[Elecraft] P3: Span control logic

[W2RU - Bud Hippisley]

On Aug 8, 2011, at 12:01 AM, Merv Schweigert wrote:

> Not true at all,  I have a FT-1000D sitting here and the shift and width 
> control both operate
> the same direction as the K3.

YOU may have an FT-1000D sitting there, but I don't.  What I said pertained to ME and the rigs I named, and was QUITE true.  But your example helps me make the point I was originally trying to make.  Read on.


>  75A4 switch works 
> counterclockwise
> also,  left to narrow.

The 75A-4 worked whichever way you chose to install the mechanical filters, so it was akin to the suggestion that the direction of WIDTH control knob rotation on the K3 be user-selectable.  One could just as easily put the narrowest filter in the MIDDLE position in the 75A-4.  And it is "the exception that proves the rule" in a long line of fine receivers.  Both earlier and later Collins receivers (such as the 75A-2 and the 75S-3) very definitely narrowed the bandwidth with clockwise rotation.  Even in the 75S-3B/C (which also had user-fillable mechanical filter slots) the narrower CW filter positions were clockwise from the wider SSB and AM positions.

But your FT-1000D brings me back to my original point:  Each of us individually arrives at the K3 with a unique set of life experiences.  You're comfortable with the rotation vs. action of the K3 WIDTH knob, and I'm not.   

From a purely logical point of view, the operation of the WIDTH control on the K3 is consistent with other K3 controls such as AF GAIN and keyer SPEED.  I doubt any of us would be happy with a backwards speed control.  (I can say that because I once owned one, and everyone who tried it hated it!)  

Self-consistent operation of the controls is a nice objective, and quite appropriate to test equipment, but it can bite us in a fast-paced, real-time operating event such as a contest when it's contrary to habits we have formed or is the opposite of what goes on in the second rig of an SO2R setup.  My own view is that -- regardless of the habits you or I may have formed or the rigs we may have been used to in the past -- the K3's WIDTH knob is fundamentally counterintuitive because historically I've never heard anyone say they were "dialing in bandwidth" -- the hams I've been around have always dialed in "more selectivity" on an "as needed" basis.  In fact, our lingo is replete with references to "cranking in" selectivity or narrower filters.  The analogy to mechanical cranks is clear and long-standing, and I know of no mechanical cranks that perform their primary function by having their handles turned counter-clockwise.  That's the REAL source of my difficulty with the K3 WIDTH control.  In effect, it's a cultural pre-conditioning that goes beyond the rigs I have or have not had the opportunity to use.

So, from my point of view, the WIDTH knob would be better named the SELECTIVITY knob or the FILTERING knob or the NARROWING knob, and it would have the opposite action with clockwise rotation as it does today.  But all those names are far too long for a front panel as small as the K3's.  Besides, during a contest, when it matters, I don't look at the names over the knobs or at the little displays that show the bandwidth increasing or decreasing, either.  I just try to make contacts as fast as possible.  For that, I agree with the person who said it would be really nice if the function of the WIDTH knob was user-selectable.

Bud, W2RU