[Elecraft] K3 Audio, SSB and CW.

[Don Rasmussen]

One of the first things that will happen upon the
release of the K3, is someone will connect a D104 to
it. ;-)

This can be the worst thing for a radio, or a very
good thing depending on how it is connected. If one of

the beta's has connected a preamplified D104 to the K3
I'd like to know what is the specific wiring and that
would be a good thing for the K3 operational FAQ.

As for CW receive audio, I agree that DSP radios often
sound "strange" as compared to analog radios for a few
reasons.

The IC756Pro has a lower frequency "rumble" than you
would hear with respect to band noise on an analog
radio. The 500hz DSP filter has a very "hard" skirt
noise as compared to a 500hz crystal filter it's
fatiguing. K3's "context filtering" mode should be
very good for this. 

Then there are AGC differences, the 756pro
is never quiet when the AF gain is turned up. It's a
radio that's better (on CW) to be played at lower AF
levels through walkman style headphones. 

The DSP only Argo V I has none of these
characteristics, and although it's prone to strong
adjacent signal AGC pumping, is a much kinder
implementation of DSP in my experience. 

The adjustable AGC on the K3 will be the biggest
problem solver in my estimation, I can't wait to hear
it. 

Lastly DSP radios sometimes will add artifacts to what
you would hear on an analog setup, unusual sounds of
short duration in the receive audio (see Rob
Sherwood's
Dayton presentation on his website) and Wayne has gone
the long mile to ensure that this in no way will be a
shortcoming in the K3. 

Good things coming - good things coming - mo mojo. !

-------------------------------------

Hi Ron:

>I read in the previous postings that the CW sounded
better on the K2
>than the K3. That is a bit of a worry to me.
>
>Icom has the same problem, and quite often this seems
to be a DSP rig
>problem.
>
>How is the SSB souding from the K3 in particular with
weak signals
>deep, deep in the noise?

In general, I've received just the very OPPOSITE
reports. Most say that
the K3 has some of the very BEST sounding keying that
they've heard! And
this from a number of folks whose opinions I value
quite highly.

The audio compression of the K3 really adds a lot of
punch to the signal
without introducing a large amount of distortion or
artifacts, and the
bandwidth does not increase significantly, as it does
in some other rigs.

73,

Tom   N0SS