[Elecraft] K3: Still unable to set power correctly in, DATA A(sigh)

[Julian, G4ILO]

G4LNA wrote:
> 
> 
> I'm not asserting anything, what I said applies to any rig you care to
> mention, I don't believe meters. No matter what magic wizardry circuits or
> software is contained in the rig to deceive to meter into reading power,
> you can't beat seeing the peak power reading on an oscilloscope.
> 
> I did have a look at the peak output of my rig and notice the meter
> doesn't correspond to the peak power reading on the K3, it doesn't even
> come close, that doesn't worry me in the slightest because I don't use the
> meter for power setting on anything apart from CW. 
> 
> What I will assert is that every radio amateur should at least have an
> oscilloscope as basic test equipment and learn how to use it, perhaps
> there wouldn't be so many rubbish signals on the air, there again, if pigs
> fly...........
> 
> I'm not pointing a finger at you Julian, I think you may agree there are a
> lot of amateurs who do rely on meters without understanding what is really
> happening in the real world, because now a days they are not taught basic
> understanding of what is happening to a modulated RF signal.
> 
> An oscilloscope is one of the main bits of test gear an RF engineer can
> own, after all, that's what we are, RF engineers and oscilloscopes are
> cheap to buy.
> 
> 

It would be very nice if we were all able to do this, but your statement
takes no account of individuals' circumstances. You are from the UK, so you
know what most of our houses are like. Take a look at the picture on the
front page of my website. My "shack" has to share desk space with my home
office, and meet the aesthetic criteria of my XYL. I don't have the luxury
of a dedicated radio room I can cram with test equipment, and there are a
lot of us like that. If radio manufacturers required customers to have a lab
full of test gear then the market for their products would be so limited
they'd be out of business.

Elecraft does not recommend never mind require an oscilloscope not even when
constructing a K2 from parts. I successfully built one using nothing more in
the way of test equipment than a £5 DMM and a home made power meter. If you
are building gear from scratch then a scope probably is very useful, but if
you are paying $3,000 for a factory aligned transceiver from any
manufacturer then you ought to be confident that it puts out a clean signal
as long as you operate it in accordance with the instructions.

-----
Julian, G4ILO. K2 #392  K3 #222.
http://www.g4ilo.com/ G4ILO's Shack   http://www.ham-directory.com/ Ham
Directory    http://www.g4ilo.com/kcomm.html KComm for Elecraft K2 and K3 
-- 
View this message in context: http://n2.nabble.com/K3%3A-Still-unable-to-set-power-correctly-in%2C-DATA-A%28sigh%29-tp2106764p2110764.html
Sent from the Elecraft mailing list archive at Nabble.com.