Tom, Thanks for the report. You have me salivating for my K3.
On 11/19/07 7:12 AM, "Tom Hammond" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > 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 > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ 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
