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R: Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

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IK4EWX

R: Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

Many thanks Guy for you help. I use K3S from april and can be that I havent set at the best the rig.I work 90% CW, usually with 500hz 5 pole filter, sometime with the 200hz 6 pole.Usually I work 40-20-17-15-10 meter, in contests also 80 meters.In these last months I worked expecially 40-20-18-15.Usually I have AGC slow for ragchewing and fast for contests, always qsk with a bug.PRE - noATT- no AGC - slow, sometime fastANT - a Force 12 C4 yagi (2el 20 - 3el 15 - 3 el 10m - 1 element 40m 17m 12m - also have a dipole 80m-40m inv vee low on a roof at 5th floor; the yagi is 8m high from this roof (composite material, including aluminum layer), the buildings around are lower.RX ANT - noWIDTH - the same as xtal filter, 500hz or 200hz.
in the CONFIG MENU I have: AGC DCY - norAGC HLD - 0.00AGC PLS - norAGC SLP - 012AGC THR - 005AGC-F - 120AGC-S - 020
Now with the 500hz filter and agc fast, no preamp no attenuator, ant yagi to north america, in this moment, I have this noise (local time 22.00):40m---- S7 20m ----S4 S517m --- S3 S415m - S312 m --- S1 S228mhz--- S4Some time of the day noise from long range radar, wide spectrum military emissions or domestic applience or lights noises go up to S9.
You asked the higher signals that I receive: say 20dB over S9 or even 30dB over S9 from a pair of local hams at the other side of my town.
But I work all kind of signals low and high (327 countries DXCC and a lot of ragchew CW).
Thanks for your patience :)
Ian IK4EWX

----Messaggio originale----
Da: [hidden email]
Data: 13-ott-2016 21.08
A: "Gian Luca Cazzola"<[hidden email]>, <[hidden email]>
Ogg: Re: [Elecraft] K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

Hi, Ian,

Can you possibly tell me these settings, please? You are getting
results very, very different than I do.

What bands are you using?

On each band in question, what is the noise floor on the s-meter when
the band is open.

On each band in question, what is the s-meter reading for the loudest
signals you are receiving when the band is open.

On each band in question, what are these settings made from the front
panel: PRE, ATT, AGC, ANT, RX ANT, WIDTH,

What are these settings made in the CONFIG MENU: AGC DCY, AGC HLD, AGC
PLS, AGC SLP, AGC THR, AGC-F, AGC-S

There is some kind of interaction with NB and NR for each of these.
Perhaps there are one or two of them that are reducing your results.

73, Guy K2AV

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Vic Rosenthal

Re: R: Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

I suggest that the preamp should be OFF on 80-40-30m and usually on 20m. It is mostly useful on higher bands.
Also AGC threshold of 5 is probably too low, causing it to activate on band noise and weak signals. Try 10.
The way you have it set will result in a very noisy sounding receiver.

Vic 4X6GP

> On 13 Oct 2016, at 22:58, "[hidden email]" <[hidden email]> wrote:
>
>
>
> Many thanks Guy for you help. I use K3S from april and can be that I havent set at the best the rig.I work 90% CW, usually with 500hz 5 pole filter, sometime with the 200hz 6 pole.Usually I work 40-20-17-15-10 meter, in contests also 80 meters.In these last months I worked expecially 40-20-18-15.Usually I have AGC slow for ragchewing and fast for contests, always qsk with a bug.PRE - noATT- no AGC - slow, sometime fastANT - a Force 12 C4 yagi (2el 20 - 3el 15 - 3 el 10m - 1 element 40m 17m 12m - also have a dipole 80m-40m inv vee low on a roof at 5th floor; the yagi is 8m high from this roof (composite material, including aluminum layer), the buildings around are lower.RX ANT - noWIDTH - the same as xtal filter, 500hz or 200hz.
> in the CONFIG MENU I have: AGC DCY - norAGC HLD - 0.00AGC PLS - norAGC SLP - 012AGC THR - 005AGC-F - 120AGC-S - 020
> Now with the 500hz filter and agc fast, no preamp no attenuator, ant yagi to north america, in this moment, I have this noise (local time 22.00):40m---- S7 20m ----S4 S517m --- S3 S415m - S312 m --- S1 S228mhz--- S4Some time of the day noise from long range radar, wide spectrum military emissions or domestic applience or lights noises go up to S9.
> You asked the higher signals that I receive: say 20dB over S9 or even 30dB over S9 from a pair of local hams at the other side of my town.
> But I work all kind of signals low and high (327 countries DXCC and a lot of ragchew CW).
> Thanks for your patience :)
> Ian IK4EWX
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----Messaggio originale----
> Da: [hidden email]
> Data: 13-ott-2016 21.08
> A: "Gian Luca Cazzola"<[hidden email]>, <[hidden email]>
> Ogg: Re: [Elecraft] K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor
>
> Hi, Ian,
>
> Can you possibly tell me these settings, please? You are getting
> results very, very different than I do.
>
> What bands are you using?
>
> On each band in question, what is the noise floor on the s-meter when
> the band is open.
>
> On each band in question, what is the s-meter reading for the loudest
> signals you are receiving when the band is open.
>
> On each band in question, what are these settings made from the front
> panel: PRE, ATT, AGC, ANT, RX ANT, WIDTH,
>
> What are these settings made in the CONFIG MENU: AGC DCY, AGC HLD, AGC
> PLS, AGC SLP, AGC THR, AGC-F, AGC-S
>
> There is some kind of interaction with NB and NR for each of these.
> Perhaps there are one or two of them that are reducing your results.
>
> 73, Guy K2AV
>
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
> Message delivered to [hidden email]

