[Elecraft] K3 feature request - I want Ducking!

[Vic K2VCO]

Kevin wrote:

> It seems to me with all the feature requests people are looking for a 
> custom radio and wanting the rig to do everything for them. The QSK on 
> the Elecraft rigs is very good the way it is. If you don't want to hear 
> the band between characters why are you working QSK? 

1) The QSK *is* very good, but it is not perfect. There is some clicking 
when the band is noisy or crowded, and it's most likely caused by 
relatively complicated timing issues. A slight reduction in audio gain 
while transmitting -- which I now perform by turning the knob -- 
eliminates this. In non-casual operation -- contests, pileups, etc., it 
would be very convenient to have this take place automatically. It would 
go a long way in reducing operator fatigue in contests.

2) Some operators would like to use QSK but are distracted by background 
noise, even if the QSK is perfect. This feature would provide another 
option -- someone called it 'soft QSK' -- between full and semi QSK. It 
  would be smoother than full QSK but still allow the operator to be 
aware of what's going on in the background and be interrupted if necessary.

In order to accommodate these different preferences, the amount of gain 
reduction would have to be adjustable (but not in steps of 0.25 dB!).

I think this is an excellent suggestion, and if -- as I think -- it 
wouldn't be very hard to implement, it would provide a lot of bang for 
the buck (that is, Wayne's time).
-- 
73,
Vic, K2VCO
Fresno CA
http://www.qsl.net/k2vco