Thanks Don. I will definitely tweak the AGC settings. Someone else recommended that too. However, I thought the KX3 and K3 had basically the same receiver, and if I hook the KX3 up to the same antenna that to which my K3 was connected, the S-meter should report the same values regardless of the AGC setting, correct?
Thanks, Travis On Mon, Mar 18, 2013 at 9:11 AM, Don Wilhelm <[email protected]> wrote: > Travis, > > I doubt the RX gain calibration will make that much difference, but rather > I suggest that some alteration of the AGC parameters will make the most > difference for you. Take a look at the "Noisy K3" article on my website > www.w3fpr.com for some guidance in adjusting your settings. That > article was written before the AGC parameters were expanded, so you will > have to experiment a bit, but the article should give you some guidance on > which direction to go. > > Turning the preamp off and even turning the attenuator on for lower bands > where the band noise is higher will make a great difference too. If you > can hear an increase in band noise when the antenna is connected, you have > ample gain - turn off the preamp and try connecting the antenna again - if > there is still a substantial increase, try turning on the attenuator. You > are not going to be able to copy signals below the noise level, so you > don't need the added gain - it just makes everything (including the noise) > sound louder. > > 73, > Don W3FPR > > > On 3/18/2013 8:24 AM, Travis Brown wrote: > >> All, >> >> I put together a K3 kit about 6 weeks ago. Wow, that was an amazing >> project. Many thanks to Elecraft for making that option available. The >> problem I am having is that on 180/80/75/40 and sometimes 20, the noise >> floor is about S7-9. It is about the same on both my antennas (OCF dipole >> and 43' vertical) with the OCF being a smidge quieter. My first thought >> was that I had some local noise and asked my dad to bring over is KX3 so I >> could walk around the house to find the source of the noise. I did find >> that the power supply in the iMac is ridiculously noisy, but that wasn't >> getting into my signal, especially since my antennas are almost 100' from >> the house. What I DID notice was that when I plugged my antennas into the >> KX3, the noise floor was at S0 on 20/40 and around S1 or S2 on 75/80/180 >> with the pre-amp off. That was MUCH better. Of course, if I fiddle with >> the RX gain knob, I can make the noise go away, but it does mess with the >> S-Meter and it becomes increasingly useless. So, my thought was that >> since >> my dad had his KX3 factory built, they did a proper RX Gain calibration. >> Since I didn't have a calibrated signal generator, I just used the factory >> defaults which maybe aren't so great? My question is this: would it make >> sense to seek out a calibrated RF source and try and run a proper RX Gain >> calibration? Would it likely solve my problem? >> >> Thanks, >> Travis >> K2NP >> ______________________________**______________________________**__ >> Elecraft mailing list >> Home: >> http://mailman.qth.net/**mailman/listinfo/elecraft<http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft> >> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.**htm<http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm> >> Post: mailto:[email protected].**net <[email protected]> >> >> 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:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
