[Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

Fri Dec 18 02:40:44 EST 2009

	You guys may be exceptions to the rule. The # of complaints seem to
far outweigh what you two guys are saying. I'm not saying you are wrong,
just that it seems that a lot of people are hearing a problem. I have
SN/0690 and to my ears it has always been on the noisy side. Some of this
may be due to ignorance about how to set up the K3 properly. I am pretty
sure that is true on my end, in part. I have never tried to dig deep enough
in the manual or the menus to try and make the situation any better. It is a
little intimidating to me and that is why I have never dug too deep in to
the menus to try and make things better.

	 I hope to change all this in the near future. I am catching up on
the mods and upgrades and with an updated manual I hope to have some success
in making my K3 sound better to MY ears. 

	Ed, I most definitely have never felt like that my K3 was TOO quiet.
Lots of background static and hash that is fatiguing to listen to. I don't
know what else to say...I know I am not imagining it. I would much wrather
listen to my TS-830s, but I have hung in there with the K3 knowing that
there is light at the end of the tunnel. I just have to figure out what page
that is on in the manual.  hi hi 

Stan Rife 
W5EWA 

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Steve Ellington
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 1:10 AM
To: w0yk at msn.com; Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

Ed
I agree. I have no idea what these people are talking about.
I've had a lot of radios. My last was the IC-7800 which sat beside the K3 
for a month until I sold it. I can't imagine what this noise is that people 
think they hear. Perhaps a .wav file from someone would be helpful.

Steve
N4LQ
N4LQ at carolina.rr.com
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ed Muns" <w0yk at msn.com>
To: <Elecraft at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 12:03 AM
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

>> I've had #1823 for just over a year, and I still don't like
>> the sound of the receiver. That's the reason the K3 sat in a
>> box for months while my trusty FT-1000mkV sat on the
>> operating desk (until the MkV went on strike in the middle of
>> the SS CW :-(
>
> I've read all the posts in this thread and have to say ... I just don't 
> "get
> it".  What noise?!  If anything my two K3s are too quiet!  It has occurred
> to me more than once that I might have an antenna disconnected or perhaps
> blew out the front-end to the radio.  The most distinguishing 
> characteristic
> of the K3 (for me) is how quiet it is when you slip on the headphones. 
> The
> K3 is distinctively quiet compared all the Icom, Yaesu and Kenwood radios 
> I
> own or have operated.  I now realize that all the pre-K3 radios I've used
> were somehow amplifying or emphasizing the band noise, plus adding a bunch
> of digital artifacts, in the audio.  I am completely stunned by the posts
> here that report "noisy K3 receiver" and escaping to a "quieter" Japanese
> radio.
>
> I've been using K3s 11 and 17 ever since the field test units first came
> out.  I've kept current with all the updates and mods so despite the early
> serial numbers, these radios are equivalent to what is currently shipping.
> I always have the latest field test firmware in both radios.  This is
> pre-Beta and pre-production firmware that has never interfered with my use
> of the radio.  I use the radios primarily for CW, RTTY and (rarely) SSB
> contesting, plus a bit of DXing.  It took me a full month of using the K3 
> to
> finally accept the fact that its receiver is so incredibly quiet compared 
> to
> any other radio.  I thought something was wrong!  And yet with the greatly
> reduced band noise in the headphones, extremely weak signal are easy to
> copy.  80 and 160 are like new bands, more like the higher bands, with my
> K3s.  And the pile-up/crowded band receive capability is far superior to 
> any
> radio I've ever operated.
>
> I'm not doubting the reports here on the reflector about "noisy K3
> receiver", but I have to say that either the specific radio has a major
> defect or the various gain and AGC controls are not setup correctly.  W4ZV
> has posted on this reflector several excellent explanations on how to
> properly adjust the K3, or any radio for that matter.  I would love to 
> hear
> one of these "noisy K3 receivers" and see how they are configured.
>
> Ed - W0YK
> -----------------------------------------------
> Ed Muns
> Muns Vineyard - www.munsvineyard.com
> FaceBook - www.facebook.com/munsvineyard
>
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