sensitivity/noise question

[Hisashi T Fujinaka]

Compared to my IC-706MKII, the Elecraft seems to be stingier on the
S-meter and seems to hear a lot less noise. And yes, I used an antenna
switch and did A/B comparisons.

I shouldn't complain, since the Elecraft is great to listen to,
especially on 40M, but should I break out the test equipment and try to
peak things up again?

And now that I type this, I wonder if my cabling is OK.

--
Hisashi T Fujinaka - [hidden email]
BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte
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[Don Brown-4]

Hi

If you build the signal generator mini kit from Elecraft you can calibrate the S meter on your K2 as well as make several tests on your radio. Before I had one of these I found setting the HI S meter calibration at a RF gain setting of 9 oclock rather than fully counter clockwise will make the S meter perform better. You can also try a little lower setting on the AGC threshold pot on the control board. When set properly you should not hear any difference with the AGC on or off when listening to a quiet band.

Don Brown
KD5NDB


  ----- Original Message -----
  From: Hisashi T Fujinaka<mailto:[hidden email]>
  To: [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>
  Sent: Wednesday, July 21, 2004 11:36 PM
  Subject: [Elecraft] sensitivity/noise question


  Compared to my IC-706MKII, the Elecraft seems to be stingier on the
  S-meter and seems to hear a lot less noise. And yes, I used an antenna
  switch and did A/B comparisons.

  I shouldn't complain, since the Elecraft is great to listen to,
  especially on 40M, but should I break out the test equipment and try to
  peak things up again?

  And now that I type this, I wonder if my cabling is OK.

  --
  Hisashi T Fujinaka - [hidden email]<mailto:[hidden email]>
  BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte
  _______________________________________________
  Elecraft mailing list
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  Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft>    
  Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm<http://mailman.qth.net/subscribershtm>
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[Hisashi T Fujinaka]

I asked Tom if I could forward his reply back to the list so it could be
archived. He said it was OK, so here it is!

I didn't know the K2 had a lot less background noise and I forgot to
mention that I know that S-meters are often quite arbitrarily set up.

--
Hisashi T Fujinaka - [hidden email]
BSEE(6/86) + BSChem(3/95) + BAEnglish(8/95) + MSCS(8/03) + $2.50 = latte

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 22 Jul 2004 06:53:09 -0500
From: Tom Hammond <[hidden email]>
To: Hisashi T Fujinaka <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] sensitivity/noise question

Hello Hisashi:

> Compared to my IC-706MKII, the Elecraft seems to be stingier on the
> S-meter and seems to hear a lot less noise. And yes, I used an antenna
> switch and did A/B comparisons.
>
> I shouldn't complain, since the Elecraft is great to listen to,
> especially on 40M, but should I break out the test equipment and try to
> peak things up again?
>
> And now that I type this, I wonder if my cabling is OK.

I think the question is whether the K2 is hearing everything the IC-706 is, and
whether it's hearing it BETTER as well.

The K2 is NOTED for its low-noise front end and the fact that it is generally
MUCH(!) QUIETER than just about ANY other receiver... even the high-dollar
models. You should NEVER expect (or hope) to hear as much noise in the K2 as
you will hear in the other rigs. BUT, you should hear the SIGNALS better, and
with less background noise.

For me, the S-meter is nothing more than a relative indicator of signal
strength, so 'accuracy' of the represented signal level has never been a
problem at all... especially since most users will use the Preamp on some bands
and not on others... this tends to blow the idea of 'accuracy' out of the
water.

For what you have written, above, I would say that you have things set up just
fine.

There is a procedure to adjusting L34 for the best signal-to-noise ratio. This
procedure has not been published yet, but will appear on my web site soon.

...

Since you have already aligned your xtal. filters, you
will only want to consider the first few steps of the procedure... the part
which sets up Spectrogram and then adjusts L34 for best S/N ratio. Here, I
small, weak (perhaps 1uV or so) injected signal on 40M, with NO antenna
connected will work well to provide a signal which can be used to compare
against the internally-generated noise of the K2 when adjusting L34 for best
S/N ratio.

Good luck, and HAVE FUN!

73,

Tom Hammond    N0SS
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