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K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

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dennis rosenbalm

K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

I have a Collins 75S-3C round emblem receiver. I also have a K3. I have spent many hours listening to both side by side. There are differences. I have from day one with the K3 hated the digital hiss. I have from day one with the 75S-3C hated the 2.1 SSB filter
(too narrow). I like them both; I use them both. If I could keep only one it would be the Collins.

Sent from my iPad
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Bill-4

Re: K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

Comment saying,"The plethora of snap, crackle, pops and buzzes
associated with endless
switching power supplies, routers, TVs, etc. create listener
fatigue." sure hit it on the head!!!

For what it is worth, I use Behringer amplified speakers. Between the
menu settings available in the K3 and the amplifier in the speakers
using a low output from the K3 - I get very good armchair listening.
Also - do not be afraid to use the ATT or even reducing the RF Gain. It
took me a long time to find the sweet spot(s) for hissless K3 listening.

Bill W2BLC K-Line

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Bob McGraw - K4TAX

Re: K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

Bill brings up an important operation point to which I find many do not
understand.   That is in many cases, attenuation and RF gain reduction
does improve the ability to copy a weak signal, be it SSB or CW.   In
most cases, optimal receiver performance is attained when the no signal
noise is about 10 dB above the receiver noise floor. Since one can't
change the receiver noise floor, then attenuation and reduction of gain
stages to bring the band noise down will then allow signals to pop out
of the noise. On 160M, 80M & 40M to a large extent, I implement 15 dB of
attenuation and reduce the RF gain accordingly. At the same time,
higher frequency bands have less noise and thus I can run less
attenuation and/or more RF gain. Finally on 12M, 10M and 6M I will
engage the preamp. I frequently encounter hams with the preamp engaged
on 80 meters saying "it is needed to heard the weak signals".   And I
often find instances where the preamp is engaged along with the
attenuation at the same time.   That is much like driving your car with
one foot on the brake and the other foot on the accelerator.   I
actually see a number of vehicles being driven that way. At least that
keeps the auto techs in business.

73

Bob, K4TAX

On 6/4/2018 10:49 PM, Bill wrote:

>
>        Comment saying,"The plethora of snap, crackle, pops and buzzes
>        associated with endless
>        switching power supplies, routers, TVs, etc. create listener
>        fatigue." sure hit it on the head!!!
>
> For what it is worth, I use Behringer amplified speakers. Between the
> menu settings available in the K3 and the amplifier in the speakers
> using a low output from the K3 - I get very good armchair listening.
> Also - do not be afraid to use the ATT or even reducing the RF Gain.
> It took me a long time to find the sweet spot(s) for hissless K3
> listening.
>
> Bill W2BLC K-Line
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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John Simmons

Re: K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

In reply to this post by Bill-4

Bill,

Please elaborate! Which speakers? Settings?

73,
-John NI0K

> Bill <mailto:[hidden email]>
> Monday, June 04, 2018 10:49 PM
>
> Comment saying,"The plethora of snap, crackle, pops and buzzes
> associated with endless
> switching power supplies, routers, TVs, etc. create listener
> fatigue." sure hit it on the head!!!
>
> For what it is worth, I use Behringer amplified speakers. Between the
> menu settings available in the K3 and the amplifier in the speakers
> using a low output from the K3 - I get very good armchair listening.
> Also - do not be afraid to use the ATT or even reducing the RF Gain.
> It took me a long time to find the sweet spot(s) for hissless K3
> listening.
>
> Bill W2BLC K-Line
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
> Gee <mailto:[hidden email]>
> Monday, June 04, 2018 4:45 PM
> I have a Collins 75S-3C round emblem receiver. I also have a K3. I
> have spent many hours listening to both side by side. There are
> differences. I have from day one with the K3 hated the digital hiss. I
> have from day one with the 75S-3C hated the 2.1 SSB filter
> (too narrow). I like them both; I use them both. If I could keep only
> one it would be the Collins.
>
> Sent from my iPad
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

Doug Hensley

K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

In reply to this post by dennis rosenbalm

Gee,

You might try a trick I used on an ICOM 7410. I took an Idiom Press SCAF-1 Tunable Audio Filter and put it between the audio out and my speaker. It removed most of the annoying hiss and while it may have introduced an issue or two others might want to avoid, those were unnoticeable to me. I was then able to listen to my MARS sessions without the fatique (or perceived fatique) that I used to have.

After I sold the 7410, I put the filter on my K2 and it was a nice improvement to its audio. It has the KDSP-2 digital audio fliter in it which will tire you out as compared to the very pleasant audio of a K1. With the SCAF-1 between the K2 & my headset, it's almost like I have the K2's KAF filter without losing the advantages of the DSP one. Works for me.

I'm not an engineer and what I do may not be recommended but it has made operating just a little more enjoyable.

Cheers,

Doug W5JV

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

Message: 10
Date: Mon, 4 Jun 2018 17:45:54 -0400
From: Gee <[hidden email]>
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] K3/K3s compared to Collins S line receiver

I have a Collins 75S-3C round emblem receiver. I also have a K3. I have spent many hours listening to both side by side. There are differences. I have from day one with the K3 hated the digital hiss. I have from day one with the 75S-3C hated the 2.1 SSB filter
(too narrow). I like them both; I use them both. If I could keep only one it would be the Collins.

Sent from my iPad

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