[Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

Doug Turnbull turnbull at net1.ie
Fri Dec 18 07:25:35 EST 2009 

Guys,
   I am not complaining but learning and the vocal complainers are helping
in this process.   Let us not be too precious regarding critique as it has
already led to an improved K3!   I may yet better learn how to squeeze the
maximum out of my K3.   Perhaps an improved manual is needed?   More
guidelines could be provided but of course this will all change with the
next upgrade. Such is progress which most K3 owners are delighted with.   To
me this is an excellent thread and may clear up confusion.   My profession
is Electronics Engineering and I can indeed learn so also might a Medical
Doctor, Truck Driver or Old Age Pensioner.   So let us try to understand
what is being said here and see if help can be provided.   The K3 is being
asked to do an awful lot and is proving it self able to adapt to new
requirements boy are we fortunate.  

    The 'complainers' are almost all saying they find their K3s to be an
excellent radio.   I have been involved in other radio forums and found that
some people are very sensitive to any criticism of their chosen radio.   The
Elecrafter Company takes a more open and it seems to me Scientific approach
for which this dinosaur is most grateful.   Peace to all, Happy Christmas
and Happy Holidays.
                      73 Doug EI2CN

-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of Bob Naumann
Sent: 18 December 2009 12:07
To: srife at swbell.net; Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

Stan,

Those who are complaining are the exceptions to the rule.

There are thousands of K3 users that are not complaining. There are a few,
very vocal complainers here.

73,

Bob W5OV
(with no complaints)


-----Original Message-----
From: elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net
[mailto:elecraft-bounces at mailman.qth.net] On Behalf Of srife at swbell.net
Sent: Friday, December 18, 2009 1:41 AM
To: Elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] Noisy K3 receiver

	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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