The K3 in J3

[Ed K1EP]

Here is a short report from this weekend's contesting with a K3.  I
am just back this evening from J3, where I operated 20M phone in CQWW
from J3A with my K3.  If you worked J3A on 20M, you heard a K3 and
probably me.  The K3 performed great under high RF conditions, both
local and on the crowded band.  I think 20M, especially during this
part of the cycle is the most crowded of all the bands.  That is why
I decided to use the K3 on 20M.  Our setup at J3A is mostly temporary
antennas erected for the contest.  The 20M antenna, which was a 3el
tribander, was in close proximity to the 15M antenna, which was a 4el
monobander.   All stations had a single ICE bandpass filter in
line.  We used N1MM logging software, which interfaced well with the
K3.  A single RS232 cable gave computer control of the radio, as well
as PTT and CW (which I did a little of outside of the contest).  A
single audio cable was used from the laptop to the rear line in jack
so that we could use the sound card voice keyer.  Unfortunately, I
didn't have enough time to fully understand and adjust all the
parameters.  I think it performed well enough in this instance, but
probably I could have had a little better audio.  I monitored the PA
temp during the contest and it didn't exceed 50C or 51C.  Of course,
the ambient temp was rather warm too.  The fans were was quiet, so
much so, that I had to check that they were running.  The DSP filters
worked great (I had the stock 2.7K and 500Hz CW roofing filters),
although it took me a little bit to get used to the method of
adjusting the filters.  They worked great to get rid of adjacent
interference.  I was chatting with one of the other ops in the
airport today.  He was quite astounded at the difference between the
K3 and the other radios we were using, with respect to the
filtering.  The noise blanker was helpful as we had a lot of impulse
noise, both man made and from Mother Nature.  There were a number of
thunderstorms that passed through the area.  The NR worked, but I
didn't get to figure out the new algorithms before the contest.  As a
matter of fact, I had downloaded the latest firmware a few hours
before leaving and didn't get to try it out until I was there.  The
new firmware changed the NR GUI which threw me for a loop at
first.  I will have to play with it some now that I am back.  Most of
the other ops didn't have a problem figuring out the radio on the
fly, most of it was intuitive.  The small size and weight of the K3
made for easy transport.  I took the radio and a power supply on the
plane as carry on with no problems.  This will be a killer dxpedition
radio because of that and of course by its performance.  I will see
about gathering some pictures from the rest of the gang and post them
somewhere.  We ran into a couple of the guys heading to PJ2T and V26B
in the airport in Puerto Rico and had to give them a showing of the
radio.  We had enough to actually set it up and run it, but we didn't
think it was good idea to do that in the airport :)  

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