K3 first impressions from ARRL DX SSB (long)

[Jeff Kinzli N6GQ]

First off, this is a LONG email, so be warned :)
 
I picked up K3 #476 in Aptos the weekend before the contest, then
hopped on a plane to do the ARRL DX SSB contest from KH6LC. I thought
others might be interested in first impressions from a contester that
had not used a K3 before last week. There is also one quality that
became apparent with the K3 that I've never seen in another radio
before and I wonder if others have noticed it...more on that in a bit.

I arrived in KH6 Wednesday evening, and had a nice dinner with Lloyd,
KH6LC, in Hilo. On Thursday, it was my job to get the station all
prepped for the contest. I put up a 2 element yagi for 80M, got the K3
put into the operating position, connected it up with the amp and
computers, and started making QSOs on 20M and trying to get the audio
and speech processor optimized. After a few emails with k3support, and
on-air reports and tweaking, I had the audio pretty well optimized,
and many ensuing QSOs commented on the quality of the audio. For what
it's worth, I used a Heil Proset with HC-4 element, and had mic gain
at about 25-30, Compression at 10-12, and used the TX EQ to drop the
two lowest bands a few dB, and up'd the center band by a few dB. This
seemed to be the best setting for punch, understandability, and
comfort on the ears according to on-air reports. I also had a few
local hams check off to the side of my signal and they said the signal
was clean and narrow, so that's good.

Things that immediately stand out with the K3:

- Layout of controls is awesome. For a contester, all the things I
need to get to are quickly and easily accessible. Hats off to the
ergonomic engineering that Elecraft did!

- The K3 receiver really is as good as everyone says it is. I didn't
use the preamp in the contest, and found that I really like that mode
(no preamp) Weak signals "floated" in front of me, and just waited for
me to pull them out. I'll talk more about this in a bit.

- I watched temperature of the PA in the K3 as well as the other FP
temp and it stayed pretty solid, never got really that warm.

- It's light! I packed the K3, my clothes and all my needs for a week
in 1 carryon bag.

- It handles very strong, nearby signals with ease. Big S9+ signals
within a few KC's is no problem, it's like they're not even there.

Unfortunately, about half way through the weekend the amplifier that I
was using developed a problem and I decided to punt and move to the
other operating position - but in the heat of the contest I didn't
feel I could afford the time to move the K3 into position, so I only
got 24 hours of the contest in with the K3. None the less, I did find that
in this time, I was able to "mind meld" with the K3 and found a very
interesting quality that I eluded to above, that I've not seen or
heard before in other radios.

I had AFX set to delay 5, and with the Heil proset for headphones,
after a while I found that the spatial representation of signals
started to become 3 dimensional. It was as if signals were spatially
separated in an area around my head rather than just "in my ears". The
soundstage (as it's referred to in audiophile circles) was big and
weak signals seem to almost "float" out in space and take on an almost
tangible quality to them. I know what some of you must be thinking
right now, "Oh man, I want what this guy is smoking!" but really, it
does become pronounced after using the radio for a while.

I read about the increased spatial characteristic of AFX, but what I'm
talking about only becomes apparent after a good number of hours in
the chair, and I'm not convinced one would notice it if you sat down,
operated for 2 hours, took a break, sat down, etc. but with 10-12
hours of constant operating, it started to become quite pronounced.

First, I wonder if others have noticed this, and second, I wonder if
this was something that Elecraft engineering thought of, or if it's
just a by-product of design that is a nice bonus. Either way, I've
never heard anything like this on other rigs (Orion, FT1000's, etc.).
It's very cool and actually seems to enhance the ability to pull weak
signals out.

On the other hand, the Binaural mode seems like (at least in my setup)
to have noise in one ear, and signals in the other. It's separated and
pronounced, and I didn't really care for it, I much prefer Delay 5 in
AFX mode.

I had a bit of a hard time getting used to VFO A/B when operating
split on 40M. It wasn't as intuitive to me as other VFO setups, but
after a while I got used to it and it wasn't an issue.

So I'm very pleased with the first outing with the K3. It delivered on
what I was hoping. I just wish propagation would have been better,
this was one of the worst contests I've ever done in terms of
propagation, but I guess the good thing is that everyone is faced with
the same playing field. My score was significantly below my goal
numbers, but when conditions are poor, all bets are off, and I think a
lot of casual contesters probably either threw in the towel early, or
didn't get on at all, reducing the pileups and the number of potential
QSOs significantly.

I ended up with 4362 QSOs by 247 mults for a final score of 3.2M. Not
too bad, but again, much lower than I had hoped. Since I did a
single-op all-band effort, sleep was a commodity and I didn't get
much, and I'm still catching up :) On the plus side, the KH6LC station is
amazing and really stomps, and a big thanks go to Lloyd for allowing
me the use of his killer station.

I hope this is useful to some, I'd love to talk to others that have
experienced the spatial characteristic of the AFX mode, or hear
Elecraft's input on how that was done.

