Hi all: During my SS effort this weekend, I took a deep breath and, 20 minutes before the contest, broke all my rules about software stability and loaded the latest beta (OK, so I like to live on the edge!). I wanted the new Gate Feature active!
I noticed three items with these features. First, TX Gate. I would like to thank Lyle for all the work he did on this feature. The Gate is now up to the level of pro gear, and is a wonderful addition to the feature set of the radio. It deals with my noisy shack issues perfectly, is smooth on attack and release and very useful, and best of all, no more crackling at the threshold. Everything was fine with SSB transmission, too. Thank you Lyle. Second, Vox. The vox worked better than any vox I have ever used. I never use vox in contests, but thought I would see how this feature worked in single op (would never attempt this in multi op!) I used it for over an hour instead of my traditional footswitch and found it fast and hard to confuse, even eating some soft cookies with vox on, no false tripping (doesnt work with chips, but those soft Keebler chocolate chip cookies are vox compatible!). Its fast and smooth and didnt require constant tweaking of the controls as on my former Kenwood rigs. Set it once, and it just works. You can even stand up and stretch your legs to keep from cramping while using vox to continue to operate, an advantage to staying in front of the rig for extended periods of time (is it the "virtual Butt-In-Chair" feature?) Third, the Notch. This one is not so good. I noticed that when I attempted to use the Notch, there is an annoying "glitch" that results when the notch is on; a complete drop in the audio output of the radio on T/R switchover for what I consider a long time AFTER the turaround happens! What happens is that, on T/R turn around, you hear an instant of receiver audio, then the audio seems to mute completely off for an instant, then audio abruptly returns... This doesnt happen with the notch off. This has never happened to me before, and I use notch all the time. Anyone else notice this, is it a new interection of either the new Gate or Vox system with the notch code or is it "normal" (I hope not!)? Its VERY annoying, to the level of me deciding to put up with tuning tones instead of using the notch (which gives you an idea of just how annoying the effect is!). If the folks at Elecraft need to hear a recording of the effect, I can supply it. One bad thing about owning a K3 is that you can get very close to other contestants on a crowded band and, if they have a clean transmitter, not know that they are even there. While running with the 1.8 filter on and the DSP tight, I could find holes within busy bands to attempt runs in and had several complaints from adjecent stations, both above and below which I simply COULD NOT HEAR. Most of these guys were running high power... And I was running the K3 barefoot. Maybe a solution to our band overcrowding is to require that all contestants use K3's! :) Lu Romero - W4LT K3 # 3192 ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
