[Elecraft] Re: K2 vs OMNI V keying waveform?

[Eric Swartz WA6HHQ - Elecraft]

Hi guys,

Over the past three years, prior to when the recent spate of MP key click 
discussions and mods hit the ham community, we have never received a report 
from our customers of key click complaints. This with many running high power 
to large antennas.

The K2 is in the same category (or better) for keying spectrum width as almost 
every other commercial ham rig out on the market today (756 PRO, Omni 6, 6+, 
TS850, TS2000, TS570s etc. (with unmodified MPs slightly worse..). Also note 
that comparative test result differences of 3 to 5 dB (less than an S unit) 
are essentially the equal since you can see that much variance when repeating 
tests on different days and on different serial numbers of the same rig.

In my many times running the K2/100 into my 87a at 1.5KW I have -never- 
received a complaint of key clicks. And I've had people actually check each 
side of me to confirm all was OK. When I worked Earl, K6SE, when he was using 
his K2/100 in eQP he was +30 or more on my K2, by far the loudest signal on 
the band, yet I didn't notice him until I tuned very close to his frequency.. 
We also did extensive testing for key clicks and for on frequency keying when 
we designed the K2, hence its excellent reputation when running CW. We made 
sure it was equal to or better than anything on the market at the time.

Please also remember that the limited receive dynamic range and poor phase 
noise of most commercial ham rigs will make another strong transmitter 
(especially on in the same shack), regardless of how clean it is on CW, appear 
to be much wider than it actually is, due to receive overload and its internal 
RX phase noise. (Noise blankers don't help either ;^). To be honest, using a 
ham rig to evaluate the keying width of another transmitter is not an accurate 
lab test method since it is impossible to determine if the artifacts you are 
hearing are generated by the transmitter or by the phase noise and IMD 
products of the receiver. The only way to accurately test transmit bandwidth 
is with a low phase noise spectrum analyzer. This is the method used by George 
at International Radio and by Elecraft.

That said, the recent mods to the MP have certainly made an improvement to 
that radio and have raised the hopes of many users. Can the K2 be made even 
better? I wouldn't be surprised. We will certainly take a look at the keying 
of the K2 and if we can improve the keying spectrum you can bet we will 
release the mod to you immediately via an application note. Its awfully good 
now, but as many have noticed, we never give up trying to improve the K2 :^)

In the mean time I have no fear of being accused of being a 'clicker' ;^)

73, Eric  WA6HHQ
http://www.elecraft.com