[Elecraft] Fix the old amplifier......leave the K3 alone!

[R. Kevin Stover]

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IMHO it all depends on how much development time and valuable flash
memory these "enhancements" take. The K3 is marketed as an HF rig. I'd
be willing to bet the vast majority of those in service are used as HF
rigs and NOT as a VHF/UHF IF.

The MFJ/Ameritron amps have been notorious for slow switching times. Of
course they also make money selling the QSK-5 to speed them up.

I have been reading this reflector for some time and depth and breadth
of suggested firmware "tweaks" is staggering. Most of which come from
people who haven't the slightest clue what they are asking for from a
programming perspective. The most ridiculous one I've seen so far is the
auto volume compensation after engagement of the noise reduction. How
lazy is that? TURN THE DAMN KNOB! How about if we get Wayne to program
the K3 to stand on one leg, cook breakfast, and sing the national anthem
while were at it?

Off my soapbox.

AD6XY - Mike wrote:
| I agree an inhibit pin is a very good idea. One must always remember to
| connect it of course. The system needs to fail safe. QSK is not used above
| HF as much and a radio that automatically allows a delay is far safer than
| one that produces power immediately unless an inhibit line is used. If
that
| inhibit line was an enable line, I think it would be far safer still.
|
| For those who naively carp one should simply speed up ones amplifier - be
| aware that there are several things that must happen in the correct
| sequence. The RF relays must switch and settle, then the PA bias must
| switch, e.g. 350V to the screens for a tetrode. All this before the RF
| arrives. At HF this is easy, just use a pin diode or a vacuum relay for RF
| and a triode. At VHF is is much harder. PIN diodes are too detrimental to
| the noise figure for RF and the 350V screen supply tends to need a relay
| because of the shunt regulation. Good chunky high power coaxial RF relays
| available for sensible prices tend to be slow, even with a speed up
circuit.
| They may switch in a few mS but the contacts may bounce for considerably
| longer. The TX might not mind but the isolation will be poor and the
| pre-amplifier will suffer.
|
| When you are switching a kW VHF amplifier all this really matters and
asking
| for it to be done in less than 10mS is a challenge. Most of it is the RF
| relays and although small SMA relays do switch RF very quickly, they are
| only good for a few 100W.
|
| There are many K3 features that are totally useless for me. I don't
suggest
| removing top band or AM to save money because I don't need it, so please
| don't suggest useful firmware features are unnecessary just because you
| don't need them.

- --
R. Kevin Stover, ACØH
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