[Elecraft] K3 and W2IHY EQ Plus!

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 25 Jan 2010 15:40:17 +0000, Lance Collister wrote:

>My primary goal was to eliminate the high level of background 
>noise from my VHF amplifiers when I operate SSB mode.

Have you tried turning down the mic gain and working it close?  
Talking louder?  Problems like this can be easily solved by 
inverse square law -- that is, loudness drops by 6dB each time 
you double the distance from the source, so bringing the mic MUCH 
closer to your mouth than to the noise source improves the signal 
to noise ratio a lot. 

You can also improve the signal to noise ratio by using a 
directional mic, like the one built into the Yamaha CM500 
headset. Before I found the CM500, I used an EV RE11 mic. 

You can also reduce background noise by placing sound absorbing 
materials on walls and other surfaces in the general vicinity of 
the noise source. The fans on my Titan amps are a bit noisy, so I 
let them sit on a 2-inch thick piece of sound absorbing foam. 
That kills vibration-coupling of the noise to the operating 
bench. 

I work the mic at 1-2 inches, using nothing more than the EQ 
built into the K3, and critical listeners tell me there's no 
background noise. 

73,

Jim K9YC