[Elecraft] P3, what lies ahead?

[Edward R. Cole]

Jack,

There are several soundcard programs available to view spectrum, but 
this restricts one to the passband of the radio (13-KHz for the 
K3).  P3 accesses wideband RF via the K3-IF.  This requires a 
conversion to IQ which any SDR can do (Soft-rock, LP-Pan, SDR-IQ, 
etc.), so one is not limited to a "black-box" version of the P3 
(though, I can see that it could be desirable).

To have the features of the P3 on a PC will not only require the 
hardware to produce IQ streams, but the P3 sw in a form that can be 
run on a PC.  Not owning a P3, I am limited in knowledge of the 
features of the P3 and whether it use a separate mcu and firmware like the K3.

My alternative to the P3 was to get the LP-Pan (black-box IQ 
converter) which I am running Spectravue (free download from RFSpace, 
who make the SDR-IQ).  PowerSDR (from the Flex folks) will run with 
the LP-Pan.  I am endeavoring to run Linrad (originally Linux-Radio) 
which is complicated to set up but has powerful noise-reduction and 
weak-signal performance.

73, Ed - KL7UW
------------------------------

Message: 6
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2011 13:36:50 -0600
From: Jack Brabham <kz5a at att.net>
Subject: Re: [Elecraft] P3, what lies ahead?
To: elecraft at mailman.qth.net
Message-ID: <4D695652.5020906 at att.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1; format=flowed

There was a comment by Wayne on a recent similar thread which intimated
that some level of P3 integration with the station PC is being
developed, or at least that is what I read into the comment.

I expect to purchase a P3 at some point, but am inclined to wait until
the product matures a bit and the level of functionality improves.   In
particular, I'm looking for the ability to port the display to the PC so
I can enlarge it enough to be readable with my old eyes and the ability
to do point and click tuning.

Actually, a no display, PC only version of the P3 would be very
interesting, especially if it got a little less expensive in the process
of loosing it's local display and knobs.


73 Jack KZ5A

K3 #4165










73, Ed - KL7UW, WD2XSH/45
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