[Elecraft] [K3] SO2R Controllers

[Jim Brown]

On 5/31/2012 2:27 PM, Ed Muns wrote:
> The YCCC SO2R box has all the disadvantages that Joe has outlined plus
> it requires an external level translator circuit for FSK.

FSK is not important to everyone. It isn't to me, even though I'm an 
active RTTY contester. And it's trivially easy to do SO2R AFSK with any 
decent sound card with major contest loggers.  .  .

> That detracts
> from the advantage of an integrated box and lowered my confidence in the
> design choices made in this unit.

I strongly disagree with your implication that the YCCC box designer(s) 
were not very good. They WERE, and the box is really well thought out 
operationally. They simply have different priorities than you do. :)   
My only fault with it is that the designer(s) are totally ignorant of 
the fundamentals of shielding, but there's so little active circuitry in 
it that it doesn't matter.  I'm using a pair of low cost USB audio 
interfaces to feed K3 audio to a couple of computers for RTTY decoding.

I have no comments on Joe's boxes -- I've never used one nor felt the 
need to do so. And what I've seen of the DXDoubler at stations where 
I've operated strongly suggests that it's got Pin One Problems, which 
can cause hum, buzz, and RFI issues.

73, Jim K9YC