[Elecraft] "Hot" K3

[K4IA at aol.com]

Yes, it is a "hot" receiver.  I usually  have the RF gain turned to about 50% 
- just a little above the band noise.   You can be more aggressive on PSK and 
weak signal CW as it is possible to copy  signals below (but not much below) 
the band noise.

Also, the K3 was  designed to have excellent dynamic range and if you ride 
the RF gain too high,  you are wasting some of that headroom.

Buck
k4ia
K3 #101

In  a message dated 3/16/2009 11:57:22 A.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
Steven.Zabarnick at notes.udayton.edu writes:
Don:

I had the same  reaction upon first using my new K3 last year. The K3 is
significantly more  sensitive than my previous rig (IC-756 non-Pro), and as
my noise environment  is fairly high (inner suburb with ~110 dBm background
noise), at first it  seemed as if the K3 is fairly noisy. Also, while the S
meter of most rigs are  calibrated fairly well at S9, their meters are not
linear (in dB units) at  lower S unit readings (the K3 meter is very linear
at 6 dB per S unit)-- with  the result that the K3 meter readings are higher
by a few S units.

I  find that I often use the attenuator and/or the RF gain to decrease the
band  noise in the K3 -- I rarely used these in my other rigs. Also, try
playing  with the AGC settings, particularly the THR and SLP settings, which
can be  customized to suit your operating conditions. Also, turning off the
AGC and  riding the RF gain can really help pull out very weak signals.

Steve  N9SZ

Don Rasmussen wrote:

"My new K3 #2308 shows two to three  S-units high as compared to my other HF
radios, \
and lots of hiss in the  speaker audio at low AF  levels."

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