I've had my K-3 for little over one week now. I've had the Orion II for about 1 1/2 years. They are both fine radios. However, I have noticed that with the Orion II, to get the best performance you have to be ready to readjust the RF gain fairly often to suit band conditions and received signal strength in order to get the best signal-to-noise ratio. That does not appear necessary with the K-3. And the noise reduction circuit in the K-3 appears to be far more effective than the Orion II. And I find it particularly interesting that no matter how high it is set it does not appear to cause any noticeable audio distortion. Unfortunately, audio distortion is a big factor with the Orion II. I believe that was a software issue that was supposedly to be addressed in a future firmware update from TenTec but, as many know, TenTec ceased to issue any further updates about a year ago. That is in marked contrast to what is going on with Elecraft radios. I would not disparage the Orion II but it does have its quirks.
I do have a couple of bones to pick with the K-3. The CW side tone/spot tone audio level is way too low, even with the monitor control set to full. That needs to be fixed. I understand it is in the works but I hope it could be advanced to a fairly high priority. There also appears to be something funny with the AGC. There is a considerable difference in audio volume between weak and strong stations. I've noticed that when a very strong sideband station comes on, it is capable of driving the audio level to a painful loudness, occasionally even to the point of audio distortion. I understand some folks like that because it tends to distinguish between very weak and very strong stations by audio level differences. Unfortunately, that is not my preference. I don't know whether that is being considered for a firmware change but I hope that it might. It may be already adjustable but if it is I haven't found it yet. Bruce-W8FU -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Barry N1EU Sent: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 10:13 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Elecraft] K3 noise-blanker info4mjs wrote: > > I had both the K3 and Orion 2 in my shack. . . Now, when W1AW is on the > air (as well as some other QRO stations in my area....I live about 5 miles > from W1AW) and contributes to the noise with IMD products, the O2 works > better. The O2 stayed and the K3 left. > Hmmm . . . I happen to have recently read WA1SEO's Orion2 review on eham. He reported spending just "a couple of hours behind a K3" and he was a fairly new owner of the Orion2 at that time. I'm sure Mike heard what he heard, but his report is clearly anecdotal, rather than definitive. I don't understand K3 bashing after just a couple of hours of use. To say the Orion(2) is more refined and more finished than the K3 is certainly a stretch in my eyes, after 4.5 years on the Orion. All that being said, I actually think they're both very good radios. 73, Barry N1EU -- View this message in context: http://www.nabble.com/K3-noise-blanker-tp17338480p17341348.html Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.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 -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG. Version: 7.5.524 / Virus Database: 269.24.0/1459 - Release Date: 5/21/2008 5:34 PM _______________________________________________ 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
