[Elecraft] Taming the SSB receive dragon

[Bill]

I have only had the K3 for a few days and have already experienced a 
couple of headaches from listening to hours and hours of SSB in rag 
chews and nets on 75 meters.  When compared to my trusty Kenwood TS-480, 
the K3's receiver was far too harsh.

I process the receive audio through a Behringer mixer panel and into a 
pair of Behringer Ms40 speakers - hence, both radios get the exact same 
chance at sounding really good.

I did some research into the problem and read what other ops had done to 
correct the problem. Then I applied those gleanings to my K3:

I run the 2.7 filter open (full WIDTH)
I set the SHIFT to 1.3 (mellows things out a little)
The AGC SLP is set to 15 (this slayed the wow-wow dragon)
The AFX Delay at 2 (can change with the mood)
RX EQ: +3  +3  +2   0  +1  +1  +1  -1 (you can play with this forever)

Now I have that wonderful Kenwood receive audio back. Couple that with 
the arsenal of the K3's QRM/QRN tools afforded by the DSP and a 2.1 
filter - and I can hear through almost anything. I am impressed with the 
K3 - it is a keeper - affording fine listening quality.

There are two more receive dislikes I will be working at getting rid of:

1. General background hiss - which is more noticeable on the K3 than the 
480 (even using the ATT and reducing the RF Gain). I live in a quiet 
rural location - it should be quieter than it is.
2. The NOTCH (auto) - introduces an unpleasant variation to the signal - 
specifically, a slight warble.

I am open to suggestions and comments.

Bill W2BLC

-- 
Sent from my blackboard - written in chalk