And I'd not be at all surprised to see such upgrades available at some future time if the improvement is significant in the K3 application and there is sufficient demand. But that may not be the case.
The K3's receiver is a superhet (i.e. converts the input signal to a fixed intermediate frequency where it is amplified, filtered then demodulated). A successful superhet receiver is a carefully balanced system from the antenna input to the audio or data output. One component that might make a huge improvement in one superhet design may have little or no benefit in another superhet design. In the 90 years since Col. Armstrong developed the superhet receiver platform all of the improvements have been in the various components, not in the underlying design. And that continues. However, a full SDR receiver may not use the superhet architecture at all. An SDR receiver typically converts the RF signal at the antenna input directly into digital data and from that point on it's all crunching bits and bytes until, if an analog output such as audio to speaker or phones is needed, the digital data is used to produce an analog audio signal. I got the impression from the video with Wayne that the KX3 *may* use a full SDR receiver. Whether or not the KX3 uses a full SDR or retains a superhet architecture, it will have quite different demands on the components than the K3, including the DSP system. I'm sure there will be a LOT of test data comparing the KX3 and K3 receiver as well as endless anecdotal comparisons shared here on the reflector by those with both units. I'm looking forward to them. Ron AC7AC -----Original Message----- I note that Wayne makes a point of the fact that the DSP in the KX3 is 32-bit, floating point. This buzzphrase is also used by other manufacturers to tout their DSPs, but I can't find any similar description of the DSP hardware in the K3. To raise again a point that was mentioned yesterday: if there's a potential for getting more DSP horsepower in the K3, I'm sure that many K3 owners would happily pay for a retrofit. Tony KT0NY ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
