On CW, I have used all of the K3 (contest conditions at both supreme and cruddy locations), TS-590 (less trying conditions), and Ten-Tec Eagle (same receiver as Orion+RX366). All are ballpark same price range. I own the Eagle, and prefer its receiver and user interface, but others might have different preferences and choose the competition especially if they want to add a lot of options like the K3 can support.
Tim N3QE On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 1:45 PM, Guy Olinger K2AV <[email protected]> wrote: > It is interesting to see so many come down to three main players, the K3, > the Orion/RX366, the TS590S. > > When I was getting ready to move off my MP, I listened to some number of > Orions before the K3's were out. I always liked what I heard. What swayed > me to K3 was W4ZV exchanging his Orion for a K3, the rather large size of > Orion (bigger than MP) vs. K3, and the K3's true diversity with identical > RX, though there was a wait for the sub RX to get in production. > > Some people at the time complained about the button/menu system of the K3. > I had owned a K2 for a while, so I already had the mind set, and found > learning the K3's set easier than learning the Orion. I have used the Orion > in a Multi-X contest environment, and after I learned controls found it > quite satisfactory. However, it could not match a couple of tricks I > learned with the K3. And even now, the Orion RX366 diversity, though > considerably improved, does not quite rise to the level of the phase-locked > equal circuitry diversity system in the K3. > > With continuing K3 CW use, I discovered that with the "400" and "250" eight > pole roofing filters I could do a couple very useful things for CW. I set > those up in the L3 filter configuration as 450 and 350 hz respectively and > then carefully adjusted the offsets to align skirts with the DSP skirts at > 450 and 350, which maximizes the overall skirt steepness. > > This created selectivity the equal of the dual Inrad filters in the MP for > "500" and "250". So far K3 is the only radio I've listened to that can dupe > the MP's super-steep skirt selectivity way down past 100 dB with dual > Inrads. That is really hard to measure down there. My fuzzy perception is > that the MP still has the K3 in this regard by just a fingernail or two. > The K3's "400" and "250" filters are electrically identical to the "500" > and "250" Inrad 8 poles used in the 8 MHz IFs in the MP. They differ only > in the housing and physical connection configuration. > > For contesting, the 450 filter as one hears it is an ideal bandwidth for > running. Particularly with the steep skirts, if you don't hear up and down > with that, you are a polite distance from your adjacent neighbors. Someone, > even *very* loud up 500 Hz, just isn't there. If you get squeezed, drop > down to 350 width and use the shift a little to preserve your slot. The 350 > with DSP narrowed to 200 or 150, has been able to dig out everything I've > been after in contests search and pounce. But the standard understanding of > very steep skirts is only one benefit. > > The very steep skirts sharpen up key clicks to spikes. The K3's AGC with > current firmware is immune to spikes. Using NB (noise BLANKER) with "IF > OFF" and dSP t1-7, t2-7, or t3-7, the combination pretty much kills key > clicks. The effect of the three NB settings is an increasing softness to > the CW signal. Not something I like to listen to casually, but I easily > tolerate soft CW in the context of that vs loud key clicks driving down > signals with AGC, particularly given the nasty signals that can slide up > close to you in a contest. Soft CW does not seem to reduce intelligibility > any, just has all the audiophile appeal of cold mush to the palate. > > The various K3 advantages listed throughout this thread are enormous > advantages in a serious contest. Outside of serious DX and contesting? > Probably overkill for a great many, and the far less expensive TS590S can > carry the freight. > > I have one frequently travelling acquaintance that had owned both K3 and > TS590S and who finally settled on an Elecraft KX3 with the companion 100 > watt amp which is easily remoted. There is this temptation to not consider > the KX3 a serious radio due to the size, but he says the only thing that > gets him sometimes is hearing extremely strong signals low pitched on > opposite sideband. He says his mind objects to that but it's never kept him > from copying anyone. > > Should note that he uses others' K3's brought to the scene of Multi-X > contesting. Since these days it's easy to come by > just-in-case-left-in-the-car spare K3's brought by the operator mob, he > doesn't have to support the party with a major rig. > > 73, Guy. > > > On Tue, Jun 17, 2014 at 11:08 AM, Barry N1EU <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I was an early adopter of the K3 and installed all the hardware audio > > updates as they were released. I'm picky about audio and the K3 ssb rx > > audio was quite good. At http://n1eu.com/K3/K3_notes.htm you can see > > before/after audio spectral plots showing the differences the hardware > > updates and rx equalization made. Please ignore much of the other > outdated > > info on that Web page. > > > > As others have indicated, K3 tx audio needs more careful setup (as > compared > > to other radios) in terms of sufficient audio drive and compression in > > order to maintain consistent output power level. > > > > The K3 with subrx does quite a good job of pulling out the weak ones from > > the noise on topband, as does the Ten-Tec Orion/RX366. I'd rate these > two > > as top of the heap. The new DDC/DUC SDRs are promising (Flex 6700, > > ANAN-100D) but are not quite ready for prime time in terms of diversity > > reception and full feature set, GUI, etc. > > > > 73, Barry N1EU > > _________________ > > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband > > > _________________ > Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband > _________________ Topband Reflector Archives - http://www.contesting.com/_topband
