[Elecraft] K3 Need for compressor

[n4lq]

It seems that without the compressor it is difficult to obtain full SSB 
output. I'm listening to a guy right now on 160m in QSO. He had is 
compression on and as can be expected, was picking up plenty of fan noise 
from his amplifier.  He was advised to "turn off the compression". This he 
did and the fan noise went away but he complained about insufficient drive 
to his amp and his K3 was only putting out 38 watts now.
I don't have a decent peak reading wattmeter but I think weak RF output is a 
common complaint. I just wonder if Elecraft expects everyone to run some 
degree of compression? Or are we interpreting the PWR meter on the K3 
incorrectly?
Steve Ellington
N4LQ at insightbb.com