[Elecraft] SSB contesting

[Doug Faunt N6TQS +1-510-655-8604]

Just to throw in my opinion, "Another Menu Entry" is not a real
problem, but it can be a real solution.

Being able to combine audio from Line In and Mic does the trick for
me.  I'll just wire up the Mic PTT to enable the audio from the mike.

BTW, many comments have been made about how tight 20M was this year
for SS-  I had much less trouble copying stations this year than I
recall from previous 'phone contests.  It was pretty frustrating to be
able to copy many stations that couldn't hear me.

And I used my Z90 spectrum display with the K3-  it was crude and
slow, but still useful.

73, doug

   Date: Mon, 19 Nov 2007 13:55:42 -0500
   From: Don Wilhelm <w3fpr at embarqmail.com>

   Lyle,

   Since the K3 hardware design is pretty well fixed in place now, for my 
   part I would think mixing them would be fine.  Any muting of an input 
   would have to be done outside the K3 if indeed muting is required.

   Of course, I believe the ideal would be to have each PTT input line make 
   its own corresponding AF input active, but that would require the 
   addition of  an analog gate on each audio input and a bit of logic added 
   to each PTT source.   The user could then control which input(s) were 
   active by controlling the respective PTT inputs - if the user wanted the 
   audio to be mixed, he would make multiple PTT inputs active - no added 
   menu functions needed.  An arrangement like that could serve well for 
   stations using multiple mics - but then deciding how the VOX part would 
   be handled is yet another part of the puzzle, and that may require 'Yet 
   Another Menu Entry'

   73,
   Don W3FPR

   Lyle Johnson wrote:
   > Hello Barry!
   >
   >> One issue here is that the K3 only allows a single audio source.  Some
   >> other radios (e.g., Orion) allow you to enable both the rear line-in
   >> jack and the front panel mic jack.
   >
   > We have an active discussion going on with the FT group about this 
   > very topic.
   >
   > The K3 hardware can allow simultaneous LINE IN and _either_ the front 
   > or the rear mic to be active at the same time.  Seems simple.
   >
   > But the devil is in the details.  What if you have audio on both?  Do 
   > you mix them?  Does one over-ride the other?  If so, which has 
   > precedence?  How do you do this so it is consistent and intuitive 
   > without adding Yet Another Menu Entry (tm) ??
   >
   > I'd be happy to receive your thoughts on this topic.
   >
   >> The simple K3 work-around seems to be to "Y" the front panel mic jack
   >> and pad down the line level audio to go in the front in parallel with
   >> the mic.
   >
   > This opens a path for ground loops and other delights.  The LINE I/O 
   > is transformer isolated; the mic is not.
   >
   > ***
   >
   > One important thing for everyone to keep in mind is that the K3 is 
   > evolving.  Due to its Flash Firmware Architecture, and the easy-to-use 
   > K3 Utility software for updating, we are regularly adding features to 
   > the K3, and all K3s in the field can take advantage of them.
   >
   > We solicit input from our customer community on these features, and we 
   > try very hard to listen.
   >
   > 73,
   >
   > Lyle KK7P