Re: [Elecraft] K3 Audio Feedback

2010-01-17 Thread Jim Brown
On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:21:16 +, Jim Harris wrote:

>While phone contesting yesterday I found there is audio feedback 
>from headphones/external speakers through the microphone without 
>the PTT being pressed.

The problem may be related to the sound card in your computer. 
Depending on settings in your logging software and the computer 
sound card mixers, the sound card may be the feedback path. 

There are two "mixers" in a typical sound card, one for 
"recording" that feeds audio to the computer to be handled by 
software, and another for "playback" that controls sound fed by 
the sound card to external equipment (like the K3). 

When you feed audio to the K3 (either recorded messages or your 
live mic), you are using the Playback mixer. The catch is that 
there's an input on this mixer for a microphone, and most laptops 
have a mic built into their case. When they do, that mic is on by 
default. There's usually a switch (in the mixer) to turn it off 
and turn on a mic that plugs into the mic jack. Either the 
internal mic or an external mic plugged in can be part of the 
feedback path. To determine if its the internal mic, bang on the 
computer case and see if you "hear" it in your K3. I often run 
into this when setting up my IBM laptops for RTTY -- the input to 
the recording sound card is that internal mic rather than the 
wired input from the K3, so decoding "sort of" works, but not very 
well. :)  

So I suggest that you study YOUR setup, think about the computer 
sound card signal flow, and study your mixer settings. Also, keep 
the mixers open and viewable on your screen while the logger is 
doing its thing -- some loggers (N1MM, for example) actively 
controls the mixers to do recording on the fly of new messages, 
and to switch a mic plugged into the computer to one radio or the 
other for radio for SO2R. 

73,

Jim K9YC



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Re: [Elecraft] K3 Audio Feedback

2010-01-17 Thread Radio Amateur N5GE
On Mon, 18 Jan 2010 04:21:16 +, Jim Harris  wrote:

Did You check your VOX to make sure it was off?
Tom, N5GE

n...@n5ge.com
K3 #806 with SUB RX, K3 #1055, PR6,
XV144, XV432, KRC2,
W1, 2 W2's and other small kits

1 K144XV on order

http://www.n5ge.com
http://www.swotrc.net
>
>Hi folks,
>
>While phone contesting yesterday I found there is audio feedback from 
>headphones/external speakers through the microphone without the PTT being 
>pressed.  Monitor level was initially set at about 15.  I was using a Heil 
>BM-10ic headphone through the front panel with bias turned on.  They have tiny 
>ear pads that could easily let an amount of noise slip past to the microphone. 
> The audio line out on my K3 back panel goes to a computer which has garden 
>variety speakers hooked to it's audio out.
>
>On the radio I had the AF control turned most of the way up and was riding the 
>RF (IF) gain.  NR was on with a setting of F1-2.  I found that when the RF 
>gain was turned up something like half way or more (depending on signal level) 
>the audio level would creep up as though AGC was pumping.  If the gain was 
>further increased the characteristic howl of feedback resulted.  Remember all 
>this was occurring without PTT (no PTT light).  I would have thought the 
>microphone would be dead without PTT.
>
>I turned down the monitor to 8 and the feedback was not as much but was still 
>present.  Finally I moved the volume control slider for the computer speakers 
>to the bottom and that eliminated the feedback.
>
>I'm very surprised to find a microphone connected to the K3 is live and that 
>the audio is being feed to the audio outputs without the PTT being pressed 
>resulting in the described feedback.  That is disappointing because it limits 
>the ways that I can use my radio.  I'm wondering if this may be the source of 
>some noise comments here on the reflector.  Does anyone else have any 
>experience with this or any constructive comments?
>
>Have a good day and 73.
>
>Jim, W0EM
>
>
> 
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>Elecraft mailing list
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[Elecraft] K3 Audio Feedback

2010-01-17 Thread Jim Harris

Hi folks,

While phone contesting yesterday I found there is audio feedback from 
headphones/external speakers through the microphone without the PTT being 
pressed.  Monitor level was initially set at about 15.  I was using a Heil 
BM-10ic headphone through the front panel with bias turned on.  They have tiny 
ear pads that could easily let an amount of noise slip past to the microphone.  
The audio line out on my K3 back panel goes to a computer which has garden 
variety speakers hooked to it's audio out.

On the radio I had the AF control turned most of the way up and was riding the 
RF (IF) gain.  NR was on with a setting of F1-2.  I found that when the RF gain 
was turned up something like half way or more (depending on signal level) the 
audio level would creep up as though AGC was pumping.  If the gain was further 
increased the characteristic howl of feedback resulted.  Remember all this was 
occurring without PTT (no PTT light).  I would have thought the microphone 
would be dead without PTT.

I turned down the monitor to 8 and the feedback was not as much but was still 
present.  Finally I moved the volume control slider for the computer speakers 
to the bottom and that eliminated the feedback.

I'm very surprised to find a microphone connected to the K3 is live and that 
the audio is being feed to the audio outputs without the PTT being pressed 
resulting in the described feedback.  That is disappointing because it limits 
the ways that I can use my radio.  I'm wondering if this may be the source of 
some noise comments here on the reflector.  Does anyone else have any 
experience with this or any constructive comments?

Have a good day and 73.

Jim, W0EM


  
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