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Don Wilhelm

Re: R: Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

In reply to this post by IK4EWX

Ian,

Your AGC SLP and AGC THR menu settings are contributing to the noise
response of your K3S.
I recommend you increase the AGC THR setting and decrease the AGC SLP.
Look at my website www.w3fpr.com "Noisy K3" article. It will give you
guidelines for setting those AGC parameters to best deal with the
ambient noise you have at your location.
Pay particular attention to the method of evaluating your changes. You
must listen during pauses in a signal. If you listen only to the noise,
you will end up adjusting the wrong direction.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/13/2016 3:58 PM, [hidden email] wrote:

>
> in the CONFIG MENU I have:
> AGC DCY - nor
> AGC HLD - 0.00
> AGC PLS - nor
> AGC SLP - 012
> AGC THR - 005
> AGC-F - 120
> AGC-S - 020
>
>

Charlie T, K3ICH

Re: R: Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

Great advice Don. (Nice website too.)

One little point I would add to comments about listening to whether you hear
band noise when connecting that antenna, is that if you're performing this
test at VHF, or even the high end of the HF, the actual
connection/disconnection of the antenna should be from the back panel of the
radio, not via an antenna switch with some undetermined length of coax.
What can happen is that sometimes simply connecting an open length of coax
to the antenna input may change the audible noise coming from the receiver's
speaker. I haven't tried this with my K3s, but I've observed this effect
with other * radios, especially ones which depend on good input impedance
matching for their antenna inputs.

This effect is related to the length of the coax relative to the frequency
you're listening to, so I doubt if it would be noticeable below, say 10 or
15 M with a few feet of line to an antenna switch.

73, Charlie k3ICH

*I specialize in the restoration of the Collins 51S-1 receivers, and have
noticed this effect with them. The 51S-1's sensitivity is quite susceptible
to degrading from an unmatched antenna. During an alignment, I see a
small, but noticeable difference in the antenna input coil adjustments from
using a matched 50 Ω signal generator versus leaving the antenna input open
and relying on the calibrator signal for peaking.

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Guy Olinger K2AV

Re: K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor

In reply to this post by IK4EWX

Have not forgotten this. Have been sick for a while. It's on my reply
list. 73, Guy

On Thu, Oct 13, 2016 at 3:58 PM, [hidden email] <[hidden email]>
wrote:

>
> Many thanks Guy for you help.
> I use K3S from april and can be that I havent set at the best the rig.
> I work 90% CW, usually with 500hz 5 pole filter, sometime with the 200hz 6
> pole.
> Usually I work 40-20-17-15-10 meter, in contests also 80 meters.
> In these last months I worked expecially 40-20-18-15.
> Usually I have AGC slow for ragchewing and fast for contests, always qsk
> with a bug.
> PRE - no
> ATT- no
> AGC - slow, sometime fast
> ANT - a Force 12 C4 yagi (2el 20 - 3el 15 - 3 el 10m - 1 element 40m 17m
> 12m - also have a dipole 80m-40m inv vee low on a roof at 5th floor; the
> yagi is 8m high from this roof (composite material, including aluminum
> layer), the buildings around are lower.
> RX ANT - no
> WIDTH - the same as xtal filter, 500hz or 200hz.
>
> in the CONFIG MENU I have:
> AGC DCY - nor
> AGC HLD - 0.00
> AGC PLS - nor
> AGC SLP - 012
> AGC THR - 005
> AGC-F - 120
> AGC-S - 020
>
> Now with the 500hz filter and agc fast, no preamp no attenuator, ant yagi
> to north america, in this moment, I have this noise (local time 22.00):
> 40m---- S7
> 20m ----S4 S5
> 17m --- S3 S4
> 15m - S3
> 12 m --- S1 S2
> 28mhz--- S4
> Some time of the day noise from long range radar, wide spectrum military
> emissions or domestic applience or lights noises go up to S9.
>
> You asked the higher signals that I receive: say 20dB over S9 or even 30dB
> over S9 from a pair of local hams at the other side of my town.
>
> But I work all kind of signals low and high (327 countries DXCC and a lot
> of ragchew CW).
>
> Thanks for your patience :)
>
> Ian IK4EWX
>
>
>
>
>
>
> ----Messaggio originale----
> Da: [hidden email]
> Data: 13-ott-2016 21.08
> A: "Gian Luca Cazzola"<[hidden email]>, <[hidden email]>
> Ogg: Re: [Elecraft] K3S - K3 Noise Blanker and Noise Reductor
>
>
> Hi, Ian,
>
> Can you possibly tell me these settings, please? You are getting
> results very, very different than I do.
>
> What bands are you using?
>
> On each band in question, what is the noise floor on the s-meter when
> the band is open.
>
> On each band in question, what is the s-meter reading for the loudest
> signals you are receiving when the band is open.
>
> On each band in question, what are these settings made from the front
> panel: PRE, ATT, AGC, ANT, RX ANT, WIDTH,
>
> What are these settings made in the CONFIG MENU: AGC DCY, AGC HLD, AGC
> PLS, AGC SLP, AGC THR, AGC-F, AGC-S
>
> There is some kind of interaction with NB and NR for each of these.
> Perhaps there are one or two of them that are reducing your results.
>
> 73, Guy K2AV
>
>
>