Re: Elecraft Digest, Vol 77, Issue 27

[Jim Garland]

Hi All,
I assembled and installed P3 s/n 497 this week, and it all works perfectly. Here are a couple of suggestions for firmware upgrades that I think would make the P3 more functional when it's used with a K3 (in addition, of course, to wider span range).  I understand that some of these suggestions may not have broad enough appeal to warrant serious consideration, and I'm sure some have been previously mentioned.

1. The Center Frequency adjust isn't well described in the manual. Currently, it's really just a fixed offset from the K3 VFO A frequency, and moves as the K3 is tuned. To me, once selected, the center frequency should stay put.  This seems so obvious to me that I wonder if the current implementation is actually just a firmware bug?

2. The "Tap=QSY" feature is nice, but it would be more convenient if the the K3 actually tuned in the peak being clicked on. Thus, if the K3 was on USB, it would QSY to the appropriate place on the peak signal's bandpass -- kind of an autotune, or AFC mode, analogous to that the K3 now uses for autotuning CW signals.

3. A "Peak Search" feature, which tuned the K3 to the biggest peak on the P3 display, would be useful on the 10m and 6m bands, where there is very often very little activity.  A refinement on this concept would be a "Peak Search Right" and "Peak Search Left" mode. These are common features on spectrum analyzers.

4. Band Limit Settings on the P3, like those implemented on the IC-7700 and IC-7800.  Here, one would specify upper and lower band frequencies (e.g., L=7000 kHz and U = 7300 kHz), so that whenever the K3 was tuned to a ham band, the P3 would show the selected fixed frequency range as a menu option.

5. Encoder default setting: It would be helpful if a menu choice could set the encoder so that it defaulted to Span or Level, when no other function had selected it.

6. Assign unused FN1 - FN8 to K3 functions.  I suspect most P3 users will not assign all eight FN buttons to P3 menu functions. Since the P3 and K3 "talk" to each other via the RS232C port, how about using spare FN buttons to control K3 functions? In my case, I'd like to have dedicated mode buttons for SSB, CW, AM, etc., or possibly for band changes.

7. Color choices on the LCD. Currently, the P3 uses only white, blue and yellow.  Assuming the display is actually capable of other colors, it would be nice to give operators a choice of other color combinations. (The current color choices are pretty, but a bit jarring next to the orange display on the K3!)

8. A brief explanation of spectrum analyzer terminology (since, the P3 is really just a spectrum analyzer) would be a nice appendix to the manual.  For example, I suspect many users aren't familiar with the meaning of "resolution bandwidth," why the sweep rate changes with span width, etc.  I'm sure a short tutorial would be appreciated by many owners.

Thanks and 73,
Jim Garland W8ZR
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[Gary Gregory]

Before we ask for Fn keys to be assignable to the K3 we may want to know
just what added FW and HW are proposed for the P3?

The future options may require or be better suitable with available Fn keys
on the P3?

Just thinkin out loud..:-)

Gary

On Sun, Sep 19, 2010 at 9:44 AM, 4CX250B <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hi All,
> I assembled and installed P3 s/n 497 this week, and it all works perfectly.
> Here are a couple of suggestions for firmware upgrades that I think would
> make the P3 more functional when it's used with a K3 (in addition, of
> course, to wider span range).  I understand that some of these suggestions
> may not have broad enough appeal to warrant serious consideration, and I'm
> sure some have been previously mentioned.
>
> 1. The Center Frequency adjust isn't well described in the manual.
> Currently, it's really just a fixed offset from the K3 VFO A frequency, and
> moves as the K3 is tuned. To me, once selected, the center frequency should
> stay put.  This seems so obvious to me that I wonder if the current
> implementation is actually just a firmware bug?
>
> 2. The "Tap=QSY" feature is nice, but it would be more convenient if the
> the K3 actually tuned in the peak being clicked on. Thus, if the K3 was on
> USB, it would QSY to the appropriate place on the peak signal's bandpass --
> kind of an autotune, or AFC mode, analogous to that the K3 now uses for
> autotuning CW signals.
>
> 3. A "Peak Search" feature, which tuned the K3 to the biggest peak on the
> P3 display, would be useful on the 10m and 6m bands, where there is very
> often very little activity.  A refinement on this concept would be a "Peak
> Search Right" and "Peak Search Left" mode. These are common features on
> spectrum analyzers.
>
> 4. Band Limit Settings on the P3, like those implemented on the IC-7700 and
> IC-7800.  Here, one would specify upper and lower band frequencies (e.g.,
> L=7000 kHz and U = 7300 kHz), so that whenever the K3 was tuned to a ham
> band, the P3 would show the selected fixed frequency range as a menu option.
>
> 5. Encoder default setting: It would be helpful if a menu choice could set
> the encoder so that it defaulted to Span or Level, when no other function
> had selected it.
>
> 6. Assign unused FN1 - FN8 to K3 functions.  I suspect most P3 users will
> not assign all eight FN buttons to P3 menu functions. Since the P3 and K3
> "talk" to each other via the RS232C port, how about using spare FN buttons
> to control K3 functions? In my case, I'd like to have dedicated mode buttons
> for SSB, CW, AM, etc., or possibly for band changes.
>
> 7. Color choices on the LCD. Currently, the P3 uses only white, blue and
> yellow.  Assuming the display is actually capable of other colors, it would
> be nice to give operators a choice of other color combinations. (The current
> color choices are pretty, but a bit jarring next to the orange display on
> the K3!)
>
> 8. A brief explanation of spectrum analyzer terminology (since, the P3 is
> really just a spectrum analyzer) would be a nice appendix to the manual.
>  For example, I suspect many users aren't familiar with the meaning of
> "resolution bandwidth," why the sweep rate changes with span width, etc.
>  I'm sure a short tutorial would be appreciated by many owners.
>
> Thanks and 73,
> Jim Garland W8ZR
> ______________________________________________________________
> 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
>

--
Gary
VK4FD - Motorhome Mobile
http://www.qsl.net/vk4fd/
K3 #679
For everything else there's Mastercard!!!
______________________________________________________________
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Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
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Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html