I was listening to 40 meters late last night (virtually no one there so I had some time to fool around with the rig) and noticed the level of audio hiss in the K2. With RF gain off completely and AF gain fully advanced, there is a fair amount of hiss. This is also noticeable at operating levels and is a distraction from listening to weak signals. (obviously the operating af gain is set much lower and the hiss is also less obvious. Since I usually use a very good set of in ear buds, I normally have the AF gain way down)
All audio amps will create hiss at some gain level because you are amplifying noise that is inherent in the components. But I'm wondering if anyone has tried to mod the K2 to create a quieter audio amp? This appears to be an areas where some improvement is possible and it would make the K2 more pleasurable to use and weak signals more easily heard. I seem to recall from way back that we used to mod Dynaco stereo preamps by replacing carbon resistors with low noise equivalents (usually wire wound at the time) replacing potentiometers with gang switched low noise resistors, etc. Some semiconductors and ICs also have low noise equivalents. 73 Howard Ashcraft W1WF ***************************** This communication, including any attachments, is confidential and may be protected by privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, any use, dissemination, distribution, or copying of this communication is strictly prohibited. If you have received this communication in error, please immediately notify the sender by telephone or email, and permanently delete all copies, electronic or other, you may have. To ensure compliance with requirements imposed by the IRS, we inform you that any tax advice contained in this communication (including any attachments) was not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to another party any transaction or matter addressed herein. The foregoing applies even if this notice is imbedded in a message that is forwarded or attached. ***************************** _______________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Post to: [email protected] You must be a subscriber to post to the list. Subscriber Info (Addr. Change, sub, unsub etc.): http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/subscribers.htm Elecraft web page: http://www.elecraft.com
