Hi Bob:
I understand that Elecraft transceivers to date have really been a CW ops
dream, which leads me to the following question re the K3: Will phone (SSB)
operators find this rig as wonderful with regard to voice as CW operators do
with CW?
Just finished operating in the SS Phone... NOT my most favorite MODE
of operating,
though I DO enjoy the Sweepstakes... Because of family commitments, I did not
spend a lot of time in the contest, but I did manage to quite easily knock out
well over 100 Q's with my K3.
I used one of the older Heil ProSet headphone/boom mic combinations, with the
Heil HC5 (wider range than the HC4) element, because I didn't like the highly-
restricted audio range of the HC4. I haven't touched the settings on the 8-band
(TX or RX) audio equalizer, so everything there was 'stock', just like it came
from Elecraft. I'll also note that, antenna-wise, I have a Bencher SkyHawk
tribander at 73 feet and a tri-band (80-40-30) dipole (Inv-V) with the apex
at 72' and the ends down around 20' off the ground.
Being a CW operator at heart, I'm accustomed to operating full QSK on CW, so I
saw little reason NOT to try it on SSB as well... or at least as close to full
QSK VOX SSB as I could anyway.
I set the VOX DELAY to ".05" (50 mS), and the MIC IN, VOX GN and ANTIVOX to
points where I cold readily trip the VOX with normal level voice speech, and
to where nothing coming out of the back side of the headphones would cause the
VOX to 'false'. Of course, using headphones, the setting of the ANTIVOX was not
terribly critical, but I was also able to set it so that the VOX didn't false
when I had the cans unplugged from the rig as well.
I first adjusted the MIC IN to give me essentially FULL ALC on the K3's LCD
meter. Then I adjusted the MIC CMP (compression) to give me a nice 'full'
output pattern on the monitor scope. This corresponded to about 101-2 dB of
compression... the effect of the CMP control was REALLY VERY EASY TO SEE,
both on the monitor scope AND on the RF WATTMETER...! Dramatic increase in
average output.
I did some testing prior to the start of the SS, getting both audio quality
and intelligibility reports from a number of operators. To a man, every report
of audio quality was more than glowing! I had one report, from a non-contester,
which said he'd prefer to hear a bit less compression, but that what he was'
hearing during the test was 'clean' and 'very clear' with 'no distortion',
and no clipping of the first syllable of each word as the VOX went on/off
between some words and phrases. A number of reports took the time to volunteer
that what they were hearing did NOT sound like the 'normal contest audio
setting'.
I ran QRP (5W) in the SS, which is a bit more challenging, not only for the
user, but also for the guy on the other end, trying to copy my signals thru
some really BIG QRM. Though there obviously were times when I didn't get the
guy I was calling, and some times when repeats were required, I'd say that
fully 90% of the time I got my station on the first call. Additionally, I
received MANY(!) completely UNsolicited comments of "GREAT SIGNAL" and "GREAT
AUDIO" from other ops who generally won't give you the time of day when they're
trying to knock out as many Q"s as possible and offering such comments just
takes away from their available time to make more Q's.
How did the receiver perform? Very well...!
I found that I'd probably have been better off had I added a 2.1kHz
or possibly
a 1.8kHz SSB filter to my SSB arsenal, but even with only the 2.8kHz roofing
filter available, I was generally able to 'peel off' much of the nearby QRM
and get the other guy's report on the first pass... no requests for repeats
required. Narrowing down the DSP B/W from 2.8kHz to around 2.4kHz and then
adjusting the SHIFT up/dn a bit, on order to roll off QRM from the top/bottom
made copying other stations in the presence of QRM fairly easy... MUCH easier
than with my K2 OR with my TS-950SD...!
The K3's front end is virtually UNCRUNCHABLE!!! I have a local, W4RK, who
lives almost within rock-throwing distance of me (probably 1/2 mile) and who
runs a 1kW in contests. I found numerous occasions where I'd roll up on a
frequency, work my station, only to find that Bill was 1-2 kHz away and I
never knew it at all...! I hope I wasn't giving him (his FT-2000) any problems,
being that close to him!!! I ran my AGC in FAST mode the entire contest and
never noticed one instance where a really big nearby signal prevented me from
copying/working the station I was trying to work... just didn't happen.
Back to the VOX for just a second... it was just 'sweet'... I was easily able
to work stations, talking at normal voice levels, and still tell if someone
started talking while I was sending a report, thus allowing me to stop talking
and allow them to either come back to someone else, or to ask for an immediate
fill. Not quite full QSK SSB VOX, but certainly much closer than ANY I've ever
been able to activate prior to the K3.
How do I like the K3 on SSB...?? <Gulp> I LOVE IT! Are there things I'd
like to see changes in the SSB compliment of operating features? Maybe, but
I can't think of what they'd be right now. Will I operate more SSB now that
I have the K3? Possibly.. but PLEASE don't tell anyone! I do have a
reputation
to keep up, y'know! <G>
73,
Tom N0SS
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