SSB contesting

[Barry N1EU]

One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
jack and the front panel mic jack.

The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
the mic.

Hopefully there will be software support (N1MM Logger?) that will
enable rear line-in during DVK'ing and switch back to front panel mic
otherwise.

73,
Barry N1EU
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[KK7P]

Hello Barry!

> One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
> other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
> jack and the front panel mic jack.

We have an active discussion going on with the FT group about this very
topic.

The K3 hardware can allow simultaneous LINE IN and _either_ the front or
the rear mic to be active at the same time.  Seems simple.

But the devil is in the details.  What if you have audio on both?  Do
you mix them?  Does one over-ride the other?  If so, which has
precedence?  How do you do this so it is consistent and intuitive
without adding Yet Another Menu Entry (tm) ??

I'd be happy to receive your thoughts on this topic.

> The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
> and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
> the mic.

This opens a path for ground loops and other delights.  The LINE I/O is
transformer isolated; the mic is not.

***

One important thing for everyone to keep in mind is that the K3 is
evolving.  Due to its Flash Firmware Architecture, and the easy-to-use
K3 Utility software for updating, we are regularly adding features to
the K3, and all K3s in the field can take advantage of them.

We solicit input from our customer community on these features, and we
try very hard to listen.

73,

Lyle KK7P


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[Barry N1EU]

If they're both active, you mix them.  During ssb contest with the
Orion, N1MM Logger software has a check option to "disable mic during
DVK'ing".  What N1MM actually does in code is turn the front panel mic
gain down to zero during DVK'ing and then restores it after.

Yes, if the user goes the "y" route, they definitely need to add their
own isolation xfmr between soundcard and mic jack.  I should have
mentioned this in my previous post.

73,
Barry N1EU


On Nov 19, 2007 1:03 PM, Lyle Johnson <[hidden email]> wrote:

> Hello Barry!
>
> > One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
> > other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
> > jack and the front panel mic jack.
>
> We have an active discussion going on with the FT group about this very
> topic.
>
> The K3 hardware can allow simultaneous LINE IN and _either_ the front or
> the rear mic to be active at the same time.  Seems simple.
>
> But the devil is in the details.  What if you have audio on both?  Do
> you mix them?  Does one over-ride the other?  If so, which has
> precedence?  How do you do this so it is consistent and intuitive
> without adding Yet Another Menu Entry (tm) ??
>
> I'd be happy to receive your thoughts on this topic.
>
> > The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
> > and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
> > the mic.
>
> This opens a path for ground loops and other delights.  The LINE I/O is
> transformer isolated; the mic is not.
>
> ***
>
> One important thing for everyone to keep in mind is that the K3 is
> evolving.  Due to its Flash Firmware Architecture, and the easy-to-use
> K3 Utility software for updating, we are regularly adding features to
> the K3, and all K3s in the field can take advantage of them.
>
> We solicit input from our customer community on these features, and we
> try very hard to listen.
>
> 73,
>
> Lyle KK7P
>
>
>

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[Don Wilhelm-4]

Lyle,

Since the K3 hardware design is pretty well fixed in place now, for my
part I would think mixing them would be fine.  Any muting of an input
would have to be done outside the K3 if indeed muting is required.

Of course, I believe the ideal would be to have each PTT input line make
its own corresponding AF input active, but that would require the
addition of  an analog gate on each audio input and a bit of logic added
to each PTT source.   The user could then control which input(s) were
active by controlling the respective PTT inputs - if the user wanted the
audio to be mixed, he would make multiple PTT inputs active - no added
menu functions needed.  An arrangement like that could serve well for
stations using multiple mics - but then deciding how the VOX part would
be handled is yet another part of the puzzle, and that may require 'Yet
Another Menu Entry'

73,
Don W3FPR

Lyle Johnson wrote:

