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New K3 guide by KE7X

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T Gahagan

New K3 guide by KE7X

For those that don’t know about the new K3 guide by KE7X check out the link in this message. Fred has done an outstanding job of explaining many of the intricacies of the K3 that have puzzled me. Block diagrams and step by step instructions on just about every facet of operation are really helpful. Fred’s guide doesn’t replace the K3 manual by any means but it sure has helped me determine if I have my K3 set up properly for what I am trying to accomplish. I have no financial interest in this product but thought reflector members might like to know about this new offering.

Todd, WA7U

http://www.ke7x.com/home/guide-to-the-k3
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Dave Hachadorian

Re: New K3 guide by KE7X

The KE7X Guide has an interesting discussion about the
shortcomings of the K3's AGC in a CW pileup situation. I have
complained about this AGC issue several times, but there has not
yet been any effective solution.

The K3's AGC, even at SLP=0 and THR=8, compresses CW signals at
too low a threshold and too flat a slope. Signals in a pileup
are all mushed together by the AGC. It's not an IMD problem,
it's a compression problem. The usual solution, turning AGC OFF,
is thwarted by the AF Limiter's extreme distortion on even
moderately loud signals, even at its max setting AF LIM = 030.

If you have extremely sensitive headphones, and a very quiet
shack, you can turn AGC OFF and turn the overall receiver gain
down to where the AF Limiter rarely triggers, but one shouldn't
have to jump through these fiery hoops. With a TS-850, you could
turn AGC OFF, and a loud signal would not blow your ears off, and
would not be severely distorted. If they could do that in 1989,
it should be doable today.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ

-----Original Message-----
From: T Gahagan
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 12:06 PM
To: Elecraft List
Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 guide by KE7X

For those that don’t know about the new K3 guide by KE7X check
out the link in this message. Fred has done an outstanding job
of explaining many of the intricacies of the K3 that have puzzled
me. Block diagrams and step by step instructions on just about
every facet of operation are really helpful. Fred’s guide doesn’t
replace the K3 manual by any means but it sure has helped me
determine if I have my K3 set up properly for what I am trying to
accomplish. I have no financial interest in this product but
thought reflector members might like to know about this new
offering.

Todd, WA7U

http://www.ke7x.com/home/guide-to-the-k3
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wayne burdick

Re: New K3 guide by KE7X

Administrator

Dave,

The K3 provides two alternatives to turning off AGC in this situation.
We closely examined the effect of these on multiple close-spaced
signals, and both reduce IMD considerably:

1. CONFIG:AGC DCY sets the AGC decay characteristic, and applies to
both AGC-S and AGC-F (slow and fast AGC). The default setting NOR,
provides a traditional linear decay. The SOFT setting applies a "soft"
exponential decay. It typically reduces in-band IMD by 10-15 dB.

1. CONFIG:AGC HLD adds a "hold" timer to slow AGC-S (slow AGC) only.
It behaves as if you were manually (and very quickly) riding the RF
GAIN control, reducing gain when a very strong signal comes in, then
turning it back up N seconds later. The normal setting is 0.00 (no
hold time); a typical setting for pileup conditions might be 0.40.
This can reduce in-band IMD as much as turning AGC off.

Please give these AGC alternatives a try.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On May 31, 2011, at 1:42 PM, Dave Hachadorian wrote:

> The KE7X Guide has an interesting discussion about the
> shortcomings of the K3's AGC in a CW pileup situation. I have
> complained about this AGC issue several times, but there has not
> yet been any effective solution.
>
> The K3's AGC, even at SLP=0 and THR=8, compresses CW signals at
> too low a threshold and too flat a slope. Signals in a pileup
> are all mushed together by the AGC. It's not an IMD problem,
> it's a compression problem. The usual solution, turning AGC OFF,
> is thwarted by the AF Limiter's extreme distortion on even
> moderately loud signals, even at its max setting AF LIM = 030.
>
> If you have extremely sensitive headphones, and a very quiet
> shack, you can turn AGC OFF and turn the overall receiver gain
> down to where the AF Limiter rarely triggers, but one shouldn't
> have to jump through these fiery hoops. With a TS-850, you could
> turn AGC OFF, and a loud signal would not blow your ears off, and
> would not be severely distorted. If they could do that in 1989,
> it should be doable today.
>
>
> Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
> Yuma, AZ
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: T Gahagan
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 12:06 PM
> To: Elecraft List
> Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 guide by KE7X
>
> For those that don’t know about the new K3 guide by KE7X check
> out the link in this message. Fred has done an outstanding job
> of explaining many of the intricacies of the K3 that have puzzled
> me. Block diagrams and step by step instructions on just about
> every facet of operation are really helpful. Fred’s guide doesn’t
> replace the K3 manual by any means but it sure has helped me
> determine if I have my K3 set up properly for what I am trying to
> accomplish. I have no financial interest in this product but
> thought reflector members might like to know about this new
> offering.
>
> Todd, WA7U
>
>
>
> http://www.ke7x.com/home/guide-to-the-k3
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

