mic anyway, but I was
tempted :-)

QUESTIONS: I'm about to order my K3, and I'm thinking of adding the
Heil headfones/mic to the order. War took out most of my hearing 40
years ago, and I need to run the AF gain close to "afterburner roar"
since my hearing aids don't work under the fones. I run my TS850 at
about 2 o'clock [maybe 1/8 of the top, pretty much at the distortion
point] My K2 is a little short on RX audio and I've got a little Radio
Shack amp that I use to fix that. Will the K3/Heil combination give me
enough RX audio?

I haven't heard much chatter about the audio equalizer in the K3. Has
anyone experimented with it? Does it work for both RX and TX audio? Is
it a standard feature of the base K3?

73,

Fred K6DGW
- Northern California Contest Club
- CU in the 2007 CQP Oct 6-7
- www.cqp.org
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Greg - AB7R

Re: K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

In reply to this post by Don Rasmussen

Fred,

The K3 has a menu option to toggle additional AF gain. Options are LO/HI. Based on our
testing the HI should be more than enough audio. I'm a bit hard of hearing as well and
also have bad tenitis all the time thanks to jets taking off and landing right above me
all the time while on active duty. :) I keep the K3 in the LO setting most of the
time. If I get in a situation where I need more, I just set it to HI.

There are two EQs in the MAIN menu. One for RX and one for TX, both are 8-band EQs and
are standard K3 features.

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

On Tue Sep 18 13:43 , Fred Jensen sent:

>Don Rasmussen wrote:
>> One of the first things that will happen upon the
>> release of the K3, is someone will connect a D104 to
>> it. ;-)
>
>FWIW: While visiting some antique stores with friends in Lincoln City
>OR last week, I came upon a very pristine D104 for $85. It had the
>"grab-switch" PTT with the slider for locking. About the only issue was
>that the name plate on the top was a bit corroded or maybe very dirty.
>I don't know if it was the amplified version or not. I also don't know
>if $85 is a good price, however it did appear that the guy seemed to
>have a rather high opinion of the value of his other stuff. I decided
>not to make an offer because I couldn't figure out where I'd put it on
>the operating desk and I use headfones and a boom mic anyway, but I was
>tempted :-)
>
>QUESTIONS: I'm about to order my K3, and I'm thinking of adding the
>Heil headfones/mic to the order. War took out most of my hearing 40
>years ago, and I need to run the AF gain close to "afterburner roar"
>since my hearing aids don't work under the fones. I run my TS850 at
>about 2 o'clock [maybe 1/8 of the top, pretty much at the distortion
>point] My K2 is a little short on RX audio and I've got a little Radio
>Shack amp that I use to fix that. Will the K3/Heil combination give me
>enough RX audio?
>
>I haven't heard much chatter about the audio equalizer in the K3. Has
>anyone experimented with it? Does it work for both RX and TX audio? Is
>it a standard feature of the base K3?
>
>73,
>
>Fred K6DGW
>- Northern California Contest Club
>- CU in the 2007 CQP Oct 6-7
>- www.cqp.org
>_______________________________________________
>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

Vic K2VCO

Re: K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

In reply to this post by k6dgw

Fred Jensen wrote:

> FWIW: While visiting some antique stores with friends in Lincoln City
> OR last week, I came upon a very pristine D104 for $85. It had the
> "grab-switch" PTT with the slider for locking. About the only issue was
> that the name plate on the top was a bit corroded or maybe very dirty. I
> don't know if it was the amplified version or not.

If it was a really old D-104 with the ceramic element, you may have made
a wise decision. The elements were physically fragile and I would not
buy one without testing it.

> Will the K3/Heil combination give me
> enough RX audio?

I'm using one and I have the audio gain range set to low. The Heil
headset seems relatively insensitive, but I have not found a problem. My
hearing is not so great (I'm old) but not damaged. The K3 high range is
significantly greater than the K2 so it should be enough.

> I haven't heard much chatter about the audio equalizer in the K3. Has
> anyone experimented with it? Does it work for both RX and TX audio? Is
> it a standard feature of the base K3?

Yes there is a separate equalizer for rx and tx. I used the tx equalizer
to sharpen up SSB audio a bit, and reports were good, but I don't use
SSB much. I have the rx equalizer set just to give me a little mid-range
gain for CW. Each equalizer has 8 frequency bands, and is pretty flexible.
--
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco
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