> Hello Barry!
>
>> One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
>> other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
>> jack and the front panel mic jack.
>
> We have an active discussion going on with the FT group about this
> very topic.
>
> The K3 hardware can allow simultaneous LINE IN and _either_ the front
> or the rear mic to be active at the same time.  Seems simple.
>
> But the devil is in the details.  What if you have audio on both?  Do
> you mix them?  Does one over-ride the other?  If so, which has
> precedence?  How do you do this so it is consistent and intuitive
> without adding Yet Another Menu Entry (tm) ??
>
> I'd be happy to receive your thoughts on this topic.
>
>> The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
>> and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
>> the mic.
>
> This opens a path for ground loops and other delights.  The LINE I/O
> is transformer isolated; the mic is not.
>
> ***
>
> One important thing for everyone to keep in mind is that the K3 is
> evolving.  Due to its Flash Firmware Architecture, and the easy-to-use
> K3 Utility software for updating, we are regularly adding features to
> the K3, and all K3s in the field can take advantage of them.
>
> We solicit input from our customer community on these features, and we
> try very hard to listen.
>
> 73,
>
> Lyle KK7P
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Post to: [hidden email]
> You must be a subscriber to post to the list.
> Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.):
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft   
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm
> Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
>
>

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[Doug Faunt N6TQS [phone]]

Just to throw in my opinion, "Another Menu Entry" is not a real
problem, but it can be a real solution.

Being able to combine audio from Line In and Mic does the trick for
me.  I'll just wire up the Mic PTT to enable the audio from the mike.

BTW, many comments have been made about how tight 20M was this year
for SS-  I had much less trouble copying stations this year than I
recall from previous 'phone contests.  It was pretty frustrating to be
able to copy many stations that couldn't hear me.

And I used my Z90 spectrum display with the K3-  it was crude and
slow, but still useful.

73, doug

   Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:55:42 -0500
   From: Don Wilhelm <[hidden email]>

   Lyle,

   Since the K3 hardware design is pretty well fixed in place now, for my
   part I would think mixing them would be fine.  Any muting of an input
   would have to be done outside the K3 if indeed muting is required.

   Of course, I believe the ideal would be to have each PTT input line make
   its own corresponding AF input active, but that would require the
   addition of  an analog gate on each audio input and a bit of logic added
   to each PTT source.   The user could then control which input(s) were
   active by controlling the respective PTT inputs - if the user wanted the
   audio to be mixed, he would make multiple PTT inputs active - no added
   menu functions needed.  An arrangement like that could serve well for
   stations using multiple mics - but then deciding how the VOX part would
   be handled is yet another part of the puzzle, and that may require 'Yet
   Another Menu Entry'

   73,
   Don W3FPR

   Lyle Johnson wrote:
   > Hello Barry!
   >
   >> One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
   >> other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
   >> jack and the front panel mic jack.
   >
   > We have an active discussion going on with the FT group about this
   > very topic.
   >
   > The K3 hardware can allow simultaneous LINE IN and _either_ the front
   > or the rear mic to be active at the same time.  Seems simple.
   >
   > But the devil is in the details.  What if you have audio on both?  Do
   > you mix them?  Does one over-ride the other?  If so, which has
   > precedence?  How do you do this so it is consistent and intuitive
   > without adding Yet Another Menu Entry (tm) ??
   >
   > I'd be happy to receive your thoughts on this topic.
   >
   >> The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
   >> and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
   >> the mic.
   >
   > This opens a path for ground loops and other delights.  The LINE I/O
   > is transformer isolated; the mic is not.
   >
   > ***
   >
   > One important thing for everyone to keep in mind is that the K3 is
   > evolving.  Due to its Flash Firmware Architecture, and the easy-to-use
   > K3 Utility software for updating, we are regularly adding features to
   > the K3, and all K3s in the field can take advantage of them.
   >
   > We solicit input from our customer community on these features, and we
   > try very hard to listen.
   >
   > 73,
   >
   > Lyle KK7P
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