K3+P3+MFJ-1026 = 3 black boxes = 1 happy camper

[Kenneth Christiansen]

  My P3 came a couple of weeks ago and went together just fine. The
bands have been bad at my QTH for a long time yet every time I go
camping they are good. The first thing the P3 showed me was a higher
then expected noise level on all the bands. I had a noise level of -90
to maybe -100 at best. I took the K3 and P3 out to the camp ground about
70 miles from home and the noise on the bands ran from -120 to -130 dbm.
No wonder all these years my 44 ft camping doublet seemed better than my
Hy-Gain Hy tower or my 105 ft doublet fed with window line at home. I
also notice on 40 meters at the camp ground that the background noise
along with the signals came up at night. That would explain why I
sometimes heard signals at home but always with lots of noise.  When I
got home I found my old MFJ Noise Canceling Signal Enhancer (MFJ-=1026)
in my shed and hooked it up. I had never been able to make it work using
the S meters of my IC-746PRO or K3. The S-meters just did not have
enough resolution and a receiver does not look at enough of the band. I
set the P3 to a scale of 30 and band span to 100 khz. I started playing
with the 1026. I was able to measure the levels of each antenna on the
P3 than match them. The  phase knob and switch were set for a null in
the noise than the strongest antenna was adjusted for more of a dip
until the phase and antenna were adjusted for the minimum noise. I can
tune in a signal and adjust to 1026 for best signal to noise. Now I can
hear and work stations on 40, 20 and 30 meters. If I turn off the 1026
the stations I hear go away except for the strongest and they even get
noisy. A station with 40 db signal to noise on the P3 becomes 5 db
signal to noise when I turn off the 1026. When I turn the 1026 back on
the band again has many stations and I am able to work them just like I
can from the camp ground. North Dakota is getting cold with winter
coming so it will be good to camp in my own house and be able to make
ham radio contacts this winter. I hope I can make 80 and 160 meters work
too but my antennas may be too close together on this small city lot to
get enough phase difference. The P3 reminds me of the HP Spectrum
analyzer I used on the last generation of digital microwave at the phone
company and I always missed using that after I retired. It has already
proved it's worth to me and I see the software is only going to get
better. Thanks to Elecraft for the K3 and P3 giving me back ham radio in
my retirement.

Ken W0CZ
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[Craig Smith]

Thanks, Ken, for an interesting application of the P3. Congratulations on
the new lower noise environment - a VERY good thing!

I also just today used the P3 for an antenna analysis application and saved
lots of time.  Just put up a Clifton Labs active whip as a second RX
antenna, and was installing feedline common mode chokes on it.  With the P3
it was VERY fast and easy to see the effects of choke placement and
grounding schemes over large segments of several bands.  The K3 S meter has
nowhere near enough resolution for this.  Normally I would have used the
voltage measurement capability built into the K3.  As you know, it is quite
accurate, but requires lots of button pushing and even then only measures at
one frequency - net result is a very time-consuming measurement task.  The
P3 was way slick for this.  I then used the P3 to compare the whip vs. my
K9AY RX antenna.  Again, the P3 was drastically superior.  I could see at a
glance the relative background noise levels, signal sensitivity and S/N
ratio.   Sure glad I got the P3!

73   Craig  AC0DS



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[David Cutter]

That's a very interesting account.  I wonder if anyone who suffers PLT/BPL
et al noise has similar experience.

David
G3UNA

>  My P3 came a couple of weeks ago and went together just fine. The
> bands have been bad at my QTH for a long time yet every time I go
> camping they are good. The first thing the P3 showed me was a higher
> then expected noise level on all the bands. I had a noise level of -90
> to maybe -100 at best. I took the K3 and P3 out to the camp ground about
> 70 miles from home and the noise on the bands ran from -120 to -130 dbm.
> No wonder all these years my 44 ft camping doublet seemed better than my
> Hy-Gain Hy tower or my 105 ft doublet fed with window line at home. I
> also notice on 40 meters at the camp ground that the background noise
> along with the signals came up at night. That would explain why I
> sometimes heard signals at home but always with lots of noise.  When I
> got home I found my old MFJ Noise Canceling Signal Enhancer (MFJ-=1026)
> in my shed and hooked it up. I had never been able to make it work using
> the S meters of my IC-746PRO or K3. The S-meters just did not have
> enough resolution and a receiver does not look at enough of the band. I
> set the P3 to a scale of 30 and band span to 100 khz. I started playing
> with the 1026. I was able to measure the levels of each antenna on the
> P3 than match them. The  phase knob and switch were set for a null in
> the noise than the strongest antenna was adjusted for more of a dip
> until the phase and antenna were adjusted for the minimum noise. I can
> tune in a signal and adjust to 1026 for best signal to noise. Now I can
> hear and work stations on 40, 20 and 30 meters. If I turn off the 1026
> the stations I hear go away except for the strongest and they even get
> noisy. A station with 40 db signal to noise on the P3 becomes 5 db
> signal to noise when I turn off the 1026. When I turn the 1026 back on
> the band again has many stations and I am able to work them just like I
> can from the camp ground. >
> Ken W0CZ

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[Stewart Baker]

Tried a 1026 here against PLT interference. Made little
difference, probably because the interference was not a point
source, but was radiated from various mains wires from both in and
outside the domestic property.

Stewart
G3RXQ
On Sat, 18 Sep 2010 08:10:56 +0100, David Cutter wrote:
> That's a very interesting account.  I wonder if anyone who
suffers PLT/BPL
> et al noise has similar experience.
>
> David
> G3UNA
>
>
>> My P3 came a couple of weeks ago and went together just fine.
The
>> bands have been bad at my QTH for a long time yet every time I
go
>> camping they are good. The first thing the P3 showed me was a
higher
>> then expected noise level on all the bands. I had a noise level
of -90
>> to maybe -100 at best. I took the K3 and P3 out to the camp
ground about
>> 70 miles from home and the noise on the bands ran from -120 to
-130 dbm.
>> No wonder all these years my 44 ft camping doublet seemed
better than my
>> Hy-Gain Hy tower or my 105 ft doublet fed with window line at
home. I
>> also notice on 40 meters at the camp ground that the background
noise
>> along with the signals came up at night. That would explain why
I
>> sometimes heard signals at home but always with lots of noise.
 When I
>> got home I found my old MFJ Noise Canceling Signal Enhancer
(MFJ-=1026)
>> in my shed and hooked it up. I had never been able to make it
work using
>> the S meters of my IC-746PRO or K3. The S-meters just did not
have
>> enough resolution and a receiver does not look at enough of the
band. I
>> set the P3 to a scale of 30 and band span to 100 khz. I started
playing
>> with the 1026. I was able to measure the levels of each antenna
on the
>> P3 than match them. The  phase knob and switch were set for a
null in
>> the noise than the strongest antenna was adjusted for more of a
dip
>> until the phase and antenna were adjusted for the minimum
noise. I can
>> tune in a signal and adjust to 1026 for best signal to noise.
Now I can
>> hear and work stations on 40, 20 and 30 meters. If I turn off
the 1026
>> the stations I hear go away except for the strongest and they
even get
>> noisy. A station with 40 db signal to noise on the P3 becomes 5
db
>> signal to noise when I turn off the 1026. When I turn the 1026
back on
>> the band again has many stations and I am able to work them
just like I

>> can from the camp ground. >
>> Ken W0CZ
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
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>
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