Thoughtful comments Howard. I too live in a very high noise area. No matter how carefully adjusted, the MFJ 1026 did absolutely nothing for my situation - too many different noise sources in too many different directions!
Howard - what is your amateur radio call sign? 73 -- Don N4HH -------------- Original message from HowardZ <[email protected]>: -------------- > > Well Dave, > > I am not certain that a better radio will help me hear through the noise. A > few weeks ago we had no noise at all for a few days - someone mentioned how > quiet it was on one of the nets, but then a few days later the noise was > back. Move 20Khz in either direction and the noise is gone, but we "stay on > target" as they said near the end of Star Wars. It is rare for Mars to > change freqs or switch to a digital mode. They presevere. > > The MFJ 1026 takes two antennas - gain needs to be adjusted so that both > antennas have the same S-units of signal strength. Then one rotates the > phase 0 to 360 to try to eliminate the noise. Supposedly this works well on > noise coming from your home, your neighborhood, or even DX noise. I do not > think this is what people call "diversity receive". It is some kind of > phase rotation to eliminate noise, though it does use two antennas. I don't > know if the K3 or Flex has this function. The MFJ 1026 might be the lowest > cost method for me to deal with the noise on this heavily used Mars > frequency. Maybe I'll buy one soon? > > Then there is the Icom 7600 - it supposedly represents a large improvement > over my existing Icom. Interfaces are identical to my existing Icom. Don't > need to rewire my pactor 3 TNC for example. It has downloadable firmware I > think. But its too new. There might be important hardware revisions in its > first year if the radios fail with the initial design. This has happened > with other Icom radios in the past. It's also not considered in the > Perseus, Flex, Elecraft class of performance. > > I could get a Perseus, or some other receivers and use an Eldad T/R switch. > This is lower cost than a new tranceiver since it's just a receiver - no > transmitter. People rave about these and the Perseus is near the top of > Sherwood's test list. I could rationalize that the K3's transmitter is no > better than my existing transmitter, so why pay for a tranceiver? However > this approach complicates interfaces to TNCs and sound card interfaces. But > this choice does have merit. > > I could get a loaded Flex 5000 - it costs less than the K3 loaded since the > Flex doesn't use all those roofing filters. People who own the Flex them > love them and they are rated well. > > I have not used nor even seen in person any of these radios. However I > prefer the K3 design approach over the Flex or Perseus. I don't want to > ever have to say "Sorry for the silence, I had to reboot windows - > everything locked up - or I got that blue screen" - I prefer a radio that > has an embedded processor rather than a windows system. Turn it on - and it > works - plain and simple. Yes, I'll hook a windows PC to the radio for > digital modes, but at least voice works without a PC. And how many PCs can > you hook up to a 12 volt battery during a power outage? Yes, there are ways > to do it, but it isn't that simple. > > Then there are those wonderful dynamic range figures. Supposedly the > Perseus, Flex, and similar designs have the same dynamic range no matter how > far away the strong signal is. So, when the strong signal is 2khz away - > they are all similar in performance. (K3 has the top spec, but with it is > something called "phase noise limited" which doesn't sound so great - though > I don't know exactly what it is.) But what happens when the strong signal > is 50KHz away? Well, I think the K3 will have much higher performance the > further away the strong signal is. But the Flex, Perseus, and others will > have the exact same performance. I think that also applies if the signal is > 1Mhz away, 10 Mhz away, 100Mhz away - you get the idea. I suspect they need > a low pass filter to protect from a strong VHF or UHF signal. Anyway, I may > be wrong with this logic, but I suspect the K3 is better in this regard. > > However, a strong nearby signal is not my current problem. > A better NR, NB, or something to quiet down the noise is what I need. > > I currently have other options to try to solve the problem. The MFJ 1026 > costs under $200. Maybe a beverage RX only antenna. I hear that an "on the > ground" beverage antenna is very quiet. All it costs is 500 ft of wire to > give it a try. Unfortunately I'll need to bend it to be a U shape as I > don't have enough land to go 500 ft straight in one line. A better radio > should also help - I think - not sure. > > Anyway - to get to your question. I think (but not sure) the Perseus and > the Flex are finished modding their hardware - just the software keeps > changing. If I really needed to take the plunge right now, a Flex 5000A > with internal tuner and second receiver might be a good choice. Still it > costs alot more than the Perseus, but significantly less than a similar K3 > loaded with filters. > > I suspect the K3 is a better choice. I'd just hate to be sending a K3 back > to the factory every year to pay for the latest hardware mods. Though I do > agree it is great the K3 owners can do this without buying a K3MkII, etc.. > > None of these radios are "bad choices". They float to the top of Sherwood's > list, and the vast majority of their owners love them. People just have > preferences between them. I don't think there is definitive evidence that > one is clearly superior to the other. I think my preference is for the K3 - > I'll just wait until the h/w is done. > > As I said before, it just doesn't look like the K3 hardware is finished. It > is not 100% - not yet. It is still evolving. This makes me want to wait. > Others enjoy the changes - it depends on what one likes. > > I think the original author of this topic is incorrect to call the K3 100% > done. > > Howard. > > > > > > I'm honestly curious, Howard ... which rig (brand and model number) would > you buy at this moment in time that you consider to be stable and perform > better overall in its price range than the current version of the K3? > > 73, > Dave AB7E > > > > -- > View this message in context: > http://n2.nabble.com/K3-eHam-review-after-2%2B-years-tp3202931p3208568.html > Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com. > ______________________________________________________________ > Elecraft mailing list > Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft > Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm > Post: mailto:[email protected] > > This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net > Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:[email protected] This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