73,

Jeff N6GQ, op @ KH6LC
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[WILLIS COOKE]

--- Jeff Kinzli N6GQ <[hidden email]> wrote:

> First off, this is a LONG email, so be warned :)
>  
> I picked up K3 #476 in Aptos the weekend before the
> contest, then


Great write up Jeff.  I noticed that when I called you
popped right back to me even though I was low power
with 50 to 80 watts.  Sorry I missed you on 160 and 75
but got you on the other four.  You whetted my
appetite for my K3, but since I didn't order until Dec
27 I have a few months to savor the thought.

73, Cookie, K5EWJ

Willis 'Cookie' Cooke
K5EWJ
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[Ed Muns, W0YK]

> I hope this is useful to some, I'd love to talk to others
> that have experienced the spatial characteristic of the AFX
> mode, or hear Elecraft's input on how that was done.

Most people have found AFX to be positive.  Many contesters leave it on all
the time and miss it when they put one radio in each ear with SO2R.
However, there is a range of preferences for which setting is "best", i.e.,
pseudo-stereo delay 1-5 or binaural.  As I recall, the majority of people
settle on one of the pseudo-stereo delay 3, 4 or 5.  Also, the reported
effect is very different across users.  One person reports dizziness and
can't use it.  Others report a specific 3-D spatial relationship between
signal in the pass band.  Still others can't describe what it is like, but
are outspoken that it is "better" for picking signals out of noise.

I think your experience and description falls right into the range of
experiences the rest of us are having, but for each it is unique.

73,
Ed - W0YK

P.S.  Apologies for saying "Hi, Lloyd" every time we worked this weekend.  I
forgot you were guest-opting there.

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[Jeff Kinzli N6GQ]

On Mon, Mar 3, 2008 at 9:37 PM, Ed Muns <[hidden email]> wrote:

> > I hope this is useful to some, I'd love to talk to others
>  > that have experienced the spatial characteristic of the AFX
>  > mode, or hear Elecraft's input on how that was done.
>
>  Most people have found AFX to be positive.  Many contesters leave it on all
>  the time and miss it when they put one radio in each ear with SO2R.
>  However, there is a range of preferences for which setting is "best", i.e.,
>  pseudo-stereo delay 1-5 or binaural.  As I recall, the majority of people
>  settle on one of the pseudo-stereo delay 3, 4 or 5.  Also, the reported
>  effect is very different across users.  One person reports dizziness and
>  can't use it.  Others report a specific 3-D spatial relationship between
>  signal in the pass band.  Still others can't describe what it is like, but
>  are outspoken that it is "better" for picking signals out of noise.
>
>  I think your experience and description falls right into the range of
>  experiences the rest of us are having, but for each it is unique.

Pfew! As I was describing that to some of the other hams on the
island,  I started to think that I must sound like the sleep
deprivation must be taking a toll on my sanity, but I'm glad to hear
that it's somewhat "normal".

>  P.S.  Apologies for saying "Hi, Lloyd" every time we worked this weekend.  I
>  forgot you were guest-opting there.

No problem, Ed, you're always loud out there, as is K6XX, who I think
is near you. You guys have a great location.

73,

Jeff N6GQ
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[Bill W4ZV]

Jeff Kinzli N6GQ wrote

On the other hand, the Binaural mode seems like (at least in my setup)
to have noise in one ear, and signals in the other. It's separated and
pronounced, and I didn't really care for it, I much prefer Delay 5 in
AFX mode.

Jeff I've not used my K3 much on SSB yet but I leave AFX continuously enabled for CW.  I also assign my AFX menu to PF1 (just to the right of the AFX button) so I can quickly change it.  The optimum choice of Delay setting (1-5) seems to vary depending on the situation but I seem to leave mine on Delay 5 most of the time.

Regarding Binaural, I'm not sure it was ever intended to be used on SSB.  I thought it was more for spatially separating CW signals in stereo headsets (i.e. higher pitch to one side and lower pitch to the other).  Orion had Binaural but I found myself seldom using it after the "gee whiz" factor wore off.  

73,  Bill  W4ZV

[Gary D Krause]

Hi Jeff,

What you are describing sounds like some kind of 3D sound.  That's
interesting.  I think it can be summed up as Elecraft MOJO.  This past
weekend, I was running up and down the 17 meter band and couldn't hear any
signals.  It was late in the afternoon.  On my way back down, I heard a very
faint signal.  It was a Japanese station.  I tried to spot him as best I could
and then called him with 10 watts on CW with my homebrew vertical ground
plane, using my K2.  He heard me!  We exchanged signal reports.  I was amazed!
 Now I know that propagation and the antenna has a lot to do with, at least
that is what the left brained, no nonsense, I don't believe it unless I can
measure it, feel it, hear it, see it, taste it or smell it crowd, would say.
 But, the MOJO seems to be way beyond that and becomes almost a spiritual
experience. :-)  I think many of us have had some kind of experience like
that, except for the people mentioned above ;-)

I may have to order a K3.

Gary, N7HTS


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