K3 QST March review

[Jeff Wandling W7BRS-2]

It doesn't bother me that the March QST sort of implied it was knocking
the K3 off the pillar for the worlds coolest radio. (the SDR review with
SDR-500 and K3 near the backpages).. It's not that the ARRL in general
would be the best source of such information -- if the Daryll and Daryll
Radio Company (D2RC) came out with a pinewood RF tank it would probably
still get good reviews.

I'm mostly interested in what upside surprise awaits us in Dayton.  What
ever it is that Elecraft is going throw down, I'm looking forward to it.


--
Jeff Wandling DE W7BRS K3 #2105     http://w7brs.com/k3
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[w0mu]

Crap the K4 is coming already.......


"A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may
never get over." Ben Franklin
-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email]
[mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of Jeff Wandling W7BRS
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2009 11:55 AM
To: [hidden email]
Subject: [Elecraft] K3 QST March review


It doesn't bother me that the March QST sort of implied it was knocking the
K3 off the pillar for the worlds coolest radio. (the SDR review with SDR-500
and K3 near the backpages).. It's not that the ARRL in general would be the
best source of such information -- if the Daryll and Daryll Radio Company
(D2RC) came out with a pinewood RF tank it would probably still get good
reviews.

I'm mostly interested in what upside surprise awaits us in Dayton.  What
ever it is that Elecraft is going throw down, I'm looking forward to it.


--
Jeff Wandling DE W7BRS K3 #2105     http://w7brs.com/k3
[hidden email]
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[dj7mgq]

> I'm mostly interested in what upside surprise awaits us in Dayton.  What
> ever it is that Elecraft is going throw down, I'm looking forward to it.

Panadapters? KPA800 & KPA1500? Something completely different?

Oh why did you have to mention this...
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[Jeff Wandling W7BRS-2]

Something far more controversial, like a K3 tee shirt!

;)


Yer right.  Disregard.



--
Jeff Wandling DE W7BRS K3 #2105     http://w7brs.com/k3
[hidden email]

On Fri, 13 Feb 2009, Toby Deinhardt wrote:

>> I'm mostly interested in what upside surprise awaits us in Dayton.  What
>> ever it is that Elecraft is going throw down, I'm looking forward to it.
>
> Panadapters? KPA800 & KPA1500? Something completely different?
>
> Oh why did you have to mention this...
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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[Bill W4ZV]

Jeff Wandling W7BRS-2 wrote

It doesn't bother me that the March QST sort of implied it was knocking
the K3 off the pillar for the worlds coolest radio. (the SDR review with
SDR-5000 and K3 near the backpages).

I don't see how you concluded that.  Gene W3ZZ (who owns a K3) is saying the two rigs have very comparable RF performance.  I might quibble that he omitted BDR in his table but perhaps that's more of an HF issue than VHF (Gene's focus in the VHF column).  For both Phase Noise and BDR, the K3 exceeds the 5000 by ~15 dB (not insignificant if you're in a multi-transmitter environment or have a strong local neighbor).

73,  Bill

[wayne burdick]

> Gene W3ZZ (who owns a K3) is saying the
> two rigs have very comparable RF performance.  I might quibble that he
> omitted BDR in his table but perhaps that's more of an HF issue than
> VHF
> (Gene's focus in the VHF column).  For both Phase Noise and BDR, the K3
> exceeds the 5000 by ~15 dB (not insignificant if you're in a
> multi-transmitter environment or have a strong local neighbor).

The article also claims -132 dBm MDS for the K3 on 20 m with the preamp
on. That's either a typo or a possible test error. The specified
typical value is -136 dBm, and I just measured -138 dBm on my lab K3.

There are two common measurement errors that can result in an
underestimate of MDS:

1. Leaving the AGC turned ON when using the "XG1" method (injecting 1
uV and using the K3's dBV metering function). At the default settings,
AGC definitely kicks in below 1 uV.

2. Noise pickup by the signal generator cable in its OFF setting. This
can result in a higher noise floor. Better to connect a direct 50-ohm
terminator with no coax, if available.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

---

http://www.elecraft.com

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[Julian, G4ILO]

Toby Deinhardt wrote

Panadapters? KPA800 & KPA1500? Something completely different?

Oh why did you have to mention this...

Oh, please! It would be nice to have the K3 working properly with all features implemented first.