Andy Faber

Re: New K3 guide by KE7X

Wayne,
I would add that I have found that using AGC-S with SLP=6 and THR=6 gives
me the abilty in CW pileups to separate out the signals by riding the RF
gain control, without turning off the AVC and risking getting blown out by
strong signals. I used these settings in WPX CW this past weekend and found
them very effective. It's hard to figure this out on the fly, but I had
tied varying the settings by listending to another stations's pileup a few
contests ago.
The K3 is just a great run radio: unless the adjacent stations have
clicks, you simply don't hear them (though the P3 shows just where they are
if you want to optimize your frequency between big signals).
73, andy ae6y, p49y
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Burdick" <[hidden email]>
To: "Dave Hachadorian" <[hidden email]>
Cc: "Elecraft Reflector" <[hidden email]>
Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 5:17 PM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] New K3 guide by KE7X

Dave,

The K3 provides two alternatives to turning off AGC in this situation.
We closely examined the effect of these on multiple close-spaced
signals, and both reduce IMD considerably:

1. CONFIG:AGC DCY sets the AGC decay characteristic, and applies to
both AGC-S and AGC-F (slow and fast AGC). The default setting NOR,
provides a traditional linear decay. The SOFT setting applies a "soft"
exponential decay. It typically reduces in-band IMD by 10-15 dB.

1. CONFIG:AGC HLD adds a "hold" timer to slow AGC-S (slow AGC) only.
It behaves as if you were manually (and very quickly) riding the RF
GAIN control, reducing gain when a very strong signal comes in, then
turning it back up N seconds later. The normal setting is 0.00 (no
hold time); a typical setting for pileup conditions might be 0.40.
This can reduce in-band IMD as much as turning AGC off.

Please give these AGC alternatives a try.

73,
Wayne
N6KR

On May 31, 2011, at 1:42 PM, Dave Hachadorian wrote:

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Cady, Fred

Re: New K3 guide by KE7X

In reply to this post by T Gahagan

Hi Folks,
Please hold off going to the ke7x.com website to order the book (you can look at some of the samples from chapters, though.) I want to have one final, final, last look at it before releasing it.
Thanks for all the interest.
Fred

Fred Cady
fcady at ieee dot org

> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] [mailto:elecraft-
> [hidden email]] On Behalf Of T Gahagan
> Sent: Tuesday, May 31, 2011 1:07 PM
> To: Elecraft List
> Subject: [Elecraft] New K3 guide by KE7X
>
> For those that don’t know about the new K3 guide by KE7X check out the
> link in this message. Fred has done an outstanding job of explaining
> many of the intricacies of the K3 that have puzzled me. Block diagrams
> and step by step instructions on just about every facet of operation
> are really helpful. Fred’s guide doesn’t replace the K3 manual by any
> means but it sure has helped me determine if I have my K3 set up
> properly for what I am trying to accomplish. I have no financial
> interest in this product but thought reflector members might like to
> know about this new offering.
>
> Todd, WA7U
>
>
>
> http://www.ke7x.com/home/guide-to-the-k3
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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

Andy Faber

Re: New K3 guide by KE7X

In reply to this post by Andy Faber

I'm sorry for the bandwidth, but upon rereading my recent message, I'm
appalled at all my spelling mistakes, so here is a corrected message.
73, Andy, AE6Y

Wayne,
I would add that I have found that using AGC-S with SLP=6 and THR=6 gives
me the ability in CW pileups to separate out the signals by riding the RF
gain control, without turning off the AVC and risking getting blown out by
strong signals. I used these settings in WPX CW this past weekend and found
them very effective. It's hard to figure this out on the fly, but I had
tried varying the settings by listening to another station's pileup a few
contests ago.
The K3 is just a great run radio: unless the adjacent stations have
clicks, you simply don't hear them (though the P3 shows just where they are
if you want to optimize your frequency between big signals).
73, andy ae6y, p49y

______________________________________________________________
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Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
Post: mailto:[hidden email]

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