[Elecraft] K3s in WPX M/S - WOW!

[Ken K3IU]

Hi Bob:

Thanks for the report!

Re: your comment regarding the 50 and 100HZ bandwidth. I am surprised to 
hear what you report. I have the 200Hz filter in FL5. I just put the 
Elecraft XG-1 on ANT1 and tuned to the 7040 freq. With the bandwidth set 
to NORM (400 Hz) I show a S9 signal and an audio level (dbV Alternate 
display) of 31.7. When I narrow the bandwidth to 50 Hz, signal strength 
stays the same at S9 and the audio level stays the same. I do have 8 dB 
of gain set into FL5 where the 200 Hz filter lives. Without that 
additional gain, the S meter drops to S7 and the audio level drops to 
30.5 dB when that filter switches in. I found it very usable at the 50 - 
100 Hz bandwidths.

73,
Ken K3IU
K3 #202
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bob Evans wrote:
> I finally had a chance to put both of my K3s on really good antennas (2 el
> 40@ 140', 5 el 20 @ 130', 5 el 15 @ 120, 5 el 10 @ 110', 3 el 80 (delta
> loops) @ 110', 140' shunt fed on 160M, 600' beverage pointed NE).  Our main
> goal was to find out how the K3s interacted and whether I need to put in the
> overload mod on the KXV3.  We ended up with 2002 contacts and 733
> multipliers (2.8M points) even though I got sick in mid-contest and had to
> take 12 hours off.  There were only two of us operating, so that was a
> severe blow to our score.  Anyway, the K3s both had I.C.E. multiband band
> pass filters and we were able to operate without bothering the other op.  In
> most cases, we never knew the other op was on except when we were at a
> second harmonic.  I actually only heard it when we were on ~7020 and ~14040.
> These 2 antennas were 10 feet apart and both rigs were at 1 KW.  Even then,
> we were able to operate within 10 KHz of the second harmonic.  I was amazed.
>  
> Additionally, from our Texas location, we were routinely able to hear the
> VERY weak DX station right next to (or under) a loud East Coast station.  I
> never thought I'd be so happy with a 150 Hz filter bandwidth.  Honestly, the
> 100 Hz and 50 Hz bandwidths were useless though as the signal level dropped
> significantly.  It seemed much better a few firmware versions ago, but 150
> Hz worked fine for us...I was just getting "greedy" by trying to use the 100
> and 50 Hz BW.
>  
> The other thing I proved to myself was that I need to put the KXV3 overload
> mod on my S/N 234.  No problem on S/N 752, but #234 indicated a HI PA TEMP
> when we transmitted on the 160 tower and used our beverage antenna which was
> only 100' away from the tower.  The PA TEMP was not high, but apparently the
> overload made it appear that way.  I believe I remember that the rig dropped
> itself down to 5 watts when this occurred.  I don't want to analyze the
> failure, I'm just going to install the mod kit (which I've already gotten).
> This test was simply to make sure I needed to do the mod before I opened
> things up.  ;-)
>  
> We had 2 amplifiers fail, some computer glitches and the KRC2 wouldn't drive
> the 6 pack switching arrangement (could be bad wiring on my part or low
> voltage), but the K3s seemed bulletproof and felt VERY solid throughout the
> contest.  I just keep getting happier and happier with my K3s every time I
> put them to a new test.   Now for Field Day....  How many insects can a K3
> handle before the fan speed goes into overdrive?  ;-)
>  
> Bob K5WA
> K3 #234 and #752
> K2 #4687 
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