Fred, Clearly, my QTH on the shore of Lake Erie about 15 miles East of Cleveland, Ohio is not as quiet as yours. I don't doubt that the K3 could benefit from a preamp on 10 meters -- IF -- one lives in a quiet enough location to be able to appreciate it. My location does not qualify.
I compared the K3 rx performance on 10m with that of my FLEX-5000A, and both indicate the noise floor rising about 8 to 9 dB when the Hex Beam is connected. So, it's clear to me that the ambient noise level of my RF environment already exceeds the noise floor of the receivers, and I wouldn't benefit from the PR-10. Please note: I am not saying that the PR-10 would not be beneficial for some stations, and I'm quite sure that the Elecraft engineers wouldn't develop and market the PR-10 for lack of anything better to do. I've always operated from this area, so it's the only RF environment I know, and based upon my tests, the PR-10 would provide no benefit here, at this QTH. It would be nice if the rf environment was a bit quieter, but I'm still having fun. 73, Dale WA8SRA On 10/26/2012 8:11 AM, Fred Smith wrote: > Dale > > Your missing the better receiver of the 5000 on 10m, and yes I live in the > country on a farm with 7 elements on 10m at 60'. My suggestion would be for > you to buy a 5000 and then you would hear the difference this is not a knee > jerk statement but one that was checked over many months with instant A/B > antenna switching to the same antenna. What are you using for your > comparison between the 2 radios other than an A/B side by side? I also have > a P3/SVGA and an SDR-IQ on the FTDX-5000 for a Panadpter for measurements. > > For starters you might put up a better antenna a little higher and from the > sounds of it find somewhere that is in a quieter location to take advantage > of weak signal work. I'm very happy with my K3's and the K2, KPA500 and plan > on keeping them but there is no perfect radio all have their faults and > strong points. I don't know why some refuse to believe that a radio can be > lacking in any area no matter who made it, I have never had that problem. I > am not a brand loyal person but one who buys what he feels is the best > performing radio that meets his needs and a company he likes. > > For now Elecraft meets my needs and are responsive to its customers with > products and support. I do believe that if Wayne or Eric thought that a 10m > preamp was not necessary they would not have one on the planning boards. For > all their feedback to customers is why I choose Elecraft they do not hide > their head in the sand. > > 73, > Fred/N0AZZ > > -----Original Message----- > From: elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net > [mailto:elecraft-boun...@mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Dale Boresz > Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 5:01 AM > To: elecraft@mailman.qth.net > Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3-PR10 > > Fred, > > You must have an enviably quiet QTH (or a very poor antenna) if you find > that the K3 can benefit from a preamp on 10m. I work a lot of weak signal CW > on 10m with a simple Hex Beam up about 45 feet. Even with the Hex Beam's low > gain, I can see the noise floor drop by about 9 dBm when I disconnect the > antenna from the K3 with the antenna pointed to the quietest part of the sky > in the early morning hours when the band is clearly not open. These > measurements were taken using both the P3 and the K3's built-in AFV amd dBV > measurement functionality. > > Based upon the above measurements, the band noise is already one and a half > S-Units above the receiver's noise floor, so it seems to me that in terms of > improving the signal to noise ratio, a preamp would be of little value. > > What am I missing here? (perhaps a quieter location ;-) ) > > 73, Dale > WA8SRA > > > > On 10/26/2012 4:51 AM, Fred Smith wrote: >> Tim >> >> I can address this a little comparing my FTDX-5000MP and my K3's the >> k3's receivers are not up to the level of the Yaesu 5000 on the high >> bands. But quite the other way around on the low bands in IMHO but >> 6/10m really needs a good preamp for sure. >> >> 73, >> Fred/N0AZZ > ______________________________________________________________ > 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 > > ______________________________________________________________ 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
