[Elecraft] Power too high in PSK31 / S

[Joe Subich, W4TV]

Greg, 

> It will change to 1-bar as the desired setting.  For now, you 
> can adjust it for 4 bars.  If you cannot get 4 bars 3 is still 
> OK.

If Lyle specifically said, "We recommend setting the Mic (or 
LINE  IN) Gain so you get 5 bars of ALC, with possibly the 6th 
bar occasionally flickering..." why would you recommend 1 bar? 

With the current firmware, power output and "ALC" is very stable 
at five bars.  If the Line In level is significantly below the 
five bar level, I see significant "hunting" or motorboating of 
the ALC and some variability (above and beyond the content 
related variation inherent in PSK31) of the output power. 

73, 

   ... Joe, W4TV 
  



> -----Original Message-----
> From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net 
> [mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Greg
> Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 7:41 PM
> To: jplanisky at ieee.org; don at w3fpr.com
> Cc: Elecraft Reflector
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Power too high in PSK31 / S
> 
> 
> Joe,
> 
> I have to change the operating tips page.  It was done prior 
> to a major ALC 
> change.  I was waiting for another update as Lyle is changing 
> the ALC meter 
> feedback.  It will change to 1-bar as the desired setting.  
> For now, you can 
> adjust it for 4 bars.  If you cannot get 4 bars 3 is still OK.
> 
> 73
> Greg
> 
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Joe Planisky" <jplan at jeffnet.org>
> To: <don at w3fpr.com>
> Cc: "Elecraft Reflector" <elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
> Sent: Saturday, October 04, 2008 4:15 PM
> Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Power too high in PSK31 / S
> 
> 
> > Now I don't know what to believe.  In Lyle's April 6 post, he says:
> >
> >> We recommend setting the Mic (or LINE IN) Gain so you get 
> 5 bars of 
> >> ALC, with possibly the 6th bar occasionally flickering...
> >
> > Yet, on the "K3 Operating Tips" page of the Elecraft web 
> site, in the 
> > section about "Setting up your K3 for PSK" it says:
> >
> >> Use the MIC control to set the drive level so that your output is 
> >> equal or just below what you dialed in ... You should not 
> see any ALC 
> >> bars on the K3 display (when set to CMP/ALC).
> >
> > Rev D1 of the operating manual seems to agree with Lyle in that it 
> > says:
> >
> >> You can use the same procedure outlined for voice modes (pg. 28) 
> >> except that speech compression should not be used.  [Pg. 
> 28]: adjust 
> >> MIC for a peak ALC meter indication of about 5-7 bars.
> >
> > If the operating tip on the web site is wrong, it ought to be 
> > corrected or removed.
> >
> > 73
> > --
> > Joe KB8AP
> >
> >
> > On Oct 4, 2008, at 1:54 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
> >
> >> Richard and all,
> >>
> >> If you look back to Lyle Johnson's reflector posting of 
> April 6, you 
> >> will find the following: (plus other good information 
> about setting 
> >> up data modes.
> >>
> >> "In this case, the ALC meter display is acting as a "VU 
> Meter" and is 
> >> being used to help you set the Tx audio path gain 
> correctly.  It is 
> >> not showing you how much you are over-driving the PA.  This is why 
> >> you can set it up in Tx test mode, when you are not 
> transmitting any 
> >> RF at all. "
> >>
> >> Additional information can be found in Rev D of the K3 
> user's manual 
> >> on page 32.
> >>
> >> 73,
> >> Don W3FPR
> >>
> >>>