K3 SSB Operation Question

[Craig Smith]

In the initial stages of getting to know my new K3.  I'm a 98% CW op, so
please forgive my basic questions about SSB.

 

Rig seems to work fine on CW.  Thought I would quickly check SSB operation.
Have a new Elecraft MH2 hand mic connected to the front panel connector.
Have operation set for PTT and have tried both FP H Bias and FP L Bias
settings in mic menu.  Even with mic gain set up to max I seem to be getting
no output from rig.  The TX LED comes on when I push the PTT button, but no
RF out when speaking.  I'm no doubt overlooking something quite simplistic,
but haven't found it yet.

 

The obvious thing would be to try another mic, but this is the only one I
have.  And no other rig to try this mic with.  I could try putting an audio
signal from a signal generator into the mic connector.  What is the
approximate voltage level to use to simulate this type of mic?

 

Any ideas welcome

 

                73

                          . Craig  AC0DS

 

 

 

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[Don Ehrlich]

Craig,

Don't tear the rig apart!!  Be sure your menu options are set correctly
first.  Unfortunately I am the wrong guy to give any details but I have had
several problems getting my K3 to work correctly on SSB and they were all
caused by me!  Others helped me fumble my way through to the applicable menu
items and set them up for SSB.

By the way I am also using the MH2 mic and you need to have the MIC SEL set
to FP.L bias.  Do not use FP.H bias because the MH2 has more than enough
output to use the low setting.  Using the High setting will cause serious
overload distortion in the audio chain.

Can you hear yourself in the monitor?  Press the Mon knob and twist the
monitor setting up to 20 or so and listen with headphones to hear what your
audio (if any) sounds like.  Of course, if you leave the output going to the
speaker you should get a howl of feedback.  I hate to mention things like
setting the Mic gain up to 40 or so (I'm sure you have done that) because
you won't get any mic output if the Mic setting is at zero.

Good luck.

Don K7FJ




In the initial stages of getting to know my new K3.  I'm a 98% CW op, so
please forgive my basic questions about SSB.



Rig seems to work fine on CW.  Thought I would quickly check SSB operation.
Have a new Elecraft MH2 hand mic connected to the front panel connector.
Have operation set for PTT and have tried both FP H Bias and FP L Bias
settings in mic menu.  Even with mic gain set up to max I seem to be getting
no output from rig.  The TX LED comes on when I push the PTT button, but no
RF out when speaking.  I'm no doubt overlooking something quite simplistic,
but haven't found it yet.



The obvious thing would be to try another mic, but this is the only one I
have.  And no other rig to try this mic with.  I could try putting an audio
signal from a signal generator into the mic connector.  What is the
approximate voltage level to use to simulate this type of mic?



Any ideas welcome



                73

                          . Craig  AC0DS







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[Don Ehrlich]

Craig,

Furthur thoughts about your problem getting RF out in SSB mode.

Be sure your filter settings are set correctly in the Config menu.   FLTX SB
must be set to your 2.7 or 2.8 KHz filter.  My 2.7 KHz filter is in slot 2
so I have that set to FL2 (by turning the big VFO knob).  If your Config
menu item says "FLTX AM" instead of "FLTX SB" then touch the "1" button
("A/B") to change it to FLTX SB.  That was one of my mistakes early on when
I had no SSB output.

That's all I can think of right now.  Let us know how your doing.

Don K7FJ



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[KK7P]

> ...The TX LED comes on when I push the PTT button, but no
> RF out when speaking.  I'm no doubt overlooking something quite simplistic,
> but haven't found it yet...

Inject an audio signal from your soundcard or ? into the lINE IN and see
if you get Tx audio with MIC SEL set to LINE IN.  The level isn't
important (keep it under a volt RMS to be safe), you are looking for
functionality not fidelity at this point.

If so, and if the radio was a kit, it is very possible that the 5-pin
connector between the DSP and the FP boards is misaligned.  As many
times as I've had my K3 (and other people's K3s) apart, I made this
mistake again today.  So I know it is easy to do!

This requires pulling the front panel off and inspecting, then removing
the DSP board and refitting it if the problem is confirmed.
But it's easier to inject a signal than to tear the radio apart!

Don't forget to use [hidden email] for assistance.

73,

Lyle KK7P

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[Paul-285]

Don Ehrlich wrote:

>Craig,
>
>Don't tear the rig apart!!  Be sure your menu options are set correctly
>first.  Unfortunately I am the wrong guy to give any details but I have had
>several problems getting my K3 to work correctly on SSB and they were all
>caused by me!  Others helped me fumble my way through to the applicable menu
>items and set them up for SSB.
>
>By the way I am also using the MH2 mic and you need to have the MIC SEL set
>to FP.L bias.  Do not use FP.H bias because the MH2 has more than enough
>output to use the low setting.  Using the High setting will cause serious
>overload distortion in the audio chain.
>
>Can you hear yourself in the monitor?  Press the Mon knob and twist the
>monitor setting up to 20 or so and listen with headphones to hear what your
>audio (if any) sounds like.  Of course, if you leave the output going to the
>speaker you should get a howl of feedback.  I hate to mention things like
>setting the Mic gain up to 40 or so (I'm sure you have done that) because
>you won't get any mic output if the Mic setting is at zero.
>
>Good luck.
>
>Don K7FJ

Does the MD2 use the same FP.L setting?

Paul N4LCD



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