I agree with Joe. My usage of the P3 and the PX3
is 100% fixed-tune mode, and I find both the P3
and PX3 to work very well for me. They do differ
in amplitude scale in A-B comparisons, but this is
compensated for by scale adjustments.
I've never really found a situation where Tracking
mode is helpful, but maybe I'm missing something.
73, Phil W7OX
On 7/31/15 8:03 AM, Joe Subich, W4TV wrote:
It’s difficult to see a station, and find where
you are trying to
tune to, when the display loses itsaveraging.
As a long time user of the P3, I strenuously
disagree with that
assessment.
73,
... Joe, W4TV
On 2015-07-31 9:57 AM, John Kramer wrote:
Wayne
Apologies, I have never seen a P3 in action
before, I live too far away from locations
that have regular hamfests. Maybe I should go
and watch some youtube clips.
I just thought the basic architecture in the P3
would be the same as my
PX3.
But, reading your last two paragraphs, tells me
the issue I have with my PX3
also happens on the P3 - In tracking mode
averaging info is reset the moment
you tune. I find this loss of averaging when
tuning, to be totally counter
intuitive when trying to home in on a signal.
It’s difficult to see a station,
and find where you are trying to tune to, when
the display loses its averaging.
Thanks for the good work at Elecraft, and your
quick response
73
John, ZS5J C91J A25J
On 31 Jul 2015, at 3:42 PM, Wayne Burdick
<n...@elecraft.com> wrote:
John,
The P3 and PX3 use entirely different
interfaces to the radio. The P3 taps into the
K3/K3S 8.2 MHz I.F., while the PX3 uses a
baseband I/Q signal from the KX3. While both
methods provide the basic benefits of a
panadapter, the P3's implementation provides
higher performance, using more expensive
hardware, and is priced accordingly.
The P3 is incredibly smooth in its tuning and
presentation, and the unit is widely regarded
as one of best panadapters available.
Averaging, fixed-tune mode, noise blanking,
peak detection and its many other features are
all free of any sort of tuning noise or artifacts.
If you're in "fixed-tune" mode, where the
VFO/filter cursor moves across the screen,
averaging information is preserved. There is no
increase in the noise floor, no matter how fast
you tune.
In "tracking" mode, where the VFO/filter cursor
stays fixed at the center of the screen,
averaging information is reset when you tune.
This has always been the case, but I'll mention
this to our panadapter design staff and see if
it might be possible to preserve the averaging
data in tracking mode.
In any case, I hope you can observe a P3 in
action sometime.
73,
Wayne
N6KR
On Jul 31, 2015, at 1:13 AM, John Kramer
<jkra...@iafrica.com> wrote:
I think I know what Joe is getting at….and I
agree with him, if I understand him correctly.
When he refers to “noise floor”
he means that he loses averaging when he
tunes, resulting in the crazy spectrum display
(what Joe refers to as noise).
I haven’t seen or used a P3, but I bought my
first Elecraft products 3 weeks ago - a KX3
and PX3. If the P3 behaves in the
same manner as the PX3 then I can see what Joe
is complaining about. Right out the box my PX3
had this frustrating
feature of losing averaging the moment you
spun the VFO on the KX3. I pointed this out to
a local KX3/PX3 owner, and
he told me to download the latest firmware
which allows you to select “fixed mode” or
“fixed track”. I downloaded the
firmware. YES, it kinda fixes the problem….you
can now tune the radio and KEEP the
averaging….but the problem is
that now your receive filter goes down the
display as you tune. This is better than the
previous method, however
you now have your receive filter heavily
offset from the centre of the display. You
might tune down the band, with your
RX filter at the bottom of the scale, and you
are now unable to see much below, but you can
see a huge chunk of
the band above you.
I bought the KX3 and PX3 for portable ops. My
main rigs for the past 5 years are Flex rigs.
I have the 5000/3000/1500
and will be getting a 6500 soon as my shack
rigs. With these rigs and PSDR, your RX filter
REMAINS CENTRED and when
you tune around the band, you DON’T LOSE your
averaging. This is how I like it to be, and if
Elecraft can achieve this
in a firmware update, I would be very happy.
73
John, ZS5J
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