[Elecraft] Muting mic when voice keying (was K3 Monitor)

[Lyle Johnson]

>> I do not believe that muting the mic when PTT is asserted from the 
>> RS-232 input is a good idea.  Many logging programs use the RS-232 
>> signals to activate transmit.
>>
> Actually, I think that would be an excellent option:  mute the mic input
> when PTT is asserted via the CAT RS-232 RTS/DTR line.  In a typical contest
> setup, your computer logger/dvk'er will feed audio into K3 line in and
> assert PTT via RS-232 CAT port.  When you use your mic, you can use K3 PTT
> input.

The K3 has a single internal line for PTT.  It doesn't matter if it is 
the front panel MIC, the rear panel PTT IN (e.g., footswitch), or 
RTS|DTR from the RS232 connector.  It can respond to PTT from any 
available source; it cannot distinguish the source.

> This would solve N1MM Logger's inability to mute the K3 mic while voice
> keying because the K3 doesn't offer separate level controls for mic and line
> (like the Orion does).

The K3 in fact does have separate gain controls for the LINE IN and MIC 
paths.  When using the front panel, you can only adjust one at a time, 
since there is only one knob.

An external program could easily set the active Tx audio path from MIC 
to LINE IN, send the audio, then switch the Tx audio path back to MIC.

73,

Lyle KK7P