[Elecraft] Help with ideal SSB contest settings

[George A. Thornton]

I am relatively new to the K3 and completely green on contesting.

 

My K3 is new this year and recently returned from the factory to correct
some problems that occurred during installation of the SubRx.  

 

During Field Day we were operating voice on 20 meters using a 6 element
monoband Yagi on a 30 ft. tower over a bluff, located in Western
Washington.  

 

We had both my K3 and an Icom Pro 3 as choices for the operators.   We
heard fine on the K3 but the conclusion was reached early that the K3
was not effective at breaking the Field Day pileups.  They shifted to
the Pro3, which was equipped with a high end Heil dual element mic, I
think the HM-10.  They reported much better results.

 

I went back and checked the K3 and found the mic settings were out of
adjustment.  I corrected the mic gain according to the manual
instructions and set a small amount of compression, less than ten
percent.  I then locked the settings so no one could mess with them.
At that point the band was dead, and I don't have enough information to
tell if the problem was solved or not.    I do intend to check this out
further with someone local who is familiar with the K3 on voice.  

 

What I am looking for is suggestions for configuring the Tx on SSB for
maximum effectiveness in crowded conditions.

 

I am currently using the Heil MD-2 desk mic that I got from Elecraft
some years ago.