[Elecraft] Re: K3 SoftRock 6.2 plus Z10000 buffer?

[Lyle Johnson]

> I have a Tony Parks SoftRock v6.2 Lite for 30 meters.  It's packaged for 
> use with the K3.  The included crystal is 32.7680 MHz and the 
> divide-by-four frequency is 8.192 MHz.  Combined with Jack's Z10000 
> buffer amp with 70 dB of isolation, is the local oscillator isolated and 
> offset from the K3's IF enough so that it won't degrade the Elecraft's 
> performance with IMD, BDR, etc.?

The isolation, coupled with the actual LO frequency being as far removed 
from the IF as you state, may be sufficient to protect the K3 from 
performance degradation.  The only way to know,of course, is to make a 
comprehensive set of measurements, then attach the pandaptor, then make 
the same set of measurements and verify none are degraded.  I have not 
made this set of comparative measurements under these conditions, so I 
cannot state categorically that there will be no adverse impact to the 
K3 under any and all circumstances.

It seems clear, though, that the Z10000 buffer amp will dramatically 
improve things when attempting to use a softrock as a panadaptor.

Not asked, but relevant, is whether this combination will give you the 
panadaptor performance you expect.  The LP-PAN project, for example, 
found it necessary to add an 8.215 MHz bandpass filter to the front end 
of the "softrock" portion of the system.  And of course the performance 
is highly dependent on the soundcard you use for the baseband IQ output 
from the softrock.

73,

Lyle KK7P