[Elecraft] K3 in a CW pileup

[Dave Hachadorian]

Thanks to VE3KI, here is an easier procedure than the one I 
posted a little while ago.

If you are on the receiving end of a CW pileup, with several loud
signals, it becomes difficult to separate them because the K3's
AGC compresses them together.  You have to reach over and reduce
the RF gain to get everybody back on the linear part of the gain
curve.

You can very quickly reduce RF gain by hitting an F-Key on your
logging program.  N1MM Logger is used as an example, but other
loggers can send commands too.

The command RG100;  sets the K3's RF gain at 100.  It can be any
number from 000 to 255.  In N1MM, this is implemented by the
macro
{CAT1ASC RG100;}

You can put that macro in F-Key F12, or wherever, and press the
button if loud pileup shows up. That macro is for rig 1.  Rig 2
would be the same, except use CAT2ASC.

After you work the loud guy, reach over and twiddle the RF gain
control on the K3 a little bit to restore RF gain to its previous
setting.  You have plenty of time to do this while the "thank
you" message is playing.

I tried this method in the 160 contest Saturday, and it seemed to
work pretty well.

You can also use this method with AGC OFF, to keep loud signals
out of the AF Limiter.

Dave Hachadorian, K6LL
Yuma, AZ