[Elecraft] [K3] How much compression for contest use?

[Jim Brown]

On 10/29/2010 3:33 AM, Pete Smith wrote:
> I am currently setting compression at 22,

You do NOT set compression by looking at that number.  Rather, you set 
compression by ADJUSTING the compression control until the METER 
indicates the desired amount of compression on speech peaks.  A good 
setting for contesting and DXing is about 10 dB.

If you're getting reports that your audio is thin, that's an EQ issue, 
not a compression issue.  BUT -- the best way to evaluate EQ is to have 
the other station listen with their RX set to a wide IF bandwidth. For 
contesting, we generally WANT our audio to be at least a bit "thin" -- 
we don't want to waste TX power on the lower octaves, which don't 
contribute to intelligibility.

I just went through those adjustments yesterday with N6GQ, who was 
setting up his K3 for a single-op at YN4AA for CQWW SSB this weekend. I 
listened to him, and he did the same for me.  He started out with the 
FOUR lowest bands at maximum cut, and it sounded too thin. We brought 
the fourth band up to zero, and it wasn't quite enough bass cut,  but it 
sounded right on his voice with about 6dB of cut on that band.  This was 
with my IF set wide.  Then I narrowed my IF to 1.8 kHz, and he sounded 
thin.  He SHOULD sound thin to a station using a 1.8 kHz filter, so we 
left it there.  My voice sounded best to him with the three lowest bands 
at max cut, and the fourth band set to zero (flat).

Hope this helps.

73, Jim K9YC