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KX3 in WPX CW

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gt-i

KX3 in WPX CW

Hello everybody,
I used the KX3 with FW 1.47/DSP 1.19 during WPX CW quite a lot. About
500 Qs on the KX3, 400Qs using the K2.
The KX3 features which outperform the K2 (and many other radios likewise
:-) are IMHO
- no noise clicks when changing filter bandwidth is a great plus to
avoid missing a single dot of the call/report
- dual rx helps if you got stuck on one station (S&P): turn on dual
receive, press A->B, and tune to the next one while listening to the
current station, if finished press A/B and your next station is served
- the stereo sound is less exhausting to listen to (at least to my ears)
- the wheel tuning rate is just perfect. The K2 is a little bit odd in
this case (I have found to setting which I feel really comfortable with)

On the down side of the KX3, there is still the nasty "ATU off" problem.
I mentioned this before and I thought it could be my antenna. But it
isnt - the K2 was completely happy with the SWR at all times during the
contest. The effect seems to be connected to timing, if it happens the
ATU always turns off at the end of the transmission. It then turns on
again, but apparently with a slightly different setting because you have
to press ATU TUNE again to get the same receive noise level.
Occasionally, it also reduced power to 3 Watts automatically after ATU
off. You have to recover to power level to 5W manually.
The K2 ATU is never complaining - it just works. Maybe the KX3's
protection mechanisms are a bit too "sharp"?

Another observation are audible artifacts while tuning over the band
when using narrow filters (FL2, 3). They are a bit distracting. You
think there is a station, but there is none. You have to tune further to
find the real signal. Note this happens only on very strong stations in
combination with filters narrower than ~700 Hz.

My bottom line: KX3 is great even for big contests. The K2 is still the
more reliable transmitter at the moment.
But I'm happy that I bought one and hope it evolves further.

Thanks Elecraft and 73

Gernot, DF5RF

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gt-i

Re: KX3 in WPX CW

Sorry for the typo - I meant DSP Version 1.18

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DL6OAP

Re: KX3 in WPX CW

In reply to this post by gt-i

Hi Gernot,

your ATU problem looks similar to mine, maybe you changed antennas and some settings for a different antenna are still in the tuner? If this is the case, you probably have to clear the ATU's memories.

Maybe you want to see this discussion: http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-antenna-tuner-intermittend-operation-td7573335.html

Vy 73,

Ralf, DL6OAP

Am 29.05.2013 um 23:27 schrieb [hidden email]:

> Hello everybody,
> I used the KX3 with FW 1.47/DSP 1.19 during WPX CW quite a lot. About 500 Qs on the KX3, 400Qs using the K2.
> The KX3 features which outperform the K2 (and many other radios likewise :-) are IMHO
> - no noise clicks when changing filter bandwidth is a great plus to avoid missing a single dot of the call/report
> - dual rx helps if you got stuck on one station (S&P): turn on dual receive, press A->B, and tune to the next one while listening to the current station, if finished press A/B and your next station is served
> - the stereo sound is less exhausting to listen to (at least to my ears)
> - the wheel tuning rate is just perfect. The K2 is a little bit odd in this case (I have found to setting which I feel really comfortable with)
>
> On the down side of the KX3, there is still the nasty "ATU off" problem. I mentioned this before and I thought it could be my antenna. But it isnt - the K2 was completely happy with the SWR at all times during the contest. The effect seems to be connected to timing, if it happens the ATU always turns off at the end of the transmission. It then turns on again, but apparently with a slightly different setting because you have to press ATU TUNE again to get the same receive noise level. Occasionally, it also reduced power to 3 Watts automatically after ATU off. You have to recover to power level to 5W manually.
> The K2 ATU is never complaining - it just works. Maybe the KX3's protection mechanisms are a bit too "sharp"?
>
> Another observation are audible artifacts while tuning over the band when using narrow filters (FL2, 3). They are a bit distracting. You think there is a station, but there is none. You have to tune further to find the real signal. Note this happens only on very strong stations in combination with filters narrower than ~700 Hz.
>
> My bottom line: KX3 is great even for big contests. The K2 is still the more reliable transmitter at the moment.
> But I'm happy that I bought one and hope it evolves further.
>
> Thanks Elecraft and 73
>
> Gernot, DF5RF
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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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Uwe Hermanns

Re: KX3 in WPX CW

Hi Gernot and Ralf,

I see here the same issue! I wrote about it last year, but I got no
response.
I have a second complain with this ATU: it doesn`t tune in rx. My Icom 7600
does it better: it remembers the antenna alignment and sets it up while
changing the frequency.

73 de Uwe, DL4AC
www.dl4ac.de

2013/5/30 Ralf Wilhelm <[hidden email]>

> Hi Gernot,
>
> your ATU problem looks similar to mine, maybe you changed antennas and
> some settings for a different antenna are still in the tuner? If this is
> the case, you probably have to clear the ATU's memories.
>
> Maybe you want to see this discussion:
> http://elecraft.365791.n2.nabble.com/KX3-antenna-tuner-intermittend-operation-td7573335.html
>
>
>
> Vy 73,
>
> Ralf, DL6OAP
>
> Am 29.05.2013 um 23:27 schrieb [hidden email]:
>
> > Hello everybody,
> > I used the KX3 with FW 1.47/DSP 1.19 during WPX CW quite a lot. About
> 500 Qs on the KX3, 400Qs using the K2.
> > The KX3 features which outperform the K2 (and many other radios likewise
> :-) are IMHO
> > - no noise clicks when changing filter bandwidth is a great plus to
> avoid missing a single dot of the call/report
> > - dual rx helps if you got stuck on one station (S&P): turn on dual
> receive, press A->B, and tune to the next one while listening to the
> current station, if finished press A/B and your next station is served
> > - the stereo sound is less exhausting to listen to (at least to my ears)
> > - the wheel tuning rate is just perfect. The K2 is a little bit odd in
> this case (I have found to setting which I feel really comfortable with)
> >
> > On the down side of the KX3, there is still the nasty "ATU off" problem.
> I mentioned this before and I thought it could be my antenna. But it isnt -
> the K2 was completely happy with the SWR at all times during the contest.
> The effect seems to be connected to timing, if it happens the ATU always
> turns off at the end of the transmission. It then turns on again, but
> apparently with a slightly different setting because you have to press ATU
> TUNE again to get the same receive noise level. Occasionally, it also
> reduced power to 3 Watts automatically after ATU off. You have to recover
> to power level to 5W manually.
> > The K2 ATU is never complaining - it just works. Maybe the KX3's
> protection mechanisms are a bit too "sharp"?
> >
> > Another observation are audible artifacts while tuning over the band
> when using narrow filters (FL2, 3). They are a bit distracting. You think
> there is a station, but there is none. You have to tune further to find the
> real signal. Note this happens only on very strong stations in combination
> with filters narrower than ~700 Hz.
> >
> > My bottom line: KX3 is great even for big contests. The K2 is still the
> more reliable transmitter at the moment.
> > But I'm happy that I bought one and hope it evolves further.
> >
> > Thanks Elecraft and 73
> >
> > Gernot, DF5RF
> >
> > ______________________________________________________________
> > 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
